Use ‘Helicopter Approach’ To Become Successful Entrepreneurs, GM Rao Tells Management Graduates

Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon on Saturday held its Convocation Ceremony to award degrees and to felicitate management graduates. The esteemed Chief Guest - GM Rao- Group Chairman – GMR companies, Dr ES Rao - Chairman MDI, Prof Himadri Das, Director of MDI and various other invited dignitaries & senior academics participated in convocation ceremony of 2017 Post Graduate batches. 

At the outset, The Chairman, Dr ES Rao Welcomed all guests on the dais and all people from government, corporate, and press. In his welcome address, Chairman said that MDI’s alumni are not only confined to management organizations but they have spread across all other industries and professions too. He also mentioned that alumni of MDI are the catalyst of social change. He did mention that a total of 90000 managers have been trained over 45 years by this institution. 

Dr ES Rao also mentioned that it is an opportune time for management graduates to take over as India is becoming 5th largest economy in the world with 7.3% growth rate this year. 

Later on, Director Himadri Das praised MDI’s alumni by saying that along with academic excellence, MDI students are no less in other extracurricular activities and other creative fields. While presenting a plethora of facts and figures, he asserted how MDI is not only a knowledge dissemination agency but also a knowledge creator hub since many faculty members and students working in MDI have excelled in research projects which have an element of uniqueness.

Prof Das also emphasized that students should not hop jobs too frequent just because they get good salaries like this way but they should give each job a sufficient time so that they can learn the dynamics of that profile. He said that job hopping may be a shortcut to false success but in a long run, it will be a great recipe for disaster. 

Das also told that highest pay package received by an MDI graduate last year touched 35 lacs per annum, however, the season also witnessed an average salary of 19 .17 lakhs per annum. He also stressed that how students need to embrace the technology else technology will make them obsolete. In his concluding remarks, he advised that students should be better humans first before better managers because the value system will ultimately benefit them in their respective lives and professions.

Furthermore, the panel invited Chief Guest Rao to deliver his address. GM Rao began his address by discussing his journey from a village boy from Andhra to a successful entrepreneur of the entire nation.  He said that Lives of corporate are becoming extremely complex due to disruption made by technology nowadays. He advised students that one has to remain with a positive attitude in his life which will help him in long run. While referring to the students, he said “You have to use 'helicopter approach' to be successful managers where you have to be fast as well as do quick surveillance of the entire business or an organization. 

Rao said that “Managers have to take risks to become successful entrepreneurs in their professional lives. A manager should come out of his/ her comfort zone to turn around the business however it is equally important that one should always follow his/ her dreams".  

A total of 489 students from over 9 different postgraduate programs have received their degrees in the convocation.