N Chandrasekaran CEO TATA Sons MMA Amalgamations Business Leadership Award

Last weekend, I watched N. Chandrasekaran, the CEO of TATA Sons, receiving the 20th Madras Management Association(MMA) Amalgamations Business Leadership Award. 

N. Chandrasekaran, the CEO of TATA Sons received the 20th Madras Management Association(MMA) Amalgamations Business Leadership Award in Chennai on February 28. 

Until this award to N. Chandrasekaran,I was not aware of the MMA (Madras Management Association). Thankfully the entire felicitations and video was available on YouTube. I enjoyed watching it. The first recipient of this award was J.R.D Tata and Natajaran Chandrasekaran is the 20th recipient. The award is instituted in memory of Shri S.Anantharamakrishnan, Founder of Amalgamations Group.

As you listen to N. Chandrasekaran speak, you can’t help but notice his calmness. He said that he did not go to any business school and all of his learnings were from working 30+ years in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). He also talked about upholding the TATA values as being of prime importance above anything else. This is not a difficult task when you keep things simple (e.g. are you able to talk about your decision-making in public). He talked about the financial fitness and ensuring the financial health of all TATA companies (Balance Sheets, Cash Flow, P&L). He also emphasized on the need for good execution and also even if you have a plan, think outside of the box and disrupt things. 

N. Chandrasekaran talked about the turnaround of TATA motors, taking over Air India, upcoming investments in semiconductors, and more. Chandra also correlated his business lessons and compared the same with running a marathon. You need different sets of muscles for various stages in business. You constantly have to train yourself for new things. He also talked about India’s opportunity ahead and the good work done by Prime Minister Modi.

It was nice that N. Chandrasekaran to acknowledge his roots, studying in a Tamil Medium school, and the influence of Avvaiyar in his life. He referenced the need for patience with a quote from Avvaiyar.(மூதுரை 16 Mudurai 16)

ஓடுமீன் ஓட உறுமீன் வரும் அளவும் 

வாடி இருக்குமாம் கொக்கு.

(For the stork waits at the sluicegate patiently..

leaving small fishes  and waiting for bigger fishes ) (ref: Google)

The event started with an invocation from celebrated singer Aruna Sairam, Mahalingam Krishnamurthy, Partner / Director at TSM Group of companies, welcomed the gathering,  R. Seshasayee, Chairman Asian Paints A. Krishnamoorthy, S Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Commentator on Economics and Politics, Arvind Dattar, Sr. Advocate Madras High Court, A. Krishnamurthy, Chairman Amalgamations Group, Mallika Srinivasan, Chairperson, TAFE felicitated Natarajan Chandrasekaran. The event ended with a Vote of Thanks by Gp Capt R Vijayakumar, Executive Director, MMA.

Watching the entire event was great learning and I enjoyed every bit of it. Not just listening to N. Chandrasekaran, it was great to listen to each and every one who spoke at the event. TATA Group is a big inspiration to anyone in business. Thanks for putting together a great event MMA Tea and also making it available for all on YouTube.