To call Ratan Tata a 'business leader' would be narrow definition: Titan's Venkat

C.K. Venkatraman, managing director of Tata Group-led Titan Company, during his interview for Fortune India's Best CEOs 2024 issue this month, had admired former chairman Ratan Tata for his leadership. Tata passed away at 86 at a Mumbai hospital after a prolonged illness on Wednesday. A business icon, Ratan Tata was instrumental in taking the Tata group to new heights.

In his latest interview with Fortune India, Venkat, when asked about a business leader he admired, said to call Ratan Tata a "business leader" would be narrow in its definition. He said he admired him for his high philosophical thinking around stakeholder capitalism.

"I admire him because of his very high-level philosophical thinking around stakeholder capitalism, which is, of course, the true Tata Tradition, but he exemplifies it, he articulates it so well and he has made it into the bloodstream of all of us in the group," he tells Fortune India.

On separating grains from chaff at a big consumer products company like Titan, Vekant says as a practice he pulls back from a certain situation, keeps things simple and pins down what matters in that context. "If they are looking for four things, which two are the most important ones? If we are planning to do five things, which two are going to create the greatest impact? Some reflective conversations around which things matter help us all reach the prioritisation."

What ingredients are required to make a high-performing organisation like Titan, Venkat says the most important thing is to select the right people. "The people with the right capability and personality. High-performers but without ego. And then you give them the total space, you converge all toward a common purpose, and the rest is magic."

Venkat also talks about his work-life mantra, saying he has created a phrase called 'work-life integration'. "I don't believe in work-life balance, or rather I find that very limiting. The work-life integration to me means that I can do work when it is personal time and I can do personal things during work time without guilt, thereby maximising both all the time." Venkat says work is very much a part of life and not as if "there is work, there is life".