Meet R Gopalakrishnan
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R Gopalakrishnan studied physics at Kolkata University, engineering at IIT Kharagpur and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He has been a professional manager from 1967. He has served as Chairman of Unilever Arabia, as MD of Brooke Bond Lipton and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever, as ED of Tata Sons and several Tata companies. He also serves as an independent director of listed companies, Akzo Nobel India, Castrol India, and Hemas Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka.
Gopal mentors few start-ups. He is actively engaged in both instructional and inspirational speaking. He has also authored six books. Writing : Gopal has been a newspaper columnist and continues to write every month for financial papers. He has also authored six books since 2007, the titles of which are:
Advising : Gopal has been a corporate leader for 50 years: 31 years in Unilever and 19 years in Tata. He served in Jeddah as Chairman of Unilever Arabia, in Bangalore as Managing Director of Brooke Bond Lipton and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever, and as Executive Director of Tata Sons. Apart from serving as a Director on the TATA parent board, Tata Sons, and he also served several group companies. Currently he serves as an independent director of listed companies, Akzo Nobel India, Castrol India, and Hemas Holdings PLC, Sri Lanka. Gopal mentors few start-up. Teaching : Gopal studied physics at St Xavier’s Kolkata, engineering at IIT Kharagpur and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He is a past president of the All India Management Association. Gopal has a wide repertoire of subjects, specifically – Business in India, Markets and Customers, Governance and Strategy, Organisation and People, and Innovation. He relies on practical examples, rich with anecdotes rather than theory or analytical frameworks. He has taught an unusual course titled ‘LWNT-Learning What Nobody Teaches’ at B-schools. Speaking : Gopal is an international speaker who also speaks extensively in India and is actively engaged in both instructional & inspirational speaking. Speeches: Business in India, Market and Customers, Governance and Strategy, Organisation and People, Innovation Training Masterclass: Reflective leadership, Putting human back into relationships, Manager to transformers, Innovation - barriers and triggers |
 
 
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Suggested Speaking Topics
- Leadership
- Strategy and Growth
- Transformation
- Education
- Managing Top Teams
WHY MANAGEMENT IS A PERFORMING ART
Management is taught and practiced as though it is more science than art. In reality, the speaker argues, it is at least half performing art, if not more than half. Why should this be so? The speaker emphasizes the importance of the experiential narrative, the value of constructive story-telling and how these can play strong roles in the development of future leaders.
CAN SMART PEOPLE STOP DOING SILLY THINGS?
In the speech, the speaker identifies examples of silly things and also what conditions must be met for an incident or episode to be considered as a silly thing. The speaker explores why silly things keep happening through examples from history—Israel 950 BC, Easter Island 1100 AD, Mexico 1500 AD, Titanic 1912. Importantly the speech suggest three mantras to minimize leaders doing silly things in the future.
THINKING IN ENGLISH BUT ACTING IN INDIAN
The speech identifies some distinctive influences on India-born and India-trained business executives. It seeks to link their managerial performance in global contexts to these influences. The speech proposes that just as the world discovered for economic models that there may is an Asian model and a Beijing consensus as opposed to the Washington consensus model, there may well be emerging, an Indian or Asian model of management as compared to the widely prevalent Anglo-American model.
INNOVATING FOR THE INDIAN MARKET
The speech covers three aspects. First, it touches upon a few myths about innovation with live examples to illustrate why those are indeed myths. Second the presentation covers what the triggers and teasers are for innovation. Last, it touches upon what it takes to innovate for the Indian market—why is India different, how have others done it, and finally, what are the lessons?
COLLABORATIVE WORKING: some lessons
On the one hand, human beings are distinctive because they can collaborate, unlike other species. On the other hand, it is very difficult for people to work collaboratively. Therefore the leader’s task is to create a ‘colloidal community’ to increase collaboration. What is a colloidal community and what are the examples? Boundary spanning leaders are essential, so there needs to be an understanding of what this skill is, how it can be inculcated and what organizations should do.
WHY STORY TELLING IS IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESSES
Stories have been important to human evolution. There are epics, mythologies and several forms of narratives. Why do they exist in every society all over the world? Why have stories survived so long? What will they continue to be important in the future? Managers and leaders can learn positive leadership lessons from story-telling.
WHAT CRISIS LEADERS DO WHEN THE COMPANY FACES A CRISIS.
Like individuals will face crises at certain indeterminate intervals, companies too will run into crises at certain individuals. Every CEO has the task of leading his company out of such a crisis, without knowing quite exactly how things will turn out. The CEO depends hugely on the leadership team in the company because those ‘distributed leaders’ are the ones who face suppliers, customers and employees on a day to day basis. I have drawn ten lessons that I have learnt through the company crises I have faced in Unilever and Tata over the last fifty years.
BONSAIS, PENNIES AND SIX LENSES: leadership passages
Leadership development is a personal journey and the bends in the journey bear a significance only for that person. One must learn to reflect on experiences and failures, and what they teach the individual. I describe four such bends in a leadership journey—the point where analytics needs to be supported by intuition, the point where self-awareness assumes renewed importance, the point when obligation is perceived as the obverse of privilege and the point when one learns to view events from another’s perspective.
WHY STORY TELLING IS IMPORTANT IN LEADERSHIP
Stories have been important to human evolution. There are epics, mythologies and several forms of narratives. Why do they exist in every society all over the world? Why have stories survived so long? What will they continue to be important in the future? Managers and leaders can learn positive leadership lessons from story-telling.
OVERCOMING SOME MYTHS ABOUT INNOVATION
The subject of innovation has acquired many beliefs and myths, which are accepted without questioning. Some of these myths are broken during the speech with examples to illustrate. There are also some realities about innovation and these tend to be overlooked in organizations. Together these myths and realities serve as lodestars for organizations which are serious about innovation.
Management is taught and practiced as though it is more science than art. In reality, the speaker argues, it is at least half performing art, if not more than half. Why should this be so? The speaker emphasizes the importance of the experiential narrative, the value of constructive story-telling and how these can play strong roles in the development of future leaders.
CAN SMART PEOPLE STOP DOING SILLY THINGS?
In the speech, the speaker identifies examples of silly things and also what conditions must be met for an incident or episode to be considered as a silly thing. The speaker explores why silly things keep happening through examples from history—Israel 950 BC, Easter Island 1100 AD, Mexico 1500 AD, Titanic 1912. Importantly the speech suggest three mantras to minimize leaders doing silly things in the future.
THINKING IN ENGLISH BUT ACTING IN INDIAN
The speech identifies some distinctive influences on India-born and India-trained business executives. It seeks to link their managerial performance in global contexts to these influences. The speech proposes that just as the world discovered for economic models that there may is an Asian model and a Beijing consensus as opposed to the Washington consensus model, there may well be emerging, an Indian or Asian model of management as compared to the widely prevalent Anglo-American model.
INNOVATING FOR THE INDIAN MARKET
The speech covers three aspects. First, it touches upon a few myths about innovation with live examples to illustrate why those are indeed myths. Second the presentation covers what the triggers and teasers are for innovation. Last, it touches upon what it takes to innovate for the Indian market—why is India different, how have others done it, and finally, what are the lessons?
COLLABORATIVE WORKING: some lessons
On the one hand, human beings are distinctive because they can collaborate, unlike other species. On the other hand, it is very difficult for people to work collaboratively. Therefore the leader’s task is to create a ‘colloidal community’ to increase collaboration. What is a colloidal community and what are the examples? Boundary spanning leaders are essential, so there needs to be an understanding of what this skill is, how it can be inculcated and what organizations should do.
WHY STORY TELLING IS IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESSES
Stories have been important to human evolution. There are epics, mythologies and several forms of narratives. Why do they exist in every society all over the world? Why have stories survived so long? What will they continue to be important in the future? Managers and leaders can learn positive leadership lessons from story-telling.
WHAT CRISIS LEADERS DO WHEN THE COMPANY FACES A CRISIS.
Like individuals will face crises at certain indeterminate intervals, companies too will run into crises at certain individuals. Every CEO has the task of leading his company out of such a crisis, without knowing quite exactly how things will turn out. The CEO depends hugely on the leadership team in the company because those ‘distributed leaders’ are the ones who face suppliers, customers and employees on a day to day basis. I have drawn ten lessons that I have learnt through the company crises I have faced in Unilever and Tata over the last fifty years.
BONSAIS, PENNIES AND SIX LENSES: leadership passages
Leadership development is a personal journey and the bends in the journey bear a significance only for that person. One must learn to reflect on experiences and failures, and what they teach the individual. I describe four such bends in a leadership journey—the point where analytics needs to be supported by intuition, the point where self-awareness assumes renewed importance, the point when obligation is perceived as the obverse of privilege and the point when one learns to view events from another’s perspective.
WHY STORY TELLING IS IMPORTANT IN LEADERSHIP
Stories have been important to human evolution. There are epics, mythologies and several forms of narratives. Why do they exist in every society all over the world? Why have stories survived so long? What will they continue to be important in the future? Managers and leaders can learn positive leadership lessons from story-telling.
OVERCOMING SOME MYTHS ABOUT INNOVATION
The subject of innovation has acquired many beliefs and myths, which are accepted without questioning. Some of these myths are broken during the speech with examples to illustrate. There are also some realities about innovation and these tend to be overlooked in organizations. Together these myths and realities serve as lodestars for organizations which are serious about innovation.
Innovation Barriers and Triggers
Overview:
All executives and leaders desire to promote innovation in their departments and companies. The way to think about innovation is, however, unclear. The real challenge they face is not what to do about promoting innovation, but how to think about the subject. Being talented, once the ways of thinking about innovation are settled in their mind, future leaders get adept at figuring out how they might go about implementing some ideas. It is a long journey, but the first step is always hesitant. This master class addresses some of these issues.
The master class…….
Managers to Transformers
2 x 1.5 Session Notes = 3 hours
Overview:
A career in business management is like a traveller’s journey. Travellers learn best by interacting with fellow travellers about their individual moves through the various phases:
This journey requires a person to transit from swimming in the ‘known problemknown solution’ shallow waters to the deep, swirling currents of the ‘unknown problem-unknown solution’ ocean. During this journey, the traveller confronts some typical questions such as:
The ability to become self-aware and to find answers to these questions helps successful executives to avoid getting derailed by their own follies and foibles, which are referred to as ‘psychological toxins’.
Putting Humans Back In to Relationships
2 x 1.5 hour sessions = 3 hours
Overview:
All management practitioners and books will assert that the basic job of a manager is to get work done through others. Logically human skills should be the most important skill set of the manager. In a volatile, uncertain, complex, uncertain world of business these days, how well set are the human skills of the manager?
The data is shocking. There is data to suggest that indeed the best way to navigate through turbulent times is to do the ‘right things’ in terms of human relations. Further data suggests that the human skills of leading are declining very rapidly—from the older generation to the younger generation, from boss to subordinate, from one team to another. In fact some of the data points to a serious failure in precisely the most basic skill for which one would employ a manager–and all this in a business world where these virtues are eulogized constantly.
How can a modern manager return to the basics of his job? It is a bit like how can a doctor or lawyer learn the basics of his job better.
Reflective Leadership
Overview:
Executives intuitively know that their own experiences are their best teachers, more so than all the teachers they might meet at professional courses. Professional teachers are very valuable insofar as they help the manager to reflect and learn from personal experiences. There is a method to the acts of reflection and learning. This masterclass introduces the participants to one such method. The method involves presentation and discussion on four related aspects:
Overview:
All executives and leaders desire to promote innovation in their departments and companies. The way to think about innovation is, however, unclear. The real challenge they face is not what to do about promoting innovation, but how to think about the subject. Being talented, once the ways of thinking about innovation are settled in their mind, future leaders get adept at figuring out how they might go about implementing some ideas. It is a long journey, but the first step is always hesitant. This master class addresses some of these issues.
The master class…….
- There will be two 90 minute sessions. The first session will address what are the barriers and myths surrounding innovation. The second session will elucidate the triggers and the teasers around innovation. Sessions will tend to be anecdotal and real-life. There will be a few presentation slides, but the sessions will have enough porosity to draw participants into discussion and to narrate issues/experiences.
- Session 1 on ‘Barriers and Myths’: Innovation ideas and concepts—Innovation myths—Big bang versus small steps—Jugaad, Gambiarra, Zuzhu Chuang Xin and Kluge (Apollo 13 video) —Growth and fixed mind-sets (Carol Dweck video) and culture setting.
- Session 2 on ‘Triggers and Teasing’: Innovation realities—the inverted triangles—Frugal is not about less features (Swach video)—Dare to try organisational system—generating a movement (Dandi video. Both the sessions will rely on stories and anecdotes to strengthen awareness of self-evident of learning.
- Each participant will certainly have at least a few personal takeaways which he/ she will be determined to think about.
- The act of thinking about innovation as a basic leadership deliverable will trigger the desire to learn more and develop an individual plan of action.
- Expected outcomes are (i) Inspiration: we too can do it. (ii) Curiosity: how should we go about it. (iii) Balance: imagination versus execution
- This content of this program has been delivered over the last five years to practising managers and students of management. Therefore the content has been tested and refined, based on these experiences.
- Much of the content of this masterclass has been derived from the articles and books written by Gopal.
Managers to Transformers
2 x 1.5 Session Notes = 3 hours
Overview:
A career in business management is like a traveller’s journey. Travellers learn best by interacting with fellow travellers about their individual moves through the various phases:
- Initially, from being a “doer of things” to becoming a “manager of people”.
- Thereafter, from being a “manager of people” to becoming a “leader of ideas”.
- Finally, from a “leader of ideas” to becoming a “shaper of Institutions”.
This journey requires a person to transit from swimming in the ‘known problemknown solution’ shallow waters to the deep, swirling currents of the ‘unknown problem-unknown solution’ ocean. During this journey, the traveller confronts some typical questions such as:
- Am I really doing what I enjoy doing? What is my ‘purpose’?
- How can I better learn lessons, which are inherently difficult to teach?
- How can I learn by reflecting on my experiences?
- What is the impact of my relationships on others?
- Do I have faults which may affect my career progress?
The ability to become self-aware and to find answers to these questions helps successful executives to avoid getting derailed by their own follies and foibles, which are referred to as ‘psychological toxins’.
Putting Humans Back In to Relationships
2 x 1.5 hour sessions = 3 hours
Overview:
All management practitioners and books will assert that the basic job of a manager is to get work done through others. Logically human skills should be the most important skill set of the manager. In a volatile, uncertain, complex, uncertain world of business these days, how well set are the human skills of the manager?
The data is shocking. There is data to suggest that indeed the best way to navigate through turbulent times is to do the ‘right things’ in terms of human relations. Further data suggests that the human skills of leading are declining very rapidly—from the older generation to the younger generation, from boss to subordinate, from one team to another. In fact some of the data points to a serious failure in precisely the most basic skill for which one would employ a manager–and all this in a business world where these virtues are eulogized constantly.
How can a modern manager return to the basics of his job? It is a bit like how can a doctor or lawyer learn the basics of his job better.
Reflective Leadership
Overview:
Executives intuitively know that their own experiences are their best teachers, more so than all the teachers they might meet at professional courses. Professional teachers are very valuable insofar as they help the manager to reflect and learn from personal experiences. There is a method to the acts of reflection and learning. This masterclass introduces the participants to one such method. The method involves presentation and discussion on four related aspects:
- What is the purpose of a career?
- What is the influence of context in judgment?
- How important is self-awareness in the leadership journey?
- How can a leader manage self-demons?
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