Ratan TATA

In July this year, when I was visiting Trivandrum, Kerala, I stayed at a hotel called ‘Ginger’. The hotel was very well maintained and the rooms were good and the price was very affordable. I have seen the Ginger brand in a few places and this was my first time staying at the hotel. I asked the receptionist who the owners were. The receptionist was very happy working for Ginger and she told me that it was owned by the TATA group.  (Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), a subsidiary of the TATA Group). This was one of the many occasions I was in awe of the TATA Group. 

Last week, I took some time off in Thailand and decided not to check any emails or messages. Obviously I had missed that Ratan Tata was admitted at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.  On Thursday afternoon, my daughter told me ‘Rata Tata died’ and it came as a complete surprise. Like most of India, I felt very sad. Clearly, Ratan Tata has left a legacy. There were many highs and maybe some lows in his work and life. However, he took the risk and never shied away from failures. Here are some of my observations:

Image Source: www.gqindia.com

NANO:

Ratan Tata went all in on the NANO (affordable family car), clearly the way to execute when you want to make big changes. The car was launched with a lot of excitement and it was great to see the buzz around it. It was also being marketed as the cheapest car and it did not resonate well with people. Ratan Tata himself was vulnerable and accepted it as a miss on his part. He understood there were flaws in quite a few areas and after all the effort put in, the TATA group rolled it back. Great Leadership Lessons from Ratan Tata. 

TATA Sons Transition:

When Rata Tata was 75, he decided to retire as the Chairman of TATA Sons, the holding company of TATAs. For context, TATA Sons owns over 30 companies across 10 verticals and hundreds of subsidiaries. 

At the time, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was appointed as the Chairman of the group in 2012. Cyrus headed TATA Sons for 4 years until 2016 and it did not go as expected. It was an uphill battle and Cyrus was let go. In the end, because of Ratan Tata’s credibility and his work he was able to call the shots, and N. Chandrasekharan, then CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was appointed as the Chairman of TATA Sons. 

This, according to me, is a BIG WIN for Ratan Tata. It is awesome to see how the various TATA companies have transformed and grown under Chandra’s leadership. This is a great outcome. However, in typical TATA style, you would not have seen Ratan Tata take credit for this success. It is just teamwork and they maintain a low profile.

Empathy & Philanthropy: 

If you read the posts across social channels, you will see plenty of stories of the kindness of Ratan Tata. You have to be empathetic and kind to people who can’t do anything in return. Rata practiced this. In Chandrasekaran’s LinkedIn post, he talked about renovating the Bombay House and Ratan Tata asked, If all of us were to vacate Bombay House for renovation, where would the dogs go?  Chandra ensured that the kennels for the street dogs were designed well and built-in class. This brought joy to Ratan Tata. 

In another interview I listened to, Kumar Mangalam Birla shared his experience of visiting the TATA Cancer Hospital in Kolkata and he could see first hand the commitment and dedication of Ratan Tata towards this. However, Ratan Tata hardly talked about his philanthropic efforts. 

Purpose: The purpose of doing business is to serve society. This is something all of us can learn from Ratan Tata and the TATA group. Ratan held the TATA legacy and he made it even stronger.

It is not easy to have a Tata surname. When you have a lot of money, it is quite easy to squander wealth. Thanks Ratan Tata for inspiring all of us. We love you so much. 

Karthik Chidambaram.