MEN OF STEEL- A SUMMARY

Rarely one comes across a book, that is not a novel and yet, one finds it difficult to put it down.

Men of Steel, a book authored by Vir Sanghvi, a well known name in Indian media, is one such

book. It has got a ‘biographic’ feel about it, which brings to us lesser known facts about India’s top

business leaders.

Though interviews of more no. of leaders were given, I selected only instances of those leaders

who inspired me the most.

Nandan Nilkeni: Value driven

Walking out for values

In 1981, the Patni brother who normally interacted with Murthy was out of town and another

brother treated him roughly. Though details of the disagreement are not divulged, the end note

was something like this:

Mr. Murthy was asked by Mr. Patni to do something, which he refused. When Mr. Murthy asked

Mr. Patni for an explanation, he was asked to do what he was told to do.

In response to this Mr. Murthy and his team walked out to form a company that would treat its

employees with respect, pay no bribes, do no cash transactions and take collective professional

decisions- Infosys.

Nandan Nilekani decided to become an entrepreneur a few days before his marriage. Nilekani was

to get married in the first week of January, 1981. In late December 1980, when Murthy and

Raghavan told him of their plan to quit and start a company he cast in his lot with them.

From starting a company, to the IPO, Nandan Nilkeni was involved in all. Even during his informal

meet with his fellow quiz members, Nilekani came to a meeting with a battered attache case,

pulled out some IPO forms, and tried to interest them in the offering. “I did invest in Infosys,” says

one of them, “and never had cause to regret it.” Nilekani also remembers visiting some of his IIT

batchmates working in Mumbai “with the same battered attache case” and trying to interest them

in some shares. Those who believed in his dreams are rich people and those who did not,

well….are looking forward to another Infosys.

Reason: Mirror of heart is the clearest of all. To be able to look at it, with no fear in heart is what

should aim for. The fact that Nandan Nilkeni, with a typical middleclass background could take the

right decision even when he was about to get married, struck a chord with me.
From Cerebral to passionate

Nandan, in past was known more for being an observer, though an astute one, a man who was

always on and yet detached, dispassionate. However, his journey with Infosys has changed him to

be a much more giving person. Leaders are known for their passion than their intellect. Nandan

realizes it. Therefore, instead of old dispassionate detachment, he lets you know what he thinks.

He feels more passionately about things, and is much more demonstrative than he ever thought it

would be possible.

Ratan Tata- The Phoenix

Unsung victories

Nelco has long been regarded as an albatross around Ratan Tata’s neck. It is alleged that he run

Nelco to the ground, but reality is otherwise. When Ratan Tata took over, Nelco had 40% loss of
turnover. Ratan Tata was able to turn around so that profit was made and declared a dividend. He

too admits that Nelco was never a huge success, but surely he can take credit for having turned it

around.

Next venture, Empress Mill, too was a sick unit, which he made profitable. Then his predecessor,

JRD Tata, asked him to look after Central India Mill. However it was an adverse period for whole

Indian textile industry, so some Tata directors, chiefly Nani Palkhivala took the line that they

should liquidate the mill, which was agreed to. Ratan Tata was so disgusted with the decision that

when he got his annual bonus from Tata, he gave it to the officers of the company, who had lost

their jobs for no fault of theirs.

Fight for the throne

Ratan Tata has repeatedly been accused of getting rid of all those people who posed danger to

his present post. However as per him, he was not even in the race. With Rusi Modi making certain

tactical errors, it was decision of JRD Tata himself, to choose Ratan Tata as his successor. Inspite

of the surname, he was never sure that he would be given the reins. One of his regrets is the

soured relationship with Rusi Modi, to whom he looked upto from his Jamshedpur days.

The Brickbats and the Bouquets

There have been many lonely moments in Ratan Tata’s life. Perhaps the loneliest time for him, as

he mentions, was during the Tata Tea issue in Assam. For some reason everyone believed that

Tata had conspired with the extremists, ULFA.

However in one of the interviews later to rediff.com, ULFA Commander-in-chief Paresh Barua
said, “Tata Tea is the only one of the tea companies based in Assam, who has not paid for

protection. They are difficult customers. We did not touch them after they said no to our request for

payments. We realised that though the Tatas are capitalists, they were better than most others.

They were doing some work for Assam. We knew their work made them popular in Assam. So

though they are capitalists, we have some appreciation for their work.”

The Rajan Nair strike in Pune, which was about 15 days after Ratan Tata became chairman of

Telco, also was a very lonely period for him. Everything revolved around his taking a stand that he

wouldn't negotiate with an outsider. Many of his colleagues could not understand why. However

Ratan Tata believed that had they discussed with him, they would have lost the company to Nair

because he had his own army that would beat up people.

Whether it is Indica or Nano, it was repeatedly said that it cannot be done; it has not been done

before. In 1998, Ratan Tata launched the Indica, which is India's first indigenously designed,

developed and manufactured car. When the Indica was under production, it was said that Tata will

produce a lemon. Friends started to leave Ratan Tata alone, they begged him to distance from the

project. Pooh-poohed for getting into the passenger car segment, Ratan Tata turned the tables on

the naysayers within a few years. Toady Tata Motors' Indica and Indigo are two of the hottest

selling cars in India.

On Nano, there was a fair amount of ridicule when the project started that it is a pipe dream and in

honesty that would have extended into the company also in certain quarters. That it can't be done

and then as they went along, it became clear that something was happening and they were going

forward. The best part about it is that it is proper car, not a combination of 2 scooters or an auto
rickshaw with 4 wheels. And now we all are waiting with bated breath to see Nano run on the

roads, may be even own one.

Reason: If bearing the burden of a famous surname was not enough, being criticized for not being

upto the mark definitely would have crumpled confidence of any normal person, but. Ratan Tata

not once, but always has risen like phoenix from the ashes. Whether it is fight for the throne or

ending the labour strike, Ratan Tata has seen and won in all with his characteristic poise and

straight replies..