Having acquainted you with the topics most talked about at B School Convocations 2010, in our introductory article, here is the next edition, which comes with a constellation of excerpts picked up from five select speeches made by stalwarts who are in the role of policymakers now or have been so before, namely, former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (at BIMTECH), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (at MDI Gurgaon), Commerce Minister Anand Sharma (at IIFT), Economic Advisory Council Chairman Dr. C. Rangarajan (at IIM Ahmedabad) and former Deputy governor RBI Dr. Rakesh Mohan,  (at IMI). 

MBAUniverse.com has meticulously studied the speeches made by them to come up with a collection of precious excerpts and quotes which are as follows:   
 

Ask ‘what will I be remembered for’ and get your own goals

APJ Abdul Kalam at BIMTECH, Nov 9, 2009

“Innovation is the essence of leadership. Work with integrity and succeed with integrity. Work in such a way that it fulfills the corporate social responsibility in a transparent setting. I will suggest all of you to ask a question ‘what I will be remembered for?’ I am sure you would like to do something different, out of the box. That statement will act as a goal post for you and facilitate your systematic work for the realization of the goal” A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and no one in the society feels alienated.”

“The world in the 21st century will be a knowledge-based society with multiple opportunities. The economy will mostly be driven by knowledge and knowledge driven institutions and industries. The emphasis in knowledge society will be on sustainable development.”

Act with Courage, Commitment & Conviction to succeed

Pranab Mukherjee at MDI Convocation, April 13 2010

“The world economy and Indian economy has been going through trying times in the last two years. However, we have successfully weathered the crisis. The next challenge before us is to quickly revert to the high GDP growth path of nine per cent and then find the resolve and the means to cross the double digit growth barrier. With this recovery, the opportunities are again wide open for graduating students”  

“India is well on its way to becoming an economic power to reckon with and young people like you can play an important role in nation building. Remember the whole world is waiting for you. Nothing can stop you if you have courage, conviction and commitment."   

Understand culture for becoming a global manager

Anand Sharma at IIFT, 23 March 2010

“In business, communication is everything. Good communication matters because business organizations are made up of people. The new breed of international managers has to be adaptable, possess cross cultural skills and have the ability to work with, and learn from, many cultures.” 

Learn the lessons from the crisis: Don’t compromise ethics for Profits

Rakesh Mohan at IMI, May 22 2010

“First, building institutions is important. In this case G-20 has proven its worth. Second, we can and do learn from both theory and history. We have avoided the egregious errors that led to the Great Depression. Third, from our own experience of prudent macro management and financial sector regulation:

don’t get taken in by the extant fashions of the world. Keep your own counsel, use common sense and do what you think is right. I believe that all lessons are important not just in the policy world but also in running our own personal lives.”

“The pursuit of profit is essential for a dynamic economy. But the pursuit of profit can also be done without abandoning the basic ethics of life. Some of the most successful and profitable companies in the world have also been those which have been known for observing very high ethical standards.”  
 

Crisis teaches to have an ambition with idealism

Dr. C. Rangarajan at IIM Ahmedabad, March 27 2010

“The lessons that we should draw from the crisis is that the reckless pursuit of such ends without considering the possible risks, has the potential of destabilizing the markets.”

“Global crisis offers an experience in the light of which we can learn and unlearn the previously held views and positions. Youth is driven by idealism and ambition. Idealism without ambition may not achieve much but ambition without idealism can be dangerous. May you combine the two in right proportion?”      
 

Next in the series: Read the excerpts from the speeches of five business bigwigs, viz. Mukesh Ambani at IIM Bangalore, Vijay Mallya at IMT, Narayan Murthy at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Harsh Mariwala at IIM Indore and R. Seshasayee at XIMB.