If you aren't humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you.
Anand Mahindra
Sustainability has to be a way of life to be a way of business.
The glamorous side is SUVs, but frankly, the tractor side is where we are number one in the world.
The Rise credo is about accepting no limits, alternative thinking, and driving positive change - the three pillars.
Nobody understands how the world will change. The only way you can plan for the future is to have scenarios. You have to have the courage to take a leap of faith on one of them.
Sustainability is a part of our 'rise' philosophy. You cannot rise if you take more from the community than you put back.
The more you drive positive change, the more enhanced your business model.
It is imperative for us to protect the flora and fauna around us.
XUV is a living proof of the value of MRV. In that sense, the XUV was a wonderful validation. The XUV grew along with MRV. As the institution was built, the product was created.
India's states must compete, not march in lockstep, if India is to develop its own path to sustainable prosperity.
We often say that the M&M Group's destiny is inextricably linked with India's. Both were born around the same time: India in 1947, M&M in 1945. The group has experienced the same vicissitudes that the Indian economy has.
Autonomous tractors would enable a farmer to focus on the work that matters the most on a farm.
You have to treat every day as a new challenge, and you have to remain paranoid, as they say.
The Indian government is extraordinarily large, and it is difficult to try and believe that one leader can make all the change. This is a federal system.
To me, Scorpio was a big bet and a quantum leap in the kind of sophistication of our products. People forget that, apart from the Bolero and the Armada, until the nineties we never made hard-top vehicles.
Mahindra's brand strategy is about niches across areas of mobility.
After I finished school, I went to JJ College of Architecture and then to Harvard. I did my B.A. with a major in filmmaking.
As far as passenger cars are concerned, I have always said, in the past, we will work more with partners and partnerships. Our focus on our own would be on the SUVs.
Leaders don't look behind; they don't look to the side - they look ahead.
We have never shied away from making investments. Even during downcycles, we never stopped our investments.
Make in India will not work if we take a conventional linear approach. It has to be a leapfrogging into the future, and India is ideally placed to do this.
The term 'niche' is no longer pejorative.
My aspiration is that M&M become one of the most customer-centric organizations in the world. If we focus on understanding our customers, we will be able to develop customer-centric innovations.
The story of rural India is a lack of empowerment: perceived impotence. Villagers are being constantly threatened by an authority. The Bolero symbolizes empowerment.
Social media is one of the most under-rated business tools, in my opinion. It's an amazing cockpit for any CEO. I can narrate any number of stories how it has helped me to reach out to customers, dealers, protesting workers, and even security guards.
In 2001, I did some research and identified four characteristics that successful companies share. One, they aspire to be leaders in their businesses. Two, they have global potential. Three, they are innovative. Four, they display a ruthless focus on financial returns.
We're going to be selling our product to the American consumer. We want to have Americans who understand American consumers.
My mother was a writer. She acted in one film before she decided that Bollywood wasn't good enough for her. My two sisters and I probably learned from her how to get under other people's skin. In contrast, my father was a simple man despite his success at business. He was a people person, and I think that's what led him to join politics.
The moment I say I'm going into scooters, they say, 'You're crazy.' Six months later, when BMW comes out with an electric scooter, it's fine. But when Anand does it, because he's some small guy in India, it's not fine.
It requires a different holistic approach and a recognition that it's not simply a question of stepping into China's shoes. Our 'Make in India' has to be different from China's in the sense that we have to do a 'taal-mel' or 'jugalbandi' of our IT skills that exist and our evolving manufacturing skills and become intelligent manufacturers.
I don't think the disruptor and the business model of a disruptor necessarily is an indication of the topography of the future. If it did, you would say then that everyone will make high-end electric cars, when the answer is clearly no.
The government should find regulation to encourage ride-sharing companies. Rather than finding impediments for them, regulate them by all means... create a framework by which ride-sharing companies can survive.
We don't believe start-ups are the private preserve of only garage start-ups... The corporate garage is going to be the scene of a lot of action.
The more I learn about industry structures, the more I feel that once a company has paid the fee, in a manner of speaking, to enter a sector, it becomes even harder to stay afloat.
You go into battle with your strengths.
We see ourselves as being people who want to take India to the world; we see ourselves as being aggressive, assuming risk.
Whether in services or in manufacturing, the trick is to stay ahead of the curve. I believe we should not wait to be disrupted - we should become disruptors ourselves.
2012 was a good year for the Mahindra Group, as we moved ahead by venturing into new geographies and businesses.
I love the blues, but I love a lot of music.
Businesses look for stability; they look for direction.
To my mind, the education of children - girl children, specifically - is what really creates an enlightened society. It creates a liberal society.
Life has an interesting way of teaching even the most powerful people that joy from wealth is fleeting at best.
I think a CEO lives or dies in whether he's been able to hold on to elements of culture that are needed in the company.
Old definitions of segments are going to get blurred. Once you defined cars by horsepower, engines. That has changed.
A lot of people who can afford a vehicle are deciding against owning one. They just need access to transport. So, our job is to offer wider choices to consumers with more innovative models.
There's this old Frank Sinatra song: 'If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere'... that song was about New York, but it applies to America. People know that if you make it in America, you can make it anywhere, and that is both in terms of sophistication and customer satisfaction.
The job of automobile manufacturers is to passionately build something that others love to own.
Can a person be inspirational? Does a person have global sensibility? That's the hardest thing to find.
I have fond memories of my kabaddi exploits at Lawrence School. I also enjoyed tennis and swimming.
Our credo says that, in the end, we want to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world, enabling them to rise.
