A convocation speech with a difference!

I have delivered many speeches in the last eight years. My personal preference has always been to NOT script a speech. For a ten minute speech, my notes will typically be twelve sentences and a few words. There is a reason for this. I like to use simple language in speeches, the kind of language I would use if I were sitting across the table with you. I find it easier to do this when I can look into the audience, feel the mood and energy in the room, and tune into that energy. Convocation speeches are different. Normally, there is a need for prior sharing, and scripting is therefore necessary.

On the 14th of April, at NCPA, I delivered the Dean's convocation speech at BITSoM's first ever convocation. It was a prepared speech, and yet the language felt just right. I think it was because we have walked an intense journey with our founding batch, and when I sat down to write this the night before, I could actually visualise the energy and sentiment in the room. I am sharing the speech for two reasons:

a) The speech is about gratitude. There were many who have helped to make BITSoM possible, but were not in the room. I will try to tag as many as I can remember, and request my team members and students to fill in the gaps by tagging everyone we know who has helped make BITSoM possible.

b) I think the BITSoM story is worth sharing. The speech gives a small flavour of the story.

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Respected Chief Guest Uday Kotak, Our Chancellor Mr K M Birla, VC Prof. V Ramgopal Rao R, Prof Kundu, BITSoM faculty members, GC members and advisory council members, guests, the wonderful BITSoM team , family members of our founding batch and last but definitely not the least, the wonderful founding batch of BITSoM, it is my honour to speak to you at BITSoM’s first convocation.

On July 5th 2021, a baby called BITSoM took its tentative first steps into the world. Today, twenty months later, the baby is walking steadily and is getting ready to run. There are many inside and outside this room who have done so much to support this journey, and I would like to begin by thanking some of them.

BITSoM arose out of the vision of Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, and he has been our most enthusiastic supporter, champion and at times, enthusiastic student. His encouragement has helped to make BITSoM possible.

The support of BITS Pilani Prof Ramgopal Rao (and Prof Souvik Bhattacharyya before him) has been critical to our journey. Our students have benefited from BITS Pilani’s incubation, and BITS Pilani alumni have been enthusiastic and capable participants in admissions interviews and mentoring programs. Many senior alumni have nudged their companies to hire from our founding batch, and many achievements that we see today would not have been possible without their contribution.

The Pragati team of Rahul Kohli, Arun Khaitan and Udai Pinnali were involved when BITSoM was still an idea, and they have been ardent champions of BITSoM through good times and bad. I know that the pride they feel today is no less than that of a parent from our founding class.

The BITSoM governing Council has provided support and wise counsel, many of them have addressed our students, spoken at our gatherings, and we know that they will be a great source of wisdom and support in the years to come.

I have had a chance to work with two outstanding mentors over the last two years. Mr Debu Bhattacharya was a pillar in many ambiguous and near crises situations. He had this tremendous ability to focus on what can be done in the most complex of situations, and mobilize resources and energy in the right direction. His eye for detail was exemplary. Mr Dilip Gaur has a remarkable ability to diffuse the hierarchy in a room in an easy going, affable way. He has played the role of enabler and mentor to perfection.

Great institutions are built by seeking out and working with people who are better than you are in some respects. The 9dot9team led by Pramath Raj Sinha , Nidhi Reddy and Deepa Kapoor has been a steadfast, dependable partner at all times . They were involved right from conceptualization, and have shaped many of the differentiators we see today. It has been a pleasure to build this with them.

Our faculty members have been drawn from across the world, and their commitment, depth, personality and energy have done a lot to shape and differentiate the BITSoM value proposition. For the better part of the last year, I along with Prof Leena and Dr. Seema Rawat , host all the faculty for a specific two week block at one of Powai’s many exciting restaurants. It is tradition that we have built over time, and it wonderful to see the depth to which our faculty engage, both with our students and each other. Building relationships which are non transactional, and giving every stakeholder a chance to shape the school in some way, will enable our long term success.

Many senior leaders from the Aditya Birla Group have supported BITSoM in many ways. They have addressed our students, mentored them at critical occasions, and given their time and intellect to the cause.

A special word of thanks must go out to our corporate partners, who have addressed our students, offered internships and live projects, and showed their enthusiastic support for the BITSoM promise.

I would to thank all the faculty and staff of BITSoM. Ladies and gentlemen, these are the people who have crafted the BITSoM experience, from the IT person who is trying desperately to make the projector work with the macbook, to the accounts manager who is trying to get the scholarship disbursed in time, to the admissions and placement teams, who shape the input and output, to the Kamba team which is building a world class project at remarkable speed, to every academic associate who has handled multiple requests for deadline extensions, these are the team members who have made the magic that is BITSoM possible. Let the applause soak in, team BITSoM you have earned it.

 I would like to make a special mention of one exceptional individual. An outstanding teacher who had regularly won the best teacher award at IIM Calcutta, she was ready to hang up her boots and spend more time with her daughter at IIT Kanpur. A maverick ex student reached out to her and said that he had given the opportunity to shape a world class school, and he needed her help to create a culture of psychological safety at the institute. A few more conversations and an interaction with Mr Birla followed. A couple of months later, she packed her bags, took a solo flat in Mumbai, and gave her best to BITSoM. The culture of psychological safety is by and large a reality, and BITSoM would not be the same without her. For me personally, it has been a privilege to build the school with someone I learn so much from every day. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Dr Leena Chatterjee .

Before I turn my attention to the founding batch. I would request everybody apart from the parents and families of the founding batch to stand up. Ladies and gentlemen, let us have a standing ovation for the parents of BITSoM’s founding batch. They showed their faith in a new school, and supported their children through good times and bad. We are grateful for your trust, and we at Team BITSoM, and the founding batch, will make you proud.

Finally, we turn our attention to the reason we are all here today, our founding batch. As Mr Birla has said, ‘there is only one founding batch.’. I would like to take this opportunity to salute your spirit, and finally offer a few parting words of advice.

Hunger, ownership, resilience and energy are adjectives that come readily to mind . The examples are many. I recall talking about the prestigious St Gallen essay competition in Switzerland (100 young ‘leaders of tomorrow’ from across the world are selected every year through an essay competition around a future focussed issue). One student sent me his essay. He also shared it with one of his BITSoM mentors. The initial feedback we has on his essay was.. not kind. I was personally pessimistic about his chances. To my great pleasure, he took every piece of advice seriously, improved the essay significantly and made it to the top 100.. He also made it a point to mentor and exhort his fellow students to enter the next year. This year, we will have two from BITSoM at St Gallen, out of ten from the country.

The external outcome is not the point here. It is that there are many such instances. Dr Leena and I gave feedback to groups of students who were presenting to 100 odd CXOs at Beacon, our management ideas festival . We pointed out many flaws, and were skeptical about whether the presentation could be transformed in time. On every occasion, we were pleasantly surprised. As recently as a month back, there was an ecommerce course I curated for the founding batch where a strategy presentation had to be made on a real business issue to the leadership of Aditya Birla Fashions. Many a teacher will tell you that the discipline and commitment of an MBA class post placement is not something that fills them with confidence. On day one of the course, I mentioned this to the class and a student looked me in the eye, and said ‘don’t worry, Sir’ Not only were the presentations exceptional , but as many as four groups were invited to the ABFRL head office to present their ideas, and I received a personal note of appreciation from the CEO.

I have had the good fortune to have relaxed one on one conversations with many students. It is clear that for many, BITSoM has been a transformative experience. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason-the outstanding faculty, the winning at the workplace courses, the personal program, mentoring, the ability to build managerial experience by shaping the school, all come in. However. my personal view is this: institutions do not transform individuals. They provide environments in which individuals can transform themselves. The ultimate credit must go to you, our founding batch and the collaborative culture you have built.

Finally, I would like to leave you with a thought that I shared on day one, Please approach life with a default filter that is collaborative. Interdependent situations outnumber purely competitive situations, and most business schools do not stress this enough. There are many implications of this:

If someone  in your team is exceptional in some area, it is something to value and learn from, and not feel threatened.

You need to look for strengths in other people. Empathy and the ability of listen well are the key to building relationships.

Finally, open and honest collaboration requires courage.

It does not take courage to follow the herd. To gossip about people behind their back. To change yourself to be more like the herd to fit in. To do ‘whatever it takes’ to be liked by peers and colleagues.

It takes courage to realize that being respected is more important than being liked. It takes courage to demonstrate respect for others, when the herd instinct says that shared vices and pulling down people who are ‘different’ , is a quick road to popularity.

It takes courage to accept your mistakes. It takes courage to ask yourself what you enjoy, and continue asking that question even it makes you uncomfortable. It takes courage to struggle and improve, when things seem terribly difficult at work.

Time and time again, you have demonstrated courage, class of ’23.

 We will miss you , class of ’23. There is an old song which begins ‘Rahen Na Rahen Hum, Mehka Karenge’

Your fragrance will be felt in the corridors of Powai and Kamba for many many years to come.

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Luis Martins Raj Raghunathan Ziv Katalan Dan Gode Shamika Ravi Mudit Mathur piyush kumar Nirmalya Kumar A K Shivakumar Venkatesh (Venky) Shankar Dinesh Mehta Dr. Avantika Tomar Kashyap Kompella, CFA Amit Bubna, PhD Lulu Raghavan Vivek Sunder Haresh Chawla Preetish Nijhawan Hari Menon Dr. Santrupt Misra Ashok Ramachandran Mark Finn Milind Shrikhande Nagpurnanand Prabhala Rajat Gupta Pratik Pota Deepali Naair Gayatri Yadav Piyush Gupta Soumitra Dutta Gerry George Raghunath Rao Abhijeet Vadera Raj Upadhyay