“Think out of the Box” – Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and CEO, Zensar Technologies

Dr Natarajan has been leading Zensar as the CEO for over seven years now, making Zensar one of the most successful IT companies in the country. He was named the 'CEO of the Year' by the Asia Pacific HR Conference in 1999. He is a member of the Board of Governors of NITIE Mumbai and member of the Executive Council and Chairmen’s Council of NASSCOM.

To what extent would you ascribe your professional rise and success to the formal education in management?
I think the training I received on Systems Thinking at NITIE and then the leadership and innovation skills taught at Harvard Business School in their Advanced Management Program were of tremendous use to me in my career.

Would you say that there are challenges that any manager can inevitably expect to face in his first job, even if he is an MBA from a premier institute?
Of course, every MBA has to expect the unexpected and have the resilience to cope and succeed against the odds.

What are your views on business education in India, as it exists today?
There are very few courses that really build the skills needed to succeed in the corporate world and hence students must choose based on the quality of promoters rather than get swayed by advertising.

What are the greatest insights about leadership that you have gained along the way?
That it is all about have an empowering vision and sharing the vision and values with people. This motivates teams to perform and achieve all the goals.

In your opinion what kind of competency skills are required to be part of a process or a start up?
Entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to think ‘out of the box’.

What do you foresee as the most important and growing areas in the current decade in India?
The services sector and labour-oriented manufacturing will be key to the country’s economic success.

What do you think would be the most important qualities of a manager who may want to shift focus from the corporate world to doing something different?
Willingness to lead people and take entrepreneurial risks.

How would you rate an MBA from abroad and an MBA from India?
It depends on the student and the quality of training – comparisons are always odious.

How would you advise any MBA aspirant to develop himself during the years in B-school, so that he can be an asset and make a true impact in whatever organisation he joins?
Have an open mind and be selective in what you put into it.