As a child, I had loved science, to the point of performing my own experiments. While I wanted to study engineering, my parents—keen to see me join the professional ranks—convinced me that I should become a doctor, so after high school I started a two-year premed track. With little interest in biology and amid the sudden freedom of university life, I began to slack off—and I didn’t win a place to continue toward the full degree. In the Indian system, it was very difficult to change subjects midstream, and I had no idea what to do. Embarrassed, adrift, my confidence shaken and with two years already sunk, I took what was available: I started an undergrad course in physics with a vague notion of becoming a researcher.

One of my physics teachers was a real character: a tough, hard-bitten, chain-smoking guy, clearly passionate about his subject, who had been terrifying students at our gigantic state university for years. Because of (rather than despite) his reputation, I went to him for tutoring. Between problem sets one day he stopped and said, “You don’t need to worry. You’re good at this, you enjoy it and you’re going to land on your own two feet. For now, just concentrate on your studies.” Immediately after that, my grades shot up, and I ultimately became one of the best students at our college. I earned a place in India’s top-ranked physics master’s program and continued on for a computer science degree. After graduation, I went into the IT field, and a few years later cofounded Infosys, where I’ve been working ever since.

At one level, my professor’s meaning was simple: Do what you love, work hard at it and all will go well. But the specifics of his message, and the way he delivered it, go to the heart of every leader’s toughest challenge—motivating people. I use his actions and his words as a model for spurring people on to superior performance. And I focus, just as he did, on three important things.

First, I constantly seek ways to get my love for this business across. When I display enthusiasm, employees are more likely to listen to what I say and draw extra energy from mine. Second, in talking with employees, I seldom focus on numbers but instead on big ideas and their role. The prospect of earning a doctor’s salary or achieving a certain grade point average didn’t excite me, and I don’t think that talking about revenue targets or market share projections will get people inspired. Instead, I try, just as my professor did, to help people imagine a future in which their unique contribution has an impact. Finally, I get people to focus on the future impact of how they manage the task at hand.

For example, a considerable part of our business comes from maintaining our clients’ legacy business systems. Often employees say to me, “Kris, this is boring. The software was written 25 years ago. All I do is patch it.” For me, this presents an opportunity to encourage employees to experiment and be creative. I try to get them to think beyond addressing the immediate task to how we may help this client be more competitive in a globalized world. They see I love thinking about the issue, they start thinking creatively, they imagine their work having a big impact—and they see the link between this future and what’s right in front of them.

Today, Infosys is a $3.1-billion public company with over 80,000 employees. But my job remains the same as in 1981: to motivate one individual at a time.

The best advice I ever got

As a child, I had loved science, to the point of performing my own experiments. While I wanted to study engineering, my parents—keen to see me join the professional ranks—convinced me that I should become a doctor, so after high school I started a two-year premed track.

DISTRIBUTION LESSONS FROM MOM AND POP

Latin America, dotted with millions of mom-and-pop stores, is a challenging market that sometimes forces global makers of groceries and sundries to rethink their distribution strategies. Lately, the region has also been serving as a classroom.

Revisiting Executive Privilege: CJ speaks

This concludes the Dissenting Opinion of Chief Justice Reynato Puno in the case of former Neda chief Romulo Neri against the Senate, which is expected to file a motion for reconsideration of the 9-6 ruling this week.

Revisiting Executive Privilege: CJ speaks

Second Installment of the Dissenting Opinion of Chief Justice Reynato Puno on the question of Executive Privilege raised by former Neda chief Romulo Neri against three Senate committees hearing the NBN-ZTE deal. The Senate is to submit on April 8 its motion for reconsideration of the 9-6 vote in Neri’s favor.

Revisiting Executive Privilege: CJ speaks

DISSENTING OPINION  

PUNO, C.J.:

THE giant question on the scope and use of executive privilege has cast a long shadow on the ongoing Senate inquiry regarding the alleged and attempted bribery of high government officials in the consummation of the National Broadband Network (NBN) Contract of the Philippine government.

Sweet, aromatic–and so Pinoy

THINK about it. The Philippines is proud to be known as the world’s top exporter of coconut (Coco s nucifera L.). For decades Juan de la Cruz dictated the world price, considering that we exported about 80 percent of our domestic yield.

Coconut everywhere!

THE coconut is a life-giving tree. And true to its word of giving life, its use extends to everything life can give.

Make numbers come alive

Understanding what numbers mean is a core competency for senior managers. Communicating what they mean should be, too. Yet few do this well. Rather than motivating and inspiring employees with the latest quarterly update or competitive analysis, leaders bore and confuse them instead. What causes the trip-up?

Five tips for better virtual meetings

Virtual meetings are a standard feature of the business landscape. But working around the obstacles posed by distance requires careful planning and thoughtful execution.

New Windows

SUBIC BAY—A wave is coming in 2008 and if software development giant Microsoft were to have its way, swimming gear would not be mandatory.

Cheers to success

When Pier One Bar and Grill first opened its doors in August 2000, many were intrigued by its unusual structure: seven used, sea-worthy shipping container vans stacked one on top of the other,

Winning: Growing pains and global change

Q: We’re a small software company—250 people—with a growing problem. After 20 years, some of our long-term employees, even though they work hard and hold important client and application knowledge,

Focused on No. 1

RAMON G. Arteficio’s basic traits as CEO are obvious the moment you meet this 59-year-old patriarch of one of the most successful companies in the country. He is humble, unassuming, amiable and honest.

Arroyo neglect, government infighting jeopardize RP’s territorial claim

Vera Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look into current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”

360-degree mentoring

Fifteen years ago, the usual place to look for a mentor was several rungs up the organizational ladder. But today, with org charts flatter and expectations of managerial know-how greater, your ideal mentor may actually be a network of mentors that includes peers and even subordinates. Think of it as the 360-degree model of mentoring.

Online threats: Conclusion

Cybercriminal team

ACCORDING to software-security outfit Symantec, an attack relies on different roles to be successful. It has categorized cybercrooks into:

Online threats

IT is fascinating how the Internet, as the network of networks, has revolutionized communication and sped up data exchange and transmission around the world.

Notes toward a circumspect ruling on executive privilege

1. The issue of executive privilege before the Court arose from an investigation by three joint committees of the Senate; not by the Senate as a committee of the whole, let alone the joint houses of Congress. 

Three-dimensional leadership development

One of your strongest performers just resigned, citing greater opportunities for career growth at his new company. You suspect that several of his teammates are being wooed by recruiters.

Web retailing: in e-commerce, more is more

Many business leaders, disappointed by online sales growth, see Web consumers as disloyal and unwilling to spend. But that’s because the managers are not exploiting what customers value most: engagement.

A father’s legacy

THE family patriarch who built the group of companies which continues to grow today has long been dead.

Jollibee at 30

The company that began as a modest start-up in 1978 with an investment of a mere few thousand pesos continues to be one of the most remarkable success stories in Philippine business.

Winning: Just your average economic downturn

Q: What can the average person do to help the economy? Jane Brown, St. Louis

Filipinos enabled through IT

FOUR years after joining Microsoft Philippines as sales manager for enterprise accounts, Rafael “Pepeng” Rollan literally climbed to the top of the corporate ladder and is now managing director for the local unit of the world’s largest maker of software for personal and business computing.

A Test of Resilience

The export-furniture industry is perhaps the best example of the Filipino’s entrepreneurial spirit and creativity that can battle it out with the best of the world.

Avoid hazardous design flaws

Although Chinese manufacturing sites produced many of the toys that have been recalled in recent years for safety flaws, the vast majority of those flaws came not from China but from companies in the United States and other developed nations.

The hidden risk in cutting retail payroll

Managers of big retail stores have an opportunity to boost profits by maintaining or increasing staffing levels even when sales are slipping.

Taking off

QATAR Airways’ Philippine chief is happy about the weather.

“It’s good out there, isn’t it?” was Rohan Seneviratne’s first comment to the writer, while he peeks through the light-green blinds of his office in Makati City.

Early learning engagement, solution to sustainable development

The concept of sustainable development can be passed to the next generation through early learning engagement, a principle that,

Winning: Stopping sliders

Q: What do you do about an employee whose performance has declined from stellar to mediocre? I have tried talking to this person, but six months have passed with no improvement in results, and he is beginning to affect the team. Is it time to let him go? Anonymous, Nairobi, Kenya

The Democrats’ Ballot Brawl of 1924

Those TV yappers are in a tizzy about the upcoming Democratic convention. They keep jibber-jabbering about how neither Clinton nor Obama will have enough delegates to win the presidential nomination and they’ll need to woo the high-powered superdelegates.

Sketch of a day

THE ralliers rushed down the short stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue from Boni Serrano Street to Ortigas Avenue, as if they were in a hurry to catch up with a long-lost legacy.

Art of investment

A group of Spanish journalists were huddling around the president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System, Winston Garcia, just days after having officially launched the landmark $1-billion global investment program.