Indore (Madhya Pradesh): AstraZeneca Pharma Limited India managing director Gagandeep Singh here on Friday said that India was all about solution-finders and creators; and that the nation needs young minds who can analyse the problems and offer innovative and long-lasting solutions.
Singh made this utterance at the induction programme of the eleventh batch of the five-year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) at IIM Indore.
Sharing insights from his journey, Singh, who was chief guest of the function, explained to the new batch the importance of investing in relationships and life skills.
“I realised during my journey that academic rigor isn’t enough, one also needs life skills to survive and be successful. You are going to learn as you grow and work together, and be able to find solutions to the problems of the community, and that’s what will make you content and satisfied,” he said.
Singh further elaborated, “There might be failures and disappointments while moving towards a goal, but one shouldn’t let fears affect the determination. Keep moving forward and don’t let yourself get enclosed in negativity and fears. Try to focus on improving yourself just by one percent, regularly, again and again. That one percent brings significant results at the end and that’s when you will realise that you have had a great time full of learnings and experiences.”
Emphasising how global leadership helped us fight the pandemic, Singh said, “Together, we need to analyse the problems and find solutions, thereafter developing strategies to implement the solutions rapidly. We realised that the production of the vaccine was based on the foundation that none of us would be safe till all of us are safe. Resilience played a very important role during this pandemic, and I feel fortunate to be a part of this journey.”
He told the new batch that the values they learn at IIM Indore and the skills they develop will become their guiding light in the future. “IQ and discourse don’t matter as much as skills and resilience. Being a team player and collaborating is important and that will help you find success in life and profession. ‘Keep learning, keep upgrading yourself and always be curious. Being a learner helps you adapt to the changes and bring changes as well, for the betterment of the society,” he concluded.
IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai shared an entirely new perspective for IPM: Integrity, Purpose and Meaningfulness. He noted: “It’s important to understand that you can only be happy, content and successful if you say what you mean and do what you say.”
‘Thoughts may be difficult to control as our mind travels as far in wakefulness as it does while we sleep. Controlling the thoughts might be difficult, but we need to ensure that our words, thoughts and actions are in harmony. This is where integrity comes in - the integrity to give your cent percent to every job you do and perform to your true potential, with a positive thought,” he said.
He advised the new batch to find their Purpose- the ‘P’ in IPM. “Figure out the universe you want to live in, an equitable world with opportunities without any discrimination, full of justice, free of violence and oppression; and remember that you need to create that world for yourself,” he said.
Sharing the significance of ‘meaningfulness’, he encouraged the participants to be passionate about everything they do and be compassionate towards themselves and others. “Invest in yourself. Don’t carry anger for anyone or guilt about anything; for when you do, you are being violent towards yourself,” he suggested.
