Azim Premji Life Lessons

Azim Premji, a business tycoon who is known for changing the face of Wipro, retired last week, leaving the reigns of his massive empire to son Rishad.  When Wipro began manufacturing vegetable and refined oils in Amalner, a district in Maharashtra, little did people think it would today become the front of 70 plus companies!  Before the tides of wind changes, here is taking a look at some life lessons from the man who gave India the Wipro of today.

Azim Premji Life Lessons:

1. Know your strengths

While it is important to know your weaknesses, in order to make a mark in today’s competitive world, it is important to know and play to your strengths.  If Premji hadn’t followed this principle, he wouldn’t have turned around a $ 2 million vegetable and refined oil manufacturing company into a $ 7 billion company with a presence in more than 60 countries! According to Premji, the only way to correct your weakness is by playing to your strengths!

2. Stay honest, persevere and work hard

According to Premji, while innovation is all well and good, in order to grow, you must stay honest, persevere and work hard toward your goal.  The more you rely on self help books and on the intuitions of those around you than your own, you forget where you started. Think of the bigger picture and make sure even if it takes time, you don’t lose sight of the three rules of success.  When Wipro was started by Azim Premji’s father, it worked only with a certain type of product.  However, when Premji took over, he realised the amount of potential the Company had and by putting in a lot of hard work, he made Wipro the conglomerate it is today!

3. Take charge

Unless you take charge and show the world what you can do, you can’t make an impact. Despite leaving college for a while when his father passed away, Azim Premji pushed himself to do better than when it was run by his father. When Premji stepped into the Wipro factory at the age of 21, he did so against the advice of more than just one well wisher. People told him he should have applied to a soft and cushy job at an established place.  However, it was because Premji took charge, he changed the way Wipro was perceived!

4. Stick to your values

According to Premji, the core value of any business is your values.  Stand by what you believe in and once you do, you can escape whatever tricky situation you face.  Don’t compromise on your beliefs and while success may not instantly come, the reward you get will be far greater at the end of the day!  Premji always believes in standing for your values because when things go back, your values are the only ones which give you direction. Even though he had so many challenges throughout his career, Premji followed Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and made sure, throughout his tenure as the CEO of Wipro, he never did anything his conscience wouldn’t allow.

5. Always look for opportunities

More often than not, people don’t realise change is a constant factor.  Furthermore, what people don’t also realise is managing change has a lot to do with the way you perceive the situation.  To break the pattern and to feel better about your situation, focus on what you can learn from the tough path in life. You need to understand, with change come fear and insecurities.  However, if you let the insecurities take over, you can’t get ahead. Creativity and innovation need inspiration. If Azim Premji hadn’t grasped all he could learn at Wipro, he would never make it to the top.

6. Always give back

One of the best things people remember about Premji is his philanthropic side.  Shortly after taking over as CEO of Wipro, Premji started donating his funds to organizations and people about whom he cared.  Apart from being the first Indian to give away 25 % of his wealth as a part of the Global Giving Pledge, Premji also set up a non profit organisation, Azim Premji Foundation, aimed at improving primary education in India.  The trust helped set up a university in Bangalore and works with the goal of improving the quality of education in India in a holistic way, rather than only through financial support. Despite being the third richest man in India as of 2018, Premji still believes in giving back, thereby making sure everyone is given an opportunity to make full use of their potential.

If you think we missed out on any other life lessons from Azim Premji, comment and let us know!