ET GBS: Rana Kapoor, Dominic Barton, SRK share tips on winning the race

These industry leaders offered insights at the Economic Times Global Business Summit 2018. Here is a look at what they had to say.

On inclusion
Dominic Barton
Global managing partner, McKinsey & Company

“We’re dealing with a very turbulent and disruptive world. One quote which I love by American entomologist and biologist Edward O Wilson is, ‘We have created a Star Wars civilisation with stone-age emotions, medieval institutions and God-like technology’. This sort of combination is what we are seeing today. That’s why we need innovation and we need to have inclusiveness as we look ahead.”

On making bold moves
Rana Kapoor
CEO, Yes Bank

“The biggest risk in Indian banking is the risk of obsolescence. I have built a bank from zero in the past 15 years. Five years ago, someone asked me what the risk was, I said, execution and project management. But in the past one or two years, my single biggest risk is obsolescence.”

On creative struggle
Shah Rukh Khan
Actor-producer and activist

“I tell all the youngsters, please feed your stomach first. Those ideologies like jab tak taqleef nahi hoti, dukh nahi hota, aadmi creative nahi hota. Aisi koi baat nahi hai, yaar (it isn’t true that a person has to go through hardship and hurt to become creative). You can be creative with the stomach full. So, please earn because you have to earn for your wife, children.”

On having a balanced board
Bhavish Aggarwal
Co-founder, Ola Cabs

“It’s important to build a balanced board from an entrepreneurial perspective. Few young Indian entrepreneurs do enough of that. Our board comprises a majority of non-investors. It’s important to have such people because while they give global perspective, they are also a constraint from the operative know-how perspective. We have had independents, people from operative experience as a majority of the board. That helps me and my team to get a lot of leverage on ideas, strategy and even day-to-day operating needs sometimes. And this is how more established, traditional boards function.”

On upskilling
Jeff Maggioncalda
CEO, Coursera

“While universities continue to provide more endurable foundational knowledge, they are partnering with industries to add hands-on projects and applied skills to learning experience. Google has done this with the launch of their IT support professional certificate with us in January…With no college degree or background in computer science, an individual can become a certified IT professional. This model can be a great fit for India as it opens technology careers to those most at risk of being left behind.”