Author - #Tatastories
Harish Bhat is the Brand Custodian of Tata Sons. He has had a ~35 year career at the Tata Group and has held several leadership roles including COO - Watches and Accessories Business at Titan, MD & CEO of Tata Consumer Products, Chairman of the Board at Tata Coffee Limited and more.
He is the Author of four books. "#Tata Stories", 40 timeless tales to inspire you. "An extreme love of coffee", an exciting novel about coffee and magic. "Tata Log", inspiring stories from the contemporary history of the Tata Group. "The Curious Marketer", a free-flowing exploration of curiosity in marketing. He also writes frequently in several leading publications including The Mint and The Hindu Business Line.
In this conversation, we spoke about his journey, some of his key choices and his perspectives on storytelling and building culture through it. Then we dove into some of the stories and lessons from his book.
Published in Oct 2021.
Nuggets from the
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Key choices along the way
35 years after graduating with a Gold Medal in IIMA, Harish speaks about how he thought about some of the key career choices that came his way including his approach during campus placements at IIMA.
Perspectives on Navigating Career
Harish speaks about the navigational principles that he has used in his journey. He speaks about how we all could explore for 5-10 years and once we have some sense of what we enjoy and what our unique skills are, we start converging and going deeper in a certain area.
Taking a pause
Harish speaks about him taking a sabbatical 25 years into his career. He reflects on the fact that he was in a good place in his career and there were enough forces that were urging him to continue. He speaks about what he gained from the pause.
Art of storytelling
Harish speaks about 4 elements that need to come together in a good story. It needs to evoke an emotion, involve human spirit, use simple language and add value and leave the user with a thought or an insight. He also speaks about some of the stories of Brands (Indian and International) that have inspired him.
Profits with purpose
Harish speaks about the three different levels at which the Tata Group tries to make a difference to the communities it operates in. One is at the level of the Tata Trusts and the organizations it supports. Second is at the level of each company in the Tata Group and the CSR initiatives within each company. The third is through the various brands (such as Tanishq and Tata Tea) and the messages they carry when they reach out to the consumers.
Identification with Labour and Capital
Harish speaks about how Tata Group walks the tight rope in terms of focusing on Labour AND Capital. He speaks about how some of the benefits of the efficient use of capital flows back to the people who have made it happen. He also speaks about the story of when Gandhiji came to Jamshedpur in 1925 and how it inspired many people.
Shaping culture through stories
Harish speaks about how the Tata Group tries and uses Storytelling as a mechanism to reinforce the culture. He speaks about the need for discipline in collecting and telling stories. He also speaks about creating opportunities for the Tata Group members to listen to the stories of some of the legends that lived these values.
Competing with a collaborative spirit
In one of the stories, Harish takes us back to 1930 when the competition was to see who could complete the fastest solo flight between India and England that year. JRD Tata (flying from India to England) and Aspy Engineer (flying from England to India) are two of the competitors and it turns out to be a close rase to the finish line with these two. The story is about something that transpires between them when they meet in Egypt, something that illustrates the approach to competition in the Tata Group.
In Summary - Playing to Potential
Harish speaks about how we need to have not just focus, energy and discipline, but also creativity and lateral thinking coupled with purpose that we can work towards in our life.