VIII
Convocation -2017
Address by the
Guest of Honour
Professsor Soumitra Dutta
Dean
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Wednesday, April 05, 2017
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VIII Convocation - 2017
Address by the Guest of Honour
Professsor Soumitra Dutta, Dean, Cornell SC Johnson
College of Business
I would like to begin by offering my heartfelt congratulations to the
graduates, the medal winners and their families. Earning a graduate
degree in management, especially from a reputed institution such as
IIM Shillong is an important milestone in the life of all graduates.
Your life going forward is going to be very different from your life
before coming to this esteemed institution. You will not only have
the chance to apply your knowledge and network to important
business problems but also you will grow in different ways as leaders,
as valuable members of our society and community and as citizens
of the world.
To achieve this, you will need to combine three qualities, namely
knowledge, character and patience. Your years in this institution
brought you the knowledge that faculty could offer you; they also
helped you build character, through long nights of study, and tough
competition. Now is the time to show patience, by listening to a
graduation speech.
I wanted to use my time this morning to touch upon three themes
that I hope will serve you well as you forward in life. First, on your
role in the world as a leader for Brand India. Second, your role in
India as leaders in a fast developing economic power but one with
enormous social challenges. Finally, your role in your family and
community as an important role model for the next generation.
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First, you will continue to build Brand India
Let me begin with my own experience, starting with a time that – I
know – you all will have difficulties to imagine, i.e. a world with no
mobile phones, no Internet, and no selfies. I am telling you of a time
more than 30 years ago, soon after the dinosaurs became extinct.
In 1985 I graduated from computer science at IIT Delhi and like so
many others in my generation, went directly to the USA for higher
studies at the University of California at Berkeley. I distinctly recall
one comment during one of the many welcoming receptions for
incoming foreign students. An American student, who later became
a good friend asked me upon learning that I was from India, “did
you go to school in a bullock cart?”. Note that he was not trying to be
mean or unfriendly. In fact, it was quite the opposite – he was trying
to become my friend and trying to welcome me to a new country.
His question reflected the prevailing view of India then in the
developed world – a poor country, where people had to struggle to
make ends meet and achieve key goals such as getting an education.
Let me contrast that with another incident a few years ago when I
was crossing the border in Switzerland. I handed my passport to the
border agent who looked at the passport – it was an Indian passport
– and he looked at me – I was dressed well in business casual attire and his first question to me was: “are you a software programmer?”.
The contrast between the two questions – one posed to me in 1985 by
a friendly American student and another posed some 25 years later
by a border agent in Switzerland – reflects how the brand of India has
changed in the world. The brand of India today is more associated
with software and information technology, with knowledge based
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industries, with creative media sectors represented by Bollywood
than with bullock carts and snake charmers. The brand of India has
changed in the world – thanks to the progress of Indian industry
in key knowledge-based sectors and the successful careers of many
non-resident Indians who are CEOs of major companies, founders of
important startups and Deans and Presidents at major universities.
As the brand of India has changed, so have the expectations of
others of India and of Indians. People expect us to be bright and
creative. People expect us to be hardworking and successful. People
expect us to be ethical and inclusive. People expect us to lead for
success. People expect more from us. So what does this mean for
you as you graduate from IIM Shillong? You are at the forefront of
a generation that is facing an expectations revolution in the world
– mind you, a positive change in expectations. Something that not
all countries have benefited from. Regardless of where your careers
lead you, I am sure that you will come into contact with businesses
and colleagues from across the world. Your products and services
will find global customers and integrate with global supply chains.
As you interact with the world, please be mindful that people will
expect more from you. More quality in products and services. More
respect for deadlines. More ethical behavior. More respect for others.
More leadership for positive outcomes. In short, your mindset and
behaviors have to be geared for meeting these high expectations.
And this is important not just for you but also for continuing to build
the positive global brand of India and Indian companies. Positive
trends in brand India will help you become more successful, help
your companies to compete effectively and help your future in ways
that are not always easy to define.
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Second, let me say a few words about your role in India’s
development.
India has clearly progressed a lot on multiple fronts in the last couple
of decades and the good news is that under the leadership of Prime
Minister Modi and his government, more progress can be expected
in the coming years. However, we have to be mindful of a harsh
reality that India remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Many millions of our fellow citizens still struggle for basic necessities
such as nutritious food, clean water, basic sanitation, affordable
housing, minimum health care and quality education. If we do not
strive to assure our fellow citizens of these fundamental needs we
are limiting the potential of an entire generation to develop and of
our country to thrive. This has to change. But the change cannot be
effected by the government alone. Organizations in both the public
and private sectors have to play a key role. And you as leaders of these
organizations have to shoulder this responsibility.
As students of the management disciplines, you have been given
numerous financial and operational tools to help improve the
performance of an organization. I am confident that you will succeed
in applying these tools to help your organizations prosper. I am
also sure that you will rise over the years and lead organizations
with many hundreds and in some cases thousands of employees.
However, as you do so, I also want you to remember one important
fact. As you lead your employees, never forget that you have been
very privileged. You have been privileged to have obtained a world
class education here at IIM Shillong. You have something that most
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of your generation do not have – a degree from an IIM. However,
along with that privilege comes responsibility. Never forget that you
will not just impact the lives of those in your teams and organizations
but also the lives of many others – people you will most likely never
meet – who depend directly and indirectly on the livelihood of
your direct employees. You will have a far greater impact on the
lives of others than what you can imagine. This is a responsibility
that you should not take lightly. Your actions should always seek to
balance performance with responsibility. A single minded focus on
performance alone is not enough. You have to be bold to take actions
that help preserve jobs in difficult competitive environments. You
have to resist implementing policies that harm the environment and
destroy livelihood opportunities for others. You have to be brave to
invest in housing, health and education infrastructure to benefit the
community at large. In short, you will have to make decisions that
balance performance with responsibility.
Finally, let me say a few words about your role in your family and
community.
You have worked hard for your success but it is important to recognize
that your success today is not your success alone. You are here today
because of the hard work and dedication of many others around
you. You are here today because your parents invested their time
and resources in your upbringing. You are here today because your
teachers across different institutions including here at IIM Shillong
were committed to your learning. You are here today because many
of your friends and mentors believed in you and helped you in small
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and big ways. So while you should be justifiably proud of your own
success today, please be humble and thankful to all those in your
family and friends who have helped you to get here today. A simple
suggestion after this graduation: make a list of your family members,
friends and mentors who have helped you and call them or write to
them to simply say “thank you”. They will appreciate hearing from
you – and they will be proud of your success. Your success is also
their success.
Your success has made you a role model. You are a role model for your
family, especially for the young in your family: for your children, for
your nephews, your nieces and others. You are a role model for the
next generation in your community. I am sure you have neighbors
who tell their children – “you should be like Sunita. Look how well
she has done – she has earned a management degree from IIM
Shillong and is now doing so well in company X”. So it is only natural
that others look to you for guidance and inspiration. Be a role model.
Give back to your family. Give back to your community. Give back to
young people around you. This is what they call in America, “paying
it forward”. Pass on the benefits that you have received from others
as you built your success to the next generation and help them to
succeed. Inspire the young people around you in your family and
community to help achieve their potential and do even better than
you did.
Being a role model is not easy. It means that you have to continue
to be successful yourself. But more importantly, it also means that
you have to make the time to help others. You will be very busy as
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you build your careers. But do make the time to spend time with
young people in your family and community and help them to
succeed. This can take many forms. This could mean making time
to guide young people in local schools or community organizations.
This could mean giving your time to educate children from underprivileged segments of our society. This could mean spending time
with local entrepreneurs and mentoring their success. Regardless
of the mechanism you choose, keep in mind one core fact: making
others around you successful will make you more successful. It will
help you to lead a fuller and happier life. So make the time and invest
in paying it forward.
So I have tried to pass on three key messages to you: one, meet or
exceed the high expectations that others in the world have from you
and from India today – continue to help build brand India; two,
balance performance with responsibility – you have a larger social
responsibility than achieving narrow organizational goals; and three,
pay it forward – invest in the success of the next generation.
Let me close with a couple of additional thoughts. One of the classical
challenges of a professional executive is effectively managing worklife balance. Few recognize the importance of this as they are starting
their careers, especially amongst men. The price that one pays for mismanaging this important aspect of your life can be quite severe later
in life. And twenty or thirty years later, it is often a source of regret
and an aspect that cannot be changed easily. So please do pay careful
attention to it as you move forward. Everyone’s situation is different,
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but the important of managing an effective work-life balance cannot
be over-emphasized. Never forget that a leader is never successful
alone.
Finally, a common thread in many of the ideas that I have conveyed
today is around the theme of doing good while being an effective
leader. So let me leave you with a few phrases that a colleague shared
with me: Doing better is good. Doing good is better. Doing both is
best.
Congratulations again and good luck with your careers and lives!
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