High-profile managers and ambitious entrepreneurs are lonely at the top and are generally reluctant to share their problems with colleagues and family. This sometimes results in suicidal tendencies unless they develop a safety valve mechanism to let the steam out, said Hyderabad Metro Rail managing director N.V.S. Reddy.
He was referring to Cafe Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha’s suicide delivering a talk organised by Rotary Clubs of the twin cities on Wednesday.
Explaining as to how extreme passion, impractical goals, high expectations and social pressure can put tremendous pressure on business leaders and high-profile project managers, he emphasised on the need for maintaining emotional balance and equanimity while tackling adversities in business and life.
In this context, he gave a glimpse of how he had tackled issues like protests, threats, litigations and religious encroachments when he was under “tremendous pressure to build the tough metro rail project”. “Courage, personal discipline, communication skills and maintaining a calm demeanour so as not to get provoked by defamatory remarks, effigy-burning or personal insults have helped me,” he said. The MD recalled he had the onerous responsibility of maintaining team spirit even during the Maytas failure episode.
K. Mohan Rayudu, president, Secunderabad Rotary Club, Marri Ravinder Reddy, former governor of Rotary Clubs in twin cities, and other Rotarians were also present.
