The students of the Vinod Gupta School of Management had the privilege of attending an inspiring guest lecture by Mr Ankur Chaturvedi, Senior General Manager (Operations and Safety) of Emami Ltd. on the 17th of January, 2019. Having pioneered strategies and excelling in Supply Chain and Operations for over two decades, he brought with him a rich bouquet of experience and delivered golden life mantras through his effortless way of story-telling. 
Mr Chaturvedi discussed two case studies, which formed a significant part of the session. In the first one, he demonstrated how subordinates in family businesses face unfair challenges to prove their worth. Hence, it is imperative for us to explicitly communicate the enormity of tasks to our superiors before setting off on extremely challenging missions. At the same time, we should not get deterred by the enormity of these tasks and give our best, keeping in mind that it is OK to fail. A continuation of the first, the second case study stressed the need to have a ‘Never Say Die’ attitude. When in doubt, we must always ask the expert. However, under testing conditions, it is better to try and fail instead of waiting for the expert to solve our problem.
Taking the audience by quite a gentle surprise, our guest linked the two case studies to two distinct episodes from the Ramayana. The reason for citing these examples was to illustrate how, despite not having noteworthy designations, we can scale near-impossible heights using our skills and sheer determination.
Mr Chaturvedi’s immensely thought-provoking and motivational session garnered a lot of appreciation from the budding managers of VGSoM, who enjoyed his anecdotes and perspectives. He reminded us that mistakes often result in phenomenal inventions, as in the case of the microwave oven, hence we must never give up on our pursuits. Recalling his days of Army training, he told how the mental toughening taught there was helpful in overcoming challenges in life. The audience could not have asked for more when he made his concluding note, “Why to see the world in black and white when you can do so in 4K!”
Mr Chaturvedi discussed two case studies, which formed a significant part of the session. In the first one, he demonstrated how subordinates in family businesses face unfair challenges to prove their worth. Hence, it is imperative for us to explicitly communicate the enormity of tasks to our superiors before setting off on extremely challenging missions. At the same time, we should not get deterred by the enormity of these tasks and give our best, keeping in mind that it is OK to fail. A continuation of the first, the second case study stressed the need to have a ‘Never Say Die’ attitude. When in doubt, we must always ask the expert. However, under testing conditions, it is better to try and fail instead of waiting for the expert to solve our problem.
Taking the audience by quite a gentle surprise, our guest linked the two case studies to two distinct episodes from the Ramayana. The reason for citing these examples was to illustrate how, despite not having noteworthy designations, we can scale near-impossible heights using our skills and sheer determination.
Mr Chaturvedi’s immensely thought-provoking and motivational session garnered a lot of appreciation from the budding managers of VGSoM, who enjoyed his anecdotes and perspectives. He reminded us that mistakes often result in phenomenal inventions, as in the case of the microwave oven, hence we must never give up on our pursuits. Recalling his days of Army training, he told how the mental toughening taught there was helpful in overcoming challenges in life. The audience could not have asked for more when he made his concluding note, “Why to see the world in black and white when you can do so in 4K!”