Arun Nanda divides his 43-year career at the $16.9 billion Mahindra Group into two phases. Pre-1992, said the now-chairman of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, India was a socialist country that assured he had the biggest car available and a 4,000 sq. ft. home but meant he had to survive on a $500 monthly salary. “We had to save to afford a refrigerator,” he recalls. A more competitive world since 1992 plunged the Mahindra conglomerate, which still makes everything from automobiles and motorcycles to home appliances, into massive cost-cutting and efficiency drives. Ultimately the group shifted from pure manufacturing to realizing half its profits and revenues from services that span sectors as broad as financial, IT, and retail.
Nanda helped launch Mihindra’s hospitality business in 1996. Today the company operates 45 timeshare and vacation resorts under the Club Mahindra Holidays banner in India, Europe, and the far East. He shared some words of wisdom with the audience at the 12th Annual India Business Conference held in early April:
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Be willing to walk away. If you find a business proposition that you’re determined to pursue “at any cost,” it can blind you.
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Empower others. “Intelligent people sometimes get arrogant,” he said. Learn to let others shine. And you won’t be promoted unless a successor has been groomed to take your spot.
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Make mistakes. Nanda recalled a dreaded meeting with the company CEO some years back after he took a company subsidiary to the equivalent of Chapter 11. “I’m glad you failed,” said the CEO. “It shows you are taking risks and you can’t succeed big without taking risks.” Of course, said Nanda, the failure was preceded by a string of successes. “If I had failed more than once,” he said, “I would have been fired.”
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Listen. “Indians are poor listeners,” he insisted. “When someone talks, we want to finish the sentence.” But Nanda says some of his best ideas were sparked from input from employees, customers, government officials, and peers.