Be bold, but keep values intact: Uday Kotak

Kotak would not be what it is today if we did not think differently, said Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Delivering the IIMB’s 42nd annual convocation, Uday Kotak described IIMB as IIM Best, to loud applause and shared with students a few of his life experiences and career journey. And he listed the attributes for successful leaders as the 5 Cs: character, conviction, commitment, creativity and capability. “This is what Kotak is standing on.”

As you move out of your cocoon, you will need to find creative solutions - dare to be different, test yourself, be ready to encounter challenges and also for failure, learn from your mistakes, and know that committed execution is the key to capability. “You have huge opportunities, but will face tough and challenging times as well. You have to be bold but keep your values intact. You need to be resilient, and stand up for defending what you believe in,” said Uday Kotak.

At the convocation, 598 students graduated – 20 from the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), 18 from the Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM), 75 from the Post-Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM), 4 from the Post-Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM), 70 from the one-year full-time Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and 411 from the two-year full-time Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP).

While sharing a selection of the successes and achievements of students and faculty of IIMB during the past year, G. Raghuram, Director, IIM-B, said, “Two of our faculty have been awarded as distinguished alumnus/alumna from their own schools as well. Our faculty are not just world-class academicians and researchers, they also excel in pursuing their interests and passions. We are delighted by their success. I take this occasion to acknowledge their outstanding contributions.”

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIMB, in her address, highlighted the institute’s milestones during 2016-17, the global rankings it achieved, the important partnerships it entered into, IIM Bangalore being the convener school of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016, IIM Bangalore mentoring the new IIM at Visakhapatnam, the surge in demand for case studies developed by its faculty which are distributed through Harvard Business Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School, IIMB’s increased focus on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to provide access to a wide range of quality courses through blended learning programs for people who cannot afford regular management programs, initiatives in enabling a ‘start-up culture’ in the country and making ‘entrepreneurship’ an integral part of the school’s academic agenda.

She had a special word of appreciation for IIMB’s incubation centre, the NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning which has consistently played a key role in seeding, nurturing and promoting entrepreneurship with an emphasis on early-stage start-ups.

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