Adwaita Nayar, head of offline retail at Nykaa, applies what she was taught at Harvard to her business back home.
Being away from a business that was born in front of her was hard for Adwaita Nayar, daughter of Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar. But studying at Harvard Business School (HBS) is a once in a lifetime experience. So Adwaita left for HBS in 2015 to pursue her MBA, only to return as the offline retail head of the website Nykaa last year.
She shares with ETPanache the three lessons that she brings back to her business from HBS.
1. “After you read 300-400 business case studies, you realise that there is only one truth. Every business has ups and downs and serious ones. That was a huge takeaway each time I read a case. We looked at Coca-Cola’s lowest point, that of Dell Computers when it almost went bankrupt. You realise that you have to be super tough and thick skinned to handle business.
Before I went to business school, I feel I was softer. I’ve become a bit tougher by just realising that everything has highs and lows.”
Falguni Nayar (R) and Adwaita Nayar (L). 2. “I always look up to women who are the perfect combination of being tough and soft. One of my professors and mentors at HBS [Kristin Mugford, who taught me corporate restructuring] framed it really well. She said, ‘If you can lead with a soft heart and a strong mind, then you’ve achieved it’.”
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3. “The best decisions are those that are a win-win for all.”.
