From giving a piece of advice to management professionals to speaking on his rise and fall, how things may have been different had he testified in the insider trading case, the tough conditions in US prison, the way his friends and associates reacted to not ruling a teaching assignment, Rajat Gupta, former global head of consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, had much to share.
In the city as part of a promotion tour of his book ‘Mind Without Fear’, Mr. Gupta, speaking at a well attended programme at the Indian School of Business (ISB), of which he was founding chairman, said he wanted to tell his side of story that remained untold.
Biggest regret
One decision, which he regrets in hindsight, is how he went with the lawyers’ advice and did not testify in his defence in the court. Mr. Gupta, who was a business icon and associated with various non-profit work, was sentenced to two years in jail in insider trading case. He, however, maintains that he was innocent.
The biggest “mistake I made I was too busy. I had too many initiatives going on. In the end, it added to be one hell of a lot… didn’t pay attention to many details that I should have,” he said responding to queries from the floor at ISB where he also read out from his book.
New challenges
Offering advice to young management professionals, Mr. Gupta sought to underscore the need to take up new challenges. “When you get too comfortable doing anything and if you are too much in your comfort zone, change it dramatically. Get out of your comfort zone… because once you get too comfortable, you get into a rut [and] are not creative, innovative any more,” he said. In support, he cited how he took up challenging assignments in the US and Europe with the leading management consultancy firm.
Stating that he would not be averse to taking up a teaching assignment at ISB, an institution that far exceeded the expectations for which it was established, Mr. Gupta said he also wanted to continue work in the area of public health.
Later, addressing a meeting organised by Hyderabad Angels, he recalled his early days, how he lost his parents in his teens, the need to think big and ambitiously, lessons he learnt and need for businesses to operate in partnership with society.
