Leadership the Ratan Tata Way

Ratan Tata is without doubt an iconic personality. He is a game changer, an innovator and an inventor. A leader with exceptional qualities and an unwavering determination to reach his goals, Ratan Tata has made the Tata Group come a long, long way.

Having led the behemoth conglomerate of almost 100 companies for 21 years, few business leaders have accomplished the feats that he has. Over his tenure as chairman of the Tata Group, revenues have gone up more than 40 times, and profits more than 50 times.

Taking over the reins of the Tata Group from J.R.D. Tata in 1991, Ratan gave the administrative setup a major overhaul. He set retirement ages, implemented reporting and accountability processes, encouraged innovation and infused younger talent into the workforce. The results of which are fairly evident.

Ratan Tata’s leadership style is hard to describe in a single category. He has always led people with a collective, teamwork-driven approach. Under his leadership, management changed from a centralised command centre to a system where employees and managers were given greater freedom and flexibility to work, and assigning responsibilities accordingly. This made employees more motivated to work hard and in harmony. Today, the corporate culture in Tata companies is said to be the best in India.

Being a participative, democratic leader, Ratan Tata has unfailingly adopted a firm-but-gentle approach to dealing with people. He has dealt with people in his signature measured, gentle manner.  His methods have clearly paid off, as under his leadership, the Tata group of companies is competitive on a global level.

Ratan Tata is also widely hailed for his endeavours in the field of corporate social responsibility. As a business leader with a strong sense of ethics and morals, he has instilled an attitude of giving back to the society among all his employees. He is one of India’s leading philanthropists. His own belief in giving wealth back to people is reflected in the donations he makes towards education, medicine and rural development.

Ratan Tata is a business leader par excellence. A charismatic leader with a vision, he has made the Tata Group prosper under his able chairmanship. He is our Xpert on business management. Learn about his journey and the lessons he learnt, and how his several decades with the company shaped his beliefs in the way business should be done. At Xpert, he guides you on how you too can become a better manager and answers your questions.

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