‘Rejoice in what you have’

KOCHI: Managerial expert R Gopalakrishnan’s book ‘CRASH - Lessons from the Entry and Exit of CEOs’ was launched at DLF Riverside in Vyttila the other day. 
The session, moderated by Mohit Gupta, began with a panel discussion between former civil services officer and author M P Joseph and IIM Tiruchirappalli director Bhimraya Metri, wherein the two guests of honour presented their views on the book.

In the followingg discussion, Gopalakrishnan  enlightened the audience with life lessons from his illustrious career. He spoke about the perils of power. 
“Everyone is a potential victim. We spend our life looking for power but once we get it, we don’t know what to do with it,” he said. 
After talking about how leaders are often cold and aloof, he highlighted some of the solutions to avoid falling into that trap.

Gopalakrishnan’s career began in 1967 after he completed engineering at IIT Kharagpur. Then he went to Harvard Business School for the Advanced Management Program. 
He worked at Hindustan Lever for 31 years from which he retired as vice chairman. He then joined Tata Sons where he served as executive director for 19 years. 
“Both of these companies were wonderful because they were ethical and they gave me a chance to learn new things while being in the same place,” said Gopalakrishnan. 

He was the chairman of Unilever Arabia in Jeddah and also served as managing director of Brooke Bond Lipton. He is an independent director of Castrol India and Hemas Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka.
Gopalakrishnan emphasises on having a career that one enjoys and where one is able to learn. 
‘Keep learning new things’ is his motto in life. He finds luck to be an equally important factor in achieving success. 

What advice does Gopalakrishnan have for the youth? “Rejoice in what you have, don’t fight for growth, fight for your place in the sun because that is what life is all about.”
(With inputs from Sarah Maria Fuller and Sharon Rachel Sabu.)