New Delhi: Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy shared valuable tips while interacting with young students at the “Teach for India’s Leaders” event earlier this week. When a student at the event asked Murthy about “how to be like him,” he gave a candid but very insightful answer. Murthy asked students not to try to emulate him but to aim for greater personal growth for the betterment of the nation.
"What should we do to become like you?" A 12-year-old student asked.
"I do not want you to become like me…I want you to become better than me for the greater good of the nations," Murthy replied.
5 Valuable Life Lessons By Narayan Murthy
Murthy, during an hour-long session where he addressed to class 7 and 8 students at Mount Everest School, former Infosys CEO shared five invaluable lessons from his life experiences. Murthy narrated the students about his humble beginnings and how his father instilled a sense of discipline in him. He attributed time management and continuous improvement as reasons behind his success.
He credited his mother for teaching him the art of giving as he recalled an instant from his past where he used to share his scholarship money with his brother. He also highlighted that he was inspired by the selfless act of Karna from mythology as he believed that the story made him understand the value of compassion and generosity.
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Murthy remembered his school headmaster for teaching him the the importance of citizenship and responsibility. Reminiscing his school days, he shared his experience of how the headmaster instilled in him the value of treating the shared resources with utmost care and respect.
Murthy also stressed the importance of teamwork and leadership, recounting a significant lesson he learned during his time at IIM-Ahmedabad. He shared a personal story about a critical error he made while developing an advanced operating system in Paris.
“One Friday evening, I made a critical mistake while testing a program that erased the entire memory from the computer,” Murthy recalled. “I had just 24 hours to rectify the issue or face severe delays in the project.”
Desperate to fix the problem, Murthy called his boss, Colin, who promptly came to his aid. After working tirelessly for 22 hours, Murthy managed to restore the system. “Colin praised my dedication but chose not to mention his own sacrifice,” Murthy noted.
From this experience, Murthy learned an essential lesson in leadership: “Take full responsibility for failures and share the glory with your team. These lessons remain invaluable even today,” he concluded.