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India may have seen many big businessmen, but Mr Keshub Mahindra was one of the few and the last of the generation of statesmen.
I have had the privilege of working with one of the finest statesmen in business that India ever had. The value system he followed clearly distinguished him from the rest. Having worked with the Mahindra Group for 50 years, and being conscientious myself, I can say with great pride that during all these years that I worked with him, there was not a single night when I went to bed thinking I did something wrong.
I can recall times when he would be willing to shift the location of a factory out of a state only because he did not want the group to veer away from its value system. That was the foundation on which the Mahindra Group has been built.
Even before empowerment and trust became buzzwords, these were key leadership qualities Mr Mahindra demonstrated. He also had immense respect for people. I would always be introduced as a colleague and not as someone who worked under him. It’s only because of this culture of empowerment and trust that I have risen from a newly minted CA who joined the group at a monthly salary of Rs 1,000, to a member of the parent company’s board and chairman of several group companies.
After the liberalisation of the economy, when I was given the responsibility of looking at foraying into various services businesses, one of them was a water transport business that ran into hurdles. I decided to wind up that business at a loss and I was dreading that Mr Mahindra would be angry. But, to my surprise, Mr Mahindra was least perturbed. He told me, “You have been taking care of so many businesses. Had you not failed in one of them, I would have thought you are not taking any risks.”
He, however, ensured you had done your homework properly. That boosted my confidence and empowered me further. I was only 38 years old then. Mr Mahindra also had the knack for grasping which business would make money, and that’s one of the reasons why the group did not enter the landline telecom space.
His humility and the way he respected people is something one seldom gets to see in today’s generation, which has become very transactional. When accolades were showered for any big accomplishment, Mr Mahindra would push us forward to accept them. That was one reason I received the “Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur’ – the highest civilian award of France.
Mr Mahindra had a close circle of friends from the business world and the key among them were J R D Tata, Deepak Parekh, Nusli Wadia and Dr Ashok Ganguly. He was an avid golfer and was also very fond of skiing. He was a Wharton tennis champion. Besides, on holidays at his Lonavala bungalow, he enjoyed cooking continental food, which was delicious.
He would have turned 100 in October this year. I had a plan for this 100th birthday, but destiny had it otherwise.
The writer is chairman, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (As told to Namrata Singh)
I have had the privilege of working with one of the finest statesmen in business that India ever had. The value system he followed clearly distinguished him from the rest. Having worked with the Mahindra Group for 50 years, and being conscientious myself, I can say with great pride that during all these years that I worked with him, there was not a single night when I went to bed thinking I did something wrong.
I can recall times when he would be willing to shift the location of a factory out of a state only because he did not want the group to veer away from its value system. That was the foundation on which the Mahindra Group has been built.
Even before empowerment and trust became buzzwords, these were key leadership qualities Mr Mahindra demonstrated. He also had immense respect for people. I would always be introduced as a colleague and not as someone who worked under him. It’s only because of this culture of empowerment and trust that I have risen from a newly minted CA who joined the group at a monthly salary of Rs 1,000, to a member of the parent company’s board and chairman of several group companies.
After the liberalisation of the economy, when I was given the responsibility of looking at foraying into various services businesses, one of them was a water transport business that ran into hurdles. I decided to wind up that business at a loss and I was dreading that Mr Mahindra would be angry. But, to my surprise, Mr Mahindra was least perturbed. He told me, “You have been taking care of so many businesses. Had you not failed in one of them, I would have thought you are not taking any risks.”
He, however, ensured you had done your homework properly. That boosted my confidence and empowered me further. I was only 38 years old then. Mr Mahindra also had the knack for grasping which business would make money, and that’s one of the reasons why the group did not enter the landline telecom space.
His humility and the way he respected people is something one seldom gets to see in today’s generation, which has become very transactional. When accolades were showered for any big accomplishment, Mr Mahindra would push us forward to accept them. That was one reason I received the “Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur’ – the highest civilian award of France.
Mr Mahindra had a close circle of friends from the business world and the key among them were J R D Tata, Deepak Parekh, Nusli Wadia and Dr Ashok Ganguly. He was an avid golfer and was also very fond of skiing. He was a Wharton tennis champion. Besides, on holidays at his Lonavala bungalow, he enjoyed cooking continental food, which was delicious.
He would have turned 100 in October this year. I had a plan for this 100th birthday, but destiny had it otherwise.
The writer is chairman, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (As told to Namrata Singh)
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