Narayana Murthy Says Ideas, Entrepreneurship Can Create Jobs, Help Develop India

Ideas and entrepreneurship can create jobs and help make India a developed nation, Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said.

Murthy made the remarks while speaking on ‘Ethical Leadership, Transformative Growth & Technology: The Infosys Story & the Future of India’ at ‘University Day’ at O.P. Jindal Global University in Sonipat, Haryana.

He also used the occasion to explain how students and entrepreneurs should respond to failure, stressing that setbacks should be treated as part of the journey towards success.

“Failure was like a series of steps towards success,” he said.

Murthy added, “If you learn lessons from failuers and do not repeat those mistakes, then one could overcome failure.”

Failure should lead to reflection

Murthy cautioned the student community against allowing failure to result in demotivation or inaction.

He pointed to scientists and researchers as examples of people who continue working even when they do not get results.

According to Murthy, they are trained to introspect and begin again rather than abandon their efforts.

He told the students that success required rational thinking and concentration.

“You need to think rationally with concentration, and then succeed,” he said.

Murthy also connected ethical conduct with personal peace, telling the audience, “The softest pillow is a clear conscience.”

“It’s very simple to do the right thing if you set it as the benchmark,” he said.

Values before personal gain

Recalling his early days in university, Murthy said he had been raised in a value system that placed social respect at the centre of an entrepreneurial journey.

He said that receiving respect from society was the most satisfying result of such a journey.

Murthy further said that people’s actions are shaped by the culture instilled through family values, peers and the surrounding environment.

“Hard work, honesty, respect, and integrity must come before personal gain,” he advised the audience.

His remarks linked entrepreneurship with job creation while placing persistence, ethical leadership and personal values at the centre of that effort.

Source: The Hindu