The Global Indian Monday, June 30 2025
  • Home
  • Stories
    • Exclusive
    • Startups
    • Culture
    • Marketplace
    • Campus Life
  • Youth
  • Purpose
    • Giving Back
  • ZIP CODES
    • Work-Life
  • Blogs
    • Opinion
    • Profiles
    • Web-Stories
  • Fun Facts
    • World in Numbers
    • Did You Know
    • Quotes
  • Gallery
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • OPPORTUNITIES
    • Migrate
    • Work
    • Study
    • Invest
    • Travel
    • Visa
  • Join us
  • Publisher
Select Page
R Gopalakrishnan
Global IndianstoryR Gopalakrishnan: ‘Made-in-India Manager’ who shaped HUL and Tata Sons
  • Global Indian Exclusive
  • Indian CEO
  • Lifestyle
  • Whatsapp Share
  • LinkedIn Share
  • Facebook Share
  • Twitter Share

R Gopalakrishnan: ‘Made-in-India Manager’ who shaped HUL and Tata Sons

Written by: Ranjani Rajendra

(May 20, 2021) A series of unplanned coincidences: that’s how R Gopalakrishnan, management veteran and former honcho at Tata Sons, Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever) and Unilever Arabia, describes his career that spans over five decades. “My career happened to be the line joining the dots; and to think I had initially turned down a marketing traineeship in Hindustan Lever to work as an engineer,” he says. He wanted to stay in the individual contributor track as he thought “management was flaky,” says the trusted colleague of Tata chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. That’s why he chose IIT over IIM after completing his graduation.  

Managing the Indian way 

Indian CEO | R Gopalakrishnan | Indian Author | Global IndianBut today Gopalakrishnan is seen as a management guru who brings his life lessons from leading corporate teams across countries in the 16 books he’s authored over the years. His 2018 book The Made-In India Manager, examines how a unique combination of factors led Indian management thought and practices to evolve differently from the western discourse. “As Indians, we learn many managerial qualities without even realizing it. A lot of them dissipate in following protocols: Government and social.” Indians grow up in a highly competitive environment and that compels them to pursue goals with a single-minded focus. “Which is why when Indians go abroad and work with better infrastructure, they are able to put their surplus energy to better use. They have a unique way of dealing with issues,” he says.  But there are also downsides to the Indian way of managing. The lack of innovation from India, for instance, is largely because we cry victory too soon and don’t see the idea through to customer use and satisfaction. “We don’t plan long term; it’s more about quick fixes or jugaad engineering.” Gopalakrishnan also mentors a few startups. While there is more respectability surrounding the startup ecosystem today, there is also a lot of hype around them, he feels. “How many of our startups are actually profitable or IPO worthy? I believe a startup’s measure of respectability lies in the period of time it takes to make profit. We should encourage startups by applauding the effort behind them and not the inherent talent.” Gopalakrishnan is also uniquely qualified to talk about the divergence in Indian and MNC top management cultures. He’s someone who began his career as a computer analyst at Hindustan Lever, moved to a marketing role and eventually settled into the management track. Gopalakrishnan went on to serve as the Chairman of Unilever Arabia, MD of Brooke Bond Lipton and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever, before being handpicked by Ratan Tata to change things around at Tata Sons as executive director. 

Tata Sons and Ratan Tata

The transition to Tata Sons wasn’t easy at first: One adjustment was about adopting a more indirect and diplomatic line, different from what he would have done as the chief executive of various businesses in previous stints. About Ratan Tata, his boss for many years, Gopalakrishnan says, “He was a good boss; not perfect, but good. No boss is perfect; I never was either.”  “But Ratan Tata has a large heart, he can think long term and is a critical thinker; not qualities easy to come by.” Presently, he serves as the non-executive chairman of Castrol India and independent director of Press Trust of India. He also makes it a point to financially help charities. “I’m not actively involved in philanthropies, but I do support those who run them, for example my wife Geeta, who works extensively with children (Ma Foundation) and cancer patients (Tata Medical Centre).”  Gopalakrishnan says that some of the greatest lessons he learned over the years is the ability to be adaptive and the fact that one’s human relations capability trumps technical capability. “You may be technically sound, but if you aren’t able to connect with the people around you there’s only so far that you can go. Some of the best leaders are people who have the ability to connect with people. It’s what drives the world.” 

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

OR

guest

OR

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
  • Global Indian
  • Global Indian in News
  • Global Indians
  • HUL
  • India Inc
  • Made in India
  • Management Principles
  • ratan tata
  • startups
  • Tata Sons

Published on 20, May 2021

Share with

  • Whatsapp Share
  • LinkedIn Share
  • Facebook Share
  • Twitter Share

Related Stories

No related articles found.

Share & Follow us

Subscribe News Letter

About Global Indian

Global Indian – a Hero’s Journey is an online publication which showcases the journeys of Indians who went abroad and have had an impact on India. 

These journeys are meant to inspire and motivate the youth to aspire to go beyond where they were born in a spirit of adventure and discovery and return home with news ideas, capital or network that has an impact in some way for India.

Read more..
  • Join us
  • Sitemap
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Subscribe
© 2024 Copyright The Global Indian / All rights reserved | This site was made with love by Xavier Augustin