This document contains excerpts from a talk given by Mr. R Gopalakrishnan at the Great Lakes Institute of Management on leadership lessons. The excerpts discuss that compassionate leadership does not mean lack of discipline, that in the past bosses had more knowledge than subordinates but now subordinates often know more, and that a leader must balance their inner world, relationships, and getting work done. The document encourages students to find work they are passionate about, using cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle as an example of following one's passion rather than a more typical career.

1. Great Lakes Institute of Management
Presents
LESSONS FROM LEGENDS
- Powerful quotes from visionaries
- Mr. R Gopalakrishnan
Director, Tata Sons

2. LESSONS FROM LEGENDS
“These are invaluable quotes taken from the
excerpts of speeches made by various guests in
Great Lakes Institute of Management.”
These excerpts were taken from Mr. R Gopalakrishnan’s talk
at
Great Lakes Institute of Management on July 28, 2011
www.greatlakes.edu.in

3. Compassionate leadership does not
mean lack of discipline or lack of
decision making. It only means you
value people, and that is the quality of a
true leader.
- Mark of a true leader
www.greatlakes.edu.in

4. When I began my career, the world
was top down. If you are a young
man in your organization, you will
always have big bosses who have
more knowledge about business
than you. They will teach you how to
set up distributors, how to set up
production floor, and so on. This was
then.
-Leadership then
www.greatlakes.edu.in

5. We are in a world where the sub-ordinate
knows more than the boss
and still, the boss has to run the
place. That’s the scenario of
leadership today.
-Leadership now
www.greatlakes.edu.in

6. A leader should learn to live in three
worlds. These worlds are intersecting
circles. The first world is the inner world.
It has all the anxieties, fears, hopes,
predictions that every human being is
bound to have.
-Innate emotions of a leader
www.greatlakes.edu.in

7. The second world is the world of
relationships. No one is an iron man. You
cannot do everything on your own. In a
company set-up, you need to have a
cordial relationship with colleagues,
senior managers, factory workers.
-The importance of relationships in
leading
www.greatlakes.edu.in

8. There is a third world – a world of getting
things done. There are 7 billion people
on this planet. Everybody has to get
something done, and be economically
active. A leader’s mind travels between
these three worlds constantly – whether
he/she is aware of it or not.
-The interplay of different concerns in
leadership
www.greatlakes.edu.in

9. As you embark on your career, the
leadership journey, it is important that
you enjoy what you do and learn from
your work. You all must know Harsha
Bhogle. He is an IIM graduate. He could
have easily become an investment
banker. But he became a successful
cricket commentator.
-On being passionate about work
www.greatlakes.edu.in

10. THANK YOU
www.greatlakes.edu.in