Jaipuria Indore explores the link between spirituality and management with famed author achal rangaswamy

In its continuous mission to bring a wide spectrum of opinions and perspectives to its student managers, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Indore invited Achal Rangaswamy, the celebrated author of books like ‘Beyond the Uncharted Landscape’ and ‘Time is Money’, on the 1st of September 2012. With his trademark wit, Achal Rangaswamy brought in a profound perspective to management in his address to the audience at Jaipuria Indore.

“When I passed out of St. Stephen’s college in New Delhi, I just wanted to ride a ‘Bullet’. I went about asking people, ‘Will you give me a Bullet to ride?’ till a British guy – the sales head of a multinational company – said ‘I will give you a Bullet, but you’ll have to work!’ The deal thus struck, he gave me a Bullet to ride, a salary of Rs. 200 per month, and an assignment in the interiors of Rajasthan. I met all kinds of people, visited many places and enjoyed my work as well. I did 200,000 kms on that Bullet.”

Achal Rangaswamy has captured his 33 years of rich work experience – 22 of them as the Head of Sales and Marketing – in a book titled ‘Beyond the Uncharted Landscape’.

“Had I named my book conventionally, I would’ve actually called it ‘What Indian B-Schools Need to Teach’. This book is co-published with the Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry. They felt that despite being a management book, it has a highly spiritual current’.

Achal Rangaswamy strongly believes that Sales or Marketing Heads today focus too much on their watch, laptop or mobile. He asserts that this is not how leaders behave; leadership is not about demonstrating how much you can do by yourself, it’s about motivating and overseeing others to get the job done.

“A company is like a machine, and a leader is a component of it just like many others. It is not ‘where’ you are in the organisation, but ‘what’ you are to the organisation that matters; and once you realise this, you will give your best.”
Achal encouraged the youngsters of Jaipuria Indore to always follow the calling of their heart.