Dr. Ganesh Natarajan grew up from a small village boy into a man who expanded his knowledge, skills and vision to not just global but universal – to include a million lives with a change for the better. How else would you explain his achievements that include not just steering large companies to profitable growth but also starting an initiative that helps even the small marginalized people.

His Lighthouse Communities Foundation helps the disadvantaged people in our society by teaching them how to ‘fish’. This skilling program aims to reach out to a million people and so far, has helped over 15,000 young men and women stand on their feet. Ganesh also actively helps start-ups with not just his valuable advice but also through his funding. Like we said earlier, Ganesh’s vision is all-inclusive, all-encompassing – universal.

He spoke at our My Story session, and here we provide some parts of it that will help you in your business.

Ganesh’s Success Mantra
If you have a good idea, if you have a point of view that you can differentiate from competition, if you have a customer base which will accept and give you a chance and if you have a good team, you will always succeed.

Network the Ganesh Way
Networking I think is about building something you like about a person and then spending enough time with them. In my opinion, I think social media will kill all these things, because if we don’t spend enough time with people, it’s not really possible to build a connection. Networking means you have to like people. You can’t force yourself to network because somebody told you. You have to develop a liking for a colleague and then build on it. Only then you’ll find it so much easier

Why is Storytelling important
Why should the art of story-telling matter to you? Storytelling is very important for an entrepreneur. At NASSCOM, we had done a study some 5 years ago on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. And the top skill that we came out with was storytelling. Storytelling is not just telling a story. It’s about communication, it’s engaging with people, your colleagues, your customers, even your suppliers. That I think is what makes a difference between a great entrepreneurial organization and an also-ran. Networking, communications, storytelling, they all make for a great success story.

Learn how to plan your busy day
It’s something I’ve learnt along the way. I am a great follower of Vedanta and spirituality, and we know that at the end of the day our life is maya, a mirage. If you take yourself too seriously, you don’t find time for anyone. At some point of time, you have to stop fighting for legitimacy…. I gave myself 40 years to be legitimate, to be a CEO, etc. But after that you have to live a life of legacy. Give back in whatever way you can, whether it is mentoring, consulting, funding, to the people who you could inspire. Which is why I find 36 hrs in a 24-hr day.

On Customer Experience
Take e-learning for example. It used to be terrible because not many ever completed their courses. And I’ve told you about the importance of story-telling. Now, how do you put this in digital. How do you engage your customer with your story in a digital world. As it is, attention span is getting miniscule. Not many will read a book or listen to a long lecture. Zuckerberg talks about Meta, and we are doing that also. We are already creating immersive experiences for the customer, the supplier, employees. We are using pods, AI, prediction the way Google and Facebook do. Likewise, we are creating an immersive experience for our stakeholders. In the near future, it is going to be all about how to create an immersive experience for your customer in 90 seconds.