I believe that we need to strive for quality in every pursuit of life.
Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi What motivates or drives you in your professional life, during ups and downs? Since childhood, the one thing that has captured my imagination is the cyclic motion of life. Its ups and downs. Like
Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi
What motivates or drives you in your professional life, during ups and downs?
Since childhood, the one thing that has captured my imagination is the cyclic motion of life. Its ups and downs. Like the ebb and flow of a tide I feel that life has its wheels turning in circles. There are times when things do not go the way we want them to. And times when our cup of joy overflows, I believe that we need to take both the good and the not so good in our stride and overcome all challenges that may come our way.
It is this belief that keeps me motivated during the not so good periods. Because I firmly believe that ‘this too shall pass’. Take the current COVID-19 crisis as an example. The second wave of COVID, as we all know, has been devastating. To combat this, our organization has been working towards taking care of our colleagues and helping them weather the travails of the pandemic.
What hobbies or sports you love or enjoy most, how that has helped you in carving out a successful person?
Golf is my passion. The game is my connect with nature. It is played in an environment that is very calming and relaxing, with trees and birdsong that go a long way in helping me destress and relax.
Also, it is an ethical game that one ultimately plays with one’s own self. Though other players are involved, but eventually it is about you playing to your own handicap and trying to constantly improve and overcome them. This leads to extreme levels of focus one’s individual game that enables in unwinding.
Golf is also a very unique game that mimics life’s ups and downs, in the sense that every game is a new round and you need to be perfect to face each round. Each round presents an ever-changing series of tests and challenges for me to overcome. To score well, I must execute each shot successfully and deal with the consequences of my errors. In that sense how you play on a particular day depends on your mindset. It is a game that brings out the drive for perfection.
Who is the role model for you in your life / or the core philosophy that helped you to be ‘rooted’ irrespective of situations?
Professionally speaking, I have always believed very strongly in customer-centricity and prioritizing customer needs above all else. Even in my current role at Tata Hitachi, I have strived to infuse this focus in all aspects of our operations. I draw great strength from this philosophy that all our decisions should be taken by keeping our costumers’ interest in our mind.
What life has taught you and what is your message that you would love to convey to others?
I believe in the three abiding principles that guide all our activities at the organizational level too: Providing the right machine at the right time, Fix it right the first time, and Quality is not what we produce; Quality is what we deliver
These have stood me in good stead not only in my professional life, but also my personal life. For instance, when we say quality, I believe that we need to strive for quality in every pursuit of life.
Also, we need to be always respectful of all whom we interact with, whether peers, colleagues, customers and any and every stakeholder whom we interact with.
The new learning for me in this context are:
The comeback is greater than the setback: despite great uncertainty, we need to believe and gear up for a positive recovery path. We need to convert every challenge into an opportunity. Embrace digital to the maximum extent. Control fixed expenses to sustain operations. Keep our employees motivated: they are our assets, and therefore, it is important to be engaged with them
Describe your experience as a leader from the industry during the COVID pandemic
In the first wave of the pandemic, we were worried about livelihoods and financial and business-related implications. The second wave of the pandemic has been different – it has hit closer home. We have lost colleagues, they have lost their families, and almost every one of us has experienced grief in some way or the other. It has also cut across all sections of society. We are invested in efforts to take care of our employees, dealers, vendor partners, their families, and the community at large – all of whom form a part of the large Tata Hitachi family. At the same time, we cannot afford to lose focus on sustaining business, which means we must focus on controlling expenses as well as not lose sight of serving our customers.
It is undeniably not easy to stay calm in a situation like this. But I believe that we will come out of this stronger once again. I have always believed that. And we are all geared up to restart our business after the setback we have received. Once again!
Hits: 144
