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``I sold my colleagues the vision of Biocon and my own personality.''

Kiran Mazumdar

Chairperson, Biocon India Ltd.

The Biocon group (turnover Rs 100 crore) is India's largest producer and exporter of novel industrial enzymes.

``...Honesty is the best policy'. I therefore evolved a forthright personality. I always speak my mind even if it is offensive, but at the same time, I have the humility to accept that I can be wrong. It is, I suppose, my open and frank approach in deali ng with people that has built up a strong trust level between me and my colleagues and with my business associates, including customers, et al...

``...I have striven to inculcate in my entire organisation the same sense of ethics and integrity through osmosis! I encourage my people not to give in to corrupt practices and urge them to preserve the integrity of our organisation at all times...''

``...The right job for the right person is a winning formula. Underlying all this is my ethos that it is people who make an organisation, and that HRD is the most important function of all CEOs. I do believe we have excellent people in our organisation, and we have found an effective way in which we get ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and to do ordinary things extraordinarily well...

``...Entrepreneurs have a commercial focus. If you have a goal that is measurable and tangible, then all our scientists are commercial. All elements are laid down in commercial terms. All our targets are derived from the commercial price, so if the Japan ese are selling at so and so price, we have to produce at half the cost. You cannot compromise on the quality of the end product. It's when you wonder how to arrive at it that ingenuity comes into play.

``The mindset is important. We wanted something that would work, we wanted to get in the marketplace faster, not get lost in the science. Output cannot be publications, but a product...''

The above excerpts are from:

Thought Leaders

The Source Code of Exceptional Managers and Entrepreneurs

By Shrinivas Pandit

Publishers: Tata Mcgraw-Hill

Price: Not mentioned

The author is a management counsellor who has earlier worked with Blue Star, Hardillia Chemicals, Johnson & Johnson and Siemens. At present, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development, UK.

Picture: Kiran Mazumdar, Chairperson, Biocon India Ltd.