'SELL yourself at every stage in life'..........An interview with Jerry Rao

Divya Nair 

From books that will inspire you to dreaming beyond the obvious, read on for life lessons from these successful IIM alumni.

Jaithirth or Jerry Rao, as he is popularly known, is a man full of wisdom.

From playing an instrumental role in founding MphasiS, an IT services company, to being declared Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year 2004, Rao has contributed in ways that have inspired many.

Even as his dream of building affordable homes in Bangalore is yet to materialise, one can't dismiss the verve of this 60-year-old when he talks about the virtue of being patient and advises young Indians to nurture their hunger for knowledge for success in life.

Kindly recommend five books that you think today's young Indians must read.

Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, Waiting for the Mahatma by RK Narayan, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie,Samskara by UR Anantha Murthy and Gora by Rabindranath Tagore

Can you outline why you have recommended these books?

I think it is very important for Indians to develop a sense of context. Otherwise, we are very much into day-to-day life problems -- 'how do I get promoted', 'how do I move ahead?' We do not understand the historical, social, anthropological context in which we are working. That's why I recommend these books.

What are the common mistakes that young people make when it comes to careers?

I think the biggest mistake people make in their careers is being in a hurry. People are asking for quick resolutions, quick answers, promotions, fulfillments.

Patience is a virtue each one of us must pursue. Lack of patience often precipitates to crises, which can be avoided.

Can you share an incident from your career that inspired you and changed your outlook towards success?

Years ago, I used to work with an American boss, a guy called Alan Williams. He was known to take very tough and difficult organisational decisions. He was brutally honest and had superior intelligence. But he lost out on his career, because he did not know how to handle organisational politics. I've always remembered that incident -- I learnt that doing the right thing doesn't always make you a winner.

Should Alan have learned critical lessons along with doing what's right (because I think doing right is important)? I don't have the answer, but this incident is left with me as an enduring event that I keep revisiting all the time.

What are the important lessons you learned at IIM?

• You have to write well. There is no way you can become a good manager if you can't write well.
• You have to speak up. This whole thing of class participation was important, because it forced people to speak up. The idea of being strongly silent is good, but it's wrong. It might work in Hollywood movies, but it doesn't work in real life.
• Most of my classmates at IIM were intelligent. But IIM teaches you that intelligence is not everything. There are issues of character, communication, friendliness and lateral networking which are more important, or equally important.

What career advice would you like to share with the batch of 2012?

• Don't pursue what is the most fashionable thing to do. Today, the most fashionable is private equity. I think you need to look at something that's contra-intuitive.
• If you want to do something different, think of the steel industry, everybody has given up on steel -- or you may consider pursuing your career in manufacturing.
• I think it is important to be useful while trying to do something different. You want to get into private equity because the best go there and you want to compete with the best. So why not go into steel and be the best in that field? So doing something that's contra-indicative is what I would suggest.

What's your advice to young Indians?

I would like to tell the youth that if you want to be successful, you have to be broadly-skilled.

You have to learn how to learn. Don't just learn Java or derivatives for the heck of it, because these things will go away in ten years. You must know how to unlearn a particular computer language or a financial instrument, given the need.

I have seen that many young people choose a niche field of interest and learn the skills pertaining to that field. Rather try and pick up the skill to learn how to learn. To my knowledge, if you are going to develop this skill over a period of 20 or 30 years, you are going to do well in life.

Jerry Rao Author of Notes of an Indian Conservative ( 5:36)