Inspiring quotes from Narayana Murthy, Infosys Co-founder and the ‘Father of the Indian IT Sector’

Infosys Co-founder NR Narayana Murthy is a pioneering leader who is often credited with creating a world-renowned brand for India’s IT sector. Under his leadership, the company rose to become the second-largest IT and services firm in India. His various roles at Infosys, from Chairman to CEO, and President to Chief Mentor, earned him the title of the ‘Father of the Indian IT Sector’, and a place in Fortune’s list of greatest entrepreneurs.

Murthy is the recipient of many prestigious awards like the Padma Vibushan and the Padma Shri. Blessed with a brilliant mind and great business acumen, he has successfully led key corporate governance initiatives in India, and his business lessons have often been sought after by leaders and managers across the world.

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Here are few inspiring quotes from the man who has been an inspiration to generations of entrepreneurs championing India’s technology prowess: 

“Entrepreneurship is all about deferred gratification.”

“Entrepreneurship is all about an idea that creates differentiated business value to one’s customers. You must be able to convince your customers about the benefits that an association with you or your products will give them. People are ready to pay if they are convinced about your services or products.”

“Startups are about entrepreneurs coming up with an idea whose proposition is very different from any existing idea in the market. Startups are about a set of people whose collective experience can test an idea’s market fit and scale it up.” 

“Respect, recognition, and reward flow out of performance.”

“Performance leads to recognition. Recognition brings respect. Respect enhances power. Humility and grace in one’s moments of power enhances the dignity of an organisation.”

“It is better to underpromise and overdeliver than vice versa. For this one need not break the law of the land.”

“You become a star not because of your title; you become a star because you are adding star value to the company.”

“A great leader also has the ability to make people an inch taller in his presence.”

“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.”

“It’s very important to learn quick lessons from your failures, very important to recognise symptoms of failure pretty early, and it is very, very important to not to be attached too much to the idea – you have to know when to give up an idea.” 

“Learning from experience, however, can be complicated. It can be much more difficult to learn from success than from failure. If we fail, we think carefully about the precise cause. Success can indiscriminately reinforce all our prior actions.”

“Progress is often equal to the difference between mind and mindset.”

"It is less important where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place.”

“If longevity is the best index to measure a company, a basic requirement is the ability of the corporation to generate new and new leaders.”

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)