The Manager's Perspective

"Mahatma Gandhi once said: 'at first, they ignore you'; these were the times when I was being ignored."

"It's important that at this stage you be ignored. Because spotlight at an early time of your lifecycle does not give you any extra advantage but certainly puts you at a great disadvantage."

"Gandhiji said: 'then they laugh at you.'

In 1992, Mittal said he applied for mobile licence -- India's first attempt to provide mobile telephone services.

"I felt we had the passion to deliver India's first mobile phone services. Many thought otherwise. We threw our hat in the ring."

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"Then the juggernaut (Bharti) started rolling," he said. "Then they fight you. Then the big fight erupted in the telecom arena. They had ignored us, they had laughed at us and the fight had begun. And we were willing to fight this battle out because it was truly the mother of all battles."

Mittal said the company believed that "if the business is about people and customers and not about money and technology, it thought it can win the war."

"After three years of fight, we came out fairly successful out of this. As Gandhiji said, those who try hard with lot of passion, eventually win."

posted by Dr. Gonzo  # 8:21 PM