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Hot Seat
Set a goal and believe in yourself
 A
positive attitude can help achieve impossible dreams and make the world a better
place, believes Phani Nagarjuna, global head, group strategy, marketing &
products, Caritor Inc. Vinutha V profiles the man
Phani K Nagarjuna made his dream of studying
abroad come true through sheer determination and constant encouragement
from his father, who was a senior government official. Nagarjuna's
father had always believed that education was priceless. It was
this dictum which the son cherished close to his heart, and which
made him find courage in the toughest situations.
“I like to attribute my success story to my father, who never imposed anything
on us, yet he made us understand a few facts of life, in particular the need
to believe in ourselves. He allowed us to be independent and never monitored
us since our childhood, which led us to be confident individuals,” Nagarjuna
recalls nostalgically.
After completing his mechanical engineering from Osmania University, he wanted
to learn management. “Pursuing studies abroad could be an easy task for
anyone else. But it was a different issue in my case as it was against the family
trend,” he says. With a lot of effort he got admission in the University
of Cincinnati to get a Master of Science in Engineering, and following that
an MBA from Harvard.
It was a challenging task for Nagarjuna to get acclimatised to the culture and
environs of American universities after spending his whole life in Hyderabad;
it was his positive attitude that helped him adjust. His burning desire to achieve
success made him a disciplined person. His lateral thinking, planning and assessment
of goals enabled him to accomplish whatever he had set out to do. These characteristics
later became key factors in his professional growth.
In addition to his positive approach towards life, his people-centric approach
made him an able leader. Right from his school and college days, Nagarjuna always
made sure that he never created any room for hierarchy among his peers. He practices
the same at his workplace. “If you are able to respect people around you
irrespective of their background and creed, that will be your first step towards
success. In fact, I have not developed enmity with anyone till date,” he
adds.
Nagarjuna also believes that as human beings all of us must try to make a difference
in whatever small way we can to make this world a better place to live. This
has made him join One Earth One People, a non-profit organisation in Cincinnati
dedicated to building environmental awareness among youth. While serving this
organisation, the then US president Bill Clinton honoured him twice for his
contribution to environmental efforts.
One Earth One People also helps underprivileged children and those coming from
broken families. “It was difficult to mingle with those children. I was
an alien to them as I did not belong to their society. It took me six months
to win their hearts, but those were the happiest moments of my life,” he
recalls. Still on the advisory board of the organisation, Nagarjuna is very
proud that he continues to maintain contact with those children. “They
have grown up and are studying in schools and colleges. They regularly send
me e-mail and update me about their lives. I can call it a capstone achievement
of my life,” he beams.
Nagarjuna spends most of his time travelling to his offices located in different
geographies of the world, hence finds less time to spend on his hobbies—watching
sports on TV. He claims to be fanatical about cricket, and loves to play golf
during weekends. He also reads management and business-related books and journals.
Recently he completed reading Peters’ and Waterman’s classic In Search
of Excellence.
His advice for upcoming entrepreneurs? “Set a goal and believe in yourself.
Do not neglect the aspect of timing, and do your groundwork before taking any
new initiative. Many a time your environment may not be favourable, but do not
get disheartened. Do not give up until you get it.”
vinutha@expresscomputeronline.com
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