He spoke about the many challenges that he had to face personally and professionally and how he was able to overcome them. He shared an example of his own life on having lost his father when he was 29 and subsequently his brother to cancer, which made him shoulder the responsibility of the family business at a young age. He spoke about the deep driving desire of his entire team and the risk and rewards that were involved in moving into pharmaceuticals from the diametrically opposite field of textile. From owning what was then an almost defunct textile company, Mr. Piramal today is the chairman of the Rs 4,000-crore (Rs 40 billion) group, comprising Nicholas Piramal, the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company in India. He also spoke with immense pride about his company’s Crossroads, India’s first shopping mall that opened in Tardeo, Mumbai in 1999, about how three factory buildings of the pharmaceutical company were converted into the hugely successful retail space.
He said that strategy making is a commodity and that the most challenging aspect that today’s managers need to not just focus on the strategy but more importantly the efficiency in execution. He spoke about leadership and the level five leader, combining the paradoxical qualities of personal humility and professional will. He also said that leadership without the decision of execution is incompetent and ineffective in the face of intense competition. He also said that there has to be a perfect alignment between the thought process and action for ensuring success. He spoke about leaders of the modern India like the president, Dr. Abdul Kalam ‘who creates superb results and yet demonstrates compelling modesty.
He spoke about the importance of managers to have an open mind to absorb and listen to make decisions and execute them successfully. He also spoke about India’s greatest challenge in creating a competent and excellent workforce by providing adequate training- ‘finding the right people and the right quality’. He spoke about the future of NPIL, a vision of creating world-class research centers and introducing basic drugs into the market that is 1/10th of it’s cost in the western world. He spoke about its core strengths of the 2700-strong field force; successful brand building and state-of-the-art manufacturing plants. He said that NPIL’s major investments in Research &Development;, which focuses on formulations development; new chemical entity research and clinical research will continue to meet India’s growing need for high-quality and low cost drugs.
He also shared with the students a story: Footprints on the sands of time about a boy, who dreamt that he was walking along the beach with his grandfather and each time, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to his grandfather. But when he looked back at the footprints, he noticed only one set of footprints at the lowest and saddest times of his life. Disappointed, he asked his grandfather as to why he left him when he needed him the most. To which his grandfather said that when the boy had seen only one set of footprints, it was then that he carried his grandchild.
Signing off with this story he emphasized on the need for spirituality and conviction to achieve your dreams as the catalyst for success.