Values, Not Profit Margins, Should be Measure of Success: E. Sreedharan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Emphasising the importance of imparting value education, ‘Metro Man’ Dr E. Sreedharan observed here today that the success of any governance institution or commercial venture is ultimately dependent on its ethics and value system.
“For any undertaking, success should be measured not in terms of its profit margins, but the values – such as punctuality, integrity, professional competence and commitment to society – it builds across its structure and the changes it brings about both within the culture of institution and beyond it,” he said.
“The incorporation of these principles and others within its work culture and workforce is the reason why the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was declared the ‘PSU of the year’ by the All India Management Association in 2016,” he noted to a gathering of industry leaders at Mascot Hotel.
Dr. Sreedharan was speaking at the inaugural function of Good2Great (G2G) Management Services, a boutique management consultancy for which he is the Chief Mentor and is led by former HLL Lifecare Ltd (HLL) CMD Dr M. Ayyappan.
G2G, which takes its name and cue from renowned management guru Jim Collins’s ‘Good to Great’ principles, will work with industries, government institutions, family-run businesses and startups with the objective to build competent value-based leadership in order to develop and execute sustainable growth strategies.
“There are no bad companies, only badly-managed companies. G2G will work to instill best management practices such as value-based leadership, create a business plan, execute strategy, enhance operational efficiency and build capacity within our clients. This will turn good companies into great organisations of global standards and scale,” Dr Ayyappan said.
Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson noted that the failure of visionary leaders to empower their teams and establish processes to follow is the cause of institutional disintegration and collapse.
“Leaders transform an organisation while managers simply transact business. It is indeed commendable that G2G’s objective is to grow cohorts of leaders that are competent, inspiring and honest,” said  Thomson, who later chaired a thought-provoking panel discussion on ‘Building Great Organisations in India: Opportunities and Challenges’.
The panelists comprised notable heads of industry cutting across a number of sectors, including K. Nandakumar, President and CEO of SunTec, and Dr. K.P. Haridas, Chairman Lords Hospital. Dr Haridas had earlier handed to Dr Ayyappan G2G’s first contract: a letter of engagement from Lords Hospital.
The function also saw felicitations from Dr Kuncheria P. Isaac, Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, and former Becton Dickinson and Co. Managing Director Manoj Gopalakrishna, who is G2G’s Managing Director.
G2G Director George Thomas, who has around four decades of experience in the banking sector, was also present.