Anand Gopal Mahindra is a legendary business man from India. This article has 7 business lessons from this business tycoon, who is the chairman of Mahindra Group.
Anand Gopal Mahindra, born 1 May 1955, is an Indian businessman and the chairman of the Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate. The company is involved in industries such as aerospace, agriculture, aftermarket, automotive, components, construction equipment, defense, energy, farm equipment, finance, and insurance. Mahindra is the grandson of Mahindra & Mahindra co-founder Shri Jagdish Chandra Mahindra.
Here are 7 business lessons you can learn from Anand Mahindra:
1. ‘Begin with a startup mindset.’
Anand took to Twitter at the start of India’s ‘Unlock 1’ phase following the first COVID-19 closure to give a “3-step strategy” for restarting companies. This scheme was dubbed the Sanjivani Solutions, or “a potion for waking up from a Corona-induced slumber.”
The steps were as follows:
“Make your organization as lean as feasible.”
“Nothing is sacrosanct; all business models are up for discussion.”
Create ‘feedback loops’ to evaluate product/market assumptions on a regular basis.”
“Spread ideas and data around the organization at breakneck speed.”
Along with that, he advocated for a “Marie Kondo-style portfolio clean up,” and suggested that organizations abandon efforts that do not fit into the narrative of a prosperous future.
2. Pay close attention to your setbacks
In 1995, Mahindra Group partnered with Ford Motors to create the Escort automobile, which ultimately failed to establish a name for itself.
“Everybody joins a joint venture with a what’s-in-it-for-you-and-what’s-in-it-for-me mindset,” Anand remarked, recalling how this failure eventually led him to build the Scorpio, which was one of the group’s most successful automobiles.
He noted that prior to the collaboration with Ford, “we had no expertise in building a hard-top car, or in current production procedures…
The 300 employees who worked on the Ford Escort were the first to work on the Scorpio. It might be claimed that the Scorpio would not have been possible without the Ford partnership.”
3. Emphasize women’s labor-force involvement
Anand founded the Project Nanhi Kali in 1996 with the goal of educating disadvantaged females across the country. The project’s goal was to reduce female literacy rates and boost female labor-force participation, as well as to address many societal concerns like as child labor and marriage, dowry deaths, and the caste system. Nanhi Kali was created as a sponsorship program in which individuals and corporations may join by funding girls’ education for a minimum of one year.
It has changed the lives of over 4,50,000 people in 14 Indian states. Areas affected include the remote hamlets of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu and the tribal highlands of Araku in Andhra Pradesh.
4. Keeping current with the times
Anand was named third among the ‘Top 30 CEOs on Social Media’ in 2013, behind Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Anand is well-known for his clever, engaging, and dynamic tweets in which he regularly addresses current economic trends and ideas while remaining conversational and humorous. Anand was one of the first to see the rising relevance of social media as a vehicle for connection and growth, and he is the only Indian CEO on this list.
5. ‘Be a people person.’
According to Anand, the capacity to empathize and put oneself in the shoes of others is a sign of a successful leader. “Empathy helps you learn things and inevitably makes you a good listener who is curious to learn and acquire knowledge from people,” he added.
6. ‘Find a space in the thoughts of the buyer.’
Today, the Mahindra Group is a market leader in a variety of areas, including information technology, aerospace, energy, retail, and finance, to mention a few. According to Anand, this is due to his “penchant for establishing brands that find a place in the customer’s consciousness and for developing businesses that live or die by how effectively they connect with the consumer.”
7. Imagining a better future
Anand was among the top global CEOs who emphasized the importance of rebuilding the economy after COVID-19 while keeping sustainability in mind and not only focusing on reverting to our old ways. The CEOs signed an open letter urging countries to establish inclusive and sustainable post-COVID-19 economies that would benefit society and the environment.
He explained, “Today, more than ever, the world requires the ability to create a new future…in which people may feel secure and protected. The initiative…is an effort to define the new environment.”
