On June 1, 2022, at noon, the Indian Chamber of Commerce’s Young Leaders Forum hosted an interactive session with Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director Nestle India Ltd in Kolkata, West Bengal.
In his speech, Pradeep Sureka, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, stated, “Narayanan needs no special introduction as over 30 years of experience in the FMCG industry with top leadership positions and major worldwide recognition.” He is not only a strong missionary leader, but he also believes in and practices good leadership as a necessary discipline, or he would not be leading a company like Nestlé. There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “May you live in interesting times.” Uninteresting times, in my opinion, are more life-enhancing. These times of crisis have always seen the evolution of humanity’s fighting spirit.
“We are excited to hear from Narayanan today about his journey and how he has faced challenges in his life, handled crises, and learned from his own and other people’s experiences to get to where he is today and his future goals.” We look forward to hearing from him, learning from him, and I am confident that the youth will be inspired to hear from him on the subject of Leading in Crisis,” Sureka added.
He is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd. In the program, Narayanan discussed his thoughts on “Leading in Crisis.” He stated, “Never take advice in life but to share perspective, and thus what I can offer is a lifetime of wisdom and a professional’s shared perspective.”
In the current scenario, a crisis will be the new normal, and leadership will define how to deal with it. Managing oneself is the solution to more than half of the problem; I came to this conclusion before the pandemic. In today’s pandemic and the post-pandemic world, if you run a national or international business, you must learn to trust people. Hard skills and negotiation are important, but so are governance, ethics, and practices. He lives by Nelson Mandela’s quote, “The greatest glory in living is never falling, but rising every time we fall.”
Mudit Beriwal, Chairman of the Young Leaders Forum, delivered the closing remarks, saying, “All of us are inspired by hearing about great achievers and corporate leaders like Narayan.” However, we have learned today in this learning and engaging session that success is a journey. Narayanan’s words give us hope and courage to look forward, and they motivate us to put our beliefs to the test in order to bring out positivity in crises, believing that we will overcome the situations very soon and that India will grow in the coming days.”
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