Does Ratan Tata feel lonely at the top? In a 2015 interaction with students from the business school HEC Paris, the industrialist opened up about an incident that made him feel isolated as a leader. #TBT
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00:00There are many moments that most CEOs or chairmen feel that they're alone.
00:06It's almost an occupational hazard that you live with.
00:11I think that's the one thing I would say that was probably the loneliest moment.
00:20There was a time when one felt that the fabric of India and the ethical fabric of India was being eroded.
00:36And most companies, including ours, had to face an issue of dealing with this by participating
00:49in subjective activities, be they doing favors for people or actually paying.
00:59And the few times that we were approached and stood our ground and did not do that made
01:08me go home at night with this wonderful feeling that we didn't succumb.
01:14And anybody that says that you can't operate in India without paying, I think needs to
01:22look at us as an example because we grew, and we grew from about 5 billion to 100 billion
01:32without participating in anything subjective.
01:35So industry can grow in India, and you don't need to succumb.
01:43I think that's the one thing I would say that was probably the loneliest moment or
01:53set of moments that one has, and one feels pleased that you were able to go through that
02:01period and not compromise your ideals.
02:05The fact that most of us will probably be leaders in the future, what can we expect?
02:11I think there are many moments that most CEOs or chairmen feel that they're alone.
02:21It's almost an occupational hazard that you live with, where you either can't confide
02:30because it's not appropriate, or you stand alone against a tide of views or pushes where
02:39you don't feel that you need to be compromised.