“A leader is one who innovates, masters domain knowledge, is authentic, has guts and follows ethics,” said H. Kumar, Managing Director of MRPL Limited, Mangaluru, on Monday. He was speaking as the chief guest at the graduation day ceremony of 16th batch of MBA students of Justice K.S. Hegde Institute of Management here.
Mr. Kumar said that leaders had a positive attitude and saw solutions, when others complained about problems. Turbulent times created great leaders. It was essential for a leader to deepen his relationship with those working with and under him, he said.
He should be helpful to people, understand their needs and problems as well as mingle with them. “A leader should speak with candour, prioritise his work, look for opportunities, respond but not react, be assimilative and share kudos,” he said. Mr. Kumar said that any change in global economy affected businesses elsewhere. A manager had to be abreast with these changes and respond to them quickly. “If you respond to change, you will survive. If you move along with it, you will succeed. If you make the change, you will lead. If you lead the change, you are the leader,” he said. The outgoing MBA graduates should remember that they would have to face competition throughout their career. They could succeed in this competition, if they kept learning and did things differently by innovating. “Any business works for profit. If you are not making profit, you have no business to be in business,” he said.
They should be abreast of all technological developments. Strategy was important in any business.
Mr. Kumar said that the students should be team players in the organisations which they would join. Explaining the tough challenges that awaited the graduating managers, Mr. Kumar said that when they entered an organisation for the first time, they should adopt a mentor, who would guide them.
Awards
Kavya M.N. bagged two awards — for preparing the best project report and for being academic topper. The Best Outgoing Student award was bagged by A.M. Rajgopal.
K. Sankaran, Institute Director, welcomed the gathering. S. Ramananda Shetty, Vice-Chancellor of Nitte University, presided over the function. Radhakrishna Sharma proposed the vote of thanks.
