Four advice from Citi India CEO Pramit Jhaveri to a graduating student

On June 5, Pramit Jhaveri, CEO, Citi India delivered the commencement address at his alma mater, Simon Business School, University of Rochester. Jhaveri became the first Indian alumnus to address a graduating class at the university.

As the speaker, he first made a pitch for India, acquainting the graduating class with the country’s latent potential. He then shared with them the four important lessons that he has learnt over the years:

Concept of continuous learning
“I was fortunate as this lesson was drilled into me at a young age that each day you can learn something new. To stop learning is to stop living. Learning is not confined to your place of work. When you have young children, that learning curve will be quite steep. You will also have the opportunity to unlearn.”

Concept of change
“The world has changed more in the last one-two years, than it did in the twenty before that.” “Different people adapt and react to change differently. You come across two groups of people. One, that embraces change, makes an ally of change and becomes a beneficiary of it. And the other, that resists change, cannot deal with it and suffers due to it.”

A support system
Jhaveri recalled learning about a financial sacrifice that his parents made a few years after he finished his MBA. This sacrifice allowed him to go to school. He said, “You are sitting here today because of the sacrifice someone has made for you. You are the beneficiaries of someone’s actions. It could be a parent, it could be a partner, wife, friends, professors. We should be profusely thankful for it.” What this means for the future, according to him, is that one can always count on the support of someone around. “We don’t have to do this alone. There will be challenging times, challenging decisions and you will have the opportunity to have a little ecosystem that you can count upon around you.”

The notion of being blessed and giving back
“Every single one of us, just by virtue of being here today is blessed. There are several hundred million people who don’t have even the basic necessities,” he said. And being blessed in life means that one must think of giving back.

“It is incumbent on us. Giving back doesn’t al -ways mean financially. As you get wealthier and older, your time will be more valuable than wealth. Think about the notion of giving back,” Jhaveri said.