'Tension nahi lene ka, gyan nahi dene ka': Tata boss Chandra's life lesson to Ranveer Singh

Tension nahi lene ka, gyan nahi dene ka—do not take needless stress, and do not preach.

This, in a nutshell, was Tata group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s advice to Hindi movie superstar Ranveer Singh during an engrossing question-answer session on Monday night in Mumbai. The occasion: the IAA Leadership Awards 2022 which honoured the best in marketing, advertising and media.

During a question-answer session following Chandrasekaran’s fireside chat, Singh, who was also one of the awardees (winning the Brand Endorser of the Year award), couldn’t resist asking a series of questions to the Tata boss, confessing this was a rare occasion where he came face to face with the business leader and hence had to make the most of it. Chandrasekaran was conferred the Business Leader of the Year award at the event.

Asking Chandra his questions with trademark enthusiasm and energy, Singh—dressed nattily in a churidar-kurta and bundi jacket, hair neatly pulled back into a ponytail—started off asking Chandrasekaran, a keen marathon runner, how he manages to navigate the last quarter of the marathon, when the body is extremely tired and on the verge of giving up. Chandra, as the Tata boss is popularly called, said in the last lap, usually after 30-32 kms, “you run only because all others are running.” “Running with tens of thousands of people carries you through. You run getting support from the cheering, the fellow runners. That’s why I always believe marathon is a team sport, many think it’s a lone sport, but it’s not,” the Tata group chairman said.

Singh confessed he needed advice on time management, and turned again to Chandra, whose advice was simple: Tension nahi lene ka, gyan nahi dene ka. Chandra then followed it up with some high praise for the high-energy Singh, known for his wacky sartorial choices and mega movie hits. “If I can have 10% of the energy I see you exhibit, life would be different. I don’t know how you do it,” Chandra told Singh amid applause.

Singh, whose last two films 83 and Jayeshbhai Jordaar performed indifferently at the box office amid the tsunami of mega blockbusters from the south which have captured the imagination of the country’s moviegoers, then turned to Chandra again to ask him a question relating to the industry.

“Sir, my beloved Hindi film fraternity in a state of confusion and flux. Big ticket films, including a few of mine, are not working at the box office. The pandemic has changed audience tastes. Coming out of the pandemic, the response to our movies is worrying. Nobody really has the answer. Other products are working, action films are working. When the entire industry is in a state of confusion, what is your advice to our industry as a collective?” asked Singh. Chandra was quick to remind him that he had “zero knowledge, negative knowledge of the film industry.” But when pressed further by Singh, he said: “I would like to go back to my earlier statement: tension nahi lene ka, gyan nahi dene ka!”

Admitting that he was at a crossroads in terms of life choices, Singh turned to Chandra: “Sir, I am at strange crossroads. I am confused about my own choices. I want to build a legacy, have a filmography, make a significant contribution to the arts and entertainment, have a body of work. Does that require a singular focus? Every iota of my time devoted to this, or is there need for balance with time also devoted to friends and family?”

Once again, Chandra was effusive in his praise of the actor. “Whatever you want to achieve you already have achieved. From my perspective, the two [focus and balance] are not contrary. Focus doesn’t mean you don’t do other things. At least I find focus gets better, and I get better solutions, if I am balanced. If I go at one thing like a maniac, I don’t think I get the best results.”

Singh immediately responded: “I have my answer. I had to hear it from someone like you.”

Earlier, during a fireside chat, Chandra spoke on a wide range of issues, ranging from leadership at the Tata group to what he learnt from Ratan Tata.

On running the Tata group: Running business in general is a marathon. Running the Tata group is an ultra marathon. All the businesses have a lot of strength and history. There is no magic sauce to achieve success. You need a lot of teamwork, the right people, focus, a lot of hard work and some luck.

Whether he wants to change anything in the Tata group: The biggest strength of the group is that its ethos and values are deeply ingrained. I won’t want to do anything with the ethos. I would say we have, over the last 150-odd years, built a reputation of tremendous trust. The only thing I worry about is to continue to behave in a way to deserve that trust. Change is constant—I would like us to be more agile, performance centric, more digital, sustainable… we are making huge changes. What we are attempting to do in this decade is a huge transformation. Because we want to be ready for the next 50 years, but the ethos and values have to be intact. Everything else can change.

Whether he wants Tata Sons to be No.1 if listed: Numbers aren’t important. You don’t get up and say I have to be no. 1. Life is about the journey and you want to enjoy the journey. Enjoying the ride is more important.

On filling Ratan Tata’s shoes: I don’t want to say I’ll fill Mr Tata’s shoes. Nobody can fill his shoes. I want to be in my shoes. I don’t want to take unnecessary pressure trying to be somebody.

There are many things to learn from Mr Tata. The thing that strikes me most is that in any decision he always looks at things that are beyond businesses. He is very calm and is not one to jump into a business case. That is something that I really value.

On being worried about making mistakes: I don’t think you can be sure about taking every decision right. The only person who doesn’t make mistakes is someone who doesn’t do anything. It’s important to take calls, I do take calls, and you need to take bold calls. If it doesn’t happen that’s fine. I don’t worry about being right all the time. It’s scary actually, if you’re right all the time.

On Tata Neu: Tata Neu has huge potential. We’ve launched version 1. Our own consumer portfolio itself is so large that it will take time. We have to get other group brands, other categories, airlines, we’ve built an open architecture so others are reaching out. I am very bullish about what we can achieve not only in terms of the number of consumers but also the value we can create for consumers. Our job is to simplify life. When we discuss the value proposition, I say how do you remove anxiety out of people’s lives. Then you’re successful. We run through customer journeys and figure out where the anxiety is. So, it’s got a huge potential but we need to execute it.

Focus areas: We are fundamentally focused on digital, AI, data, analytics. Tata Neu has the most rigorous 360 degree analytical platforms with AI. In the group we hope to have the best of AI, data, best of bots at work. In Tata Steel, Tata Motors, the consumer facing businesses like hotels and airlines.

On managing time and pursuing passions: I do the workout first then think about work!

On trends for the future: Some things common from the past. Talent, aspiration, the leadership team are key. Those never change. But in terms of things important for this decade—data, AI, whatever is the new term we will hear in the next few years will dominate every business and with much more intensity.

Sustainability will dominate… energy transition, health and safety and wellness need to be integrated in what you do. Agility, quick decision making, ability to build great teams, conflict management, creative thinking, those are very critical. I call it ‘fall forward’. So, it’s important to run and if you fall it’s fine, you get up and continue to run. Waiting to find the perfect answer won’t work anymore.