It is over 30 years since I joined Wipro. To me, the journey has been challenging, at times gruelling, but at the same time immensely satisfying. What I treasure most about the experience are the lessons I have learnt along the way. I would like to share a few of them. I hope you will find them as useful as I do.

The first lesson is you must always have the courage to think big. A Vision that is beyond what seems to be achievable has a tremendous capacity to ignite the collective imagination and passion of your team. It must not be an impossible dream and one must be prepared to work for it with a single-minded dedication. If the Vision is powerful enough, it enables you to tap inner strengths, resources and potential that you didn�t know existed. It can create enthusiasm that is contagious to those working with you and build the resilience to take risks. As someone said, ships are safe in the harbor. But that is not what they were designed for. A Vision cannot be safe. Strategies must de-risk it.

Second, you must never compromise on fundamental Values, no matter what the situation is. It not only leads to success, but also makes success worthwhile. The only way to create an organization based on Values is to demonstrate them transparently and walk the talk. All actions with integrity can stand public scrutiny.

Third, you must build tremendous self confidence. It is needed most when things do not look very bright. But if you are convinced you are right, then go ahead and do what you set out to do. Ignore any pessimists you may meet along the way. To my mind, self-confidence is absolutely fundamental to success. If you don�t have confidence in yourself, there is no way that you can expect your employees, your Customers and your investors to have confidence in you.

Fourth, you must surround yourself with the best of people. Even if you have to acknowledge that some of them may be better than you. An organization doesn�t really accomplish anything. Plans do not accomplish anything. Organizations succeed or fail because of the people involved. Look for people who have the capacity to anticipate and see around corners. Also look for people with loyalty, integrity, a high-energy drive, emotional maturity and an overpowering desire to get things done.

Fifth, you must have an obsessive commitment to Quality. Customers want more Quality for less cost. That is an absolute global truth. One of the greatest contributions of globalisation has been demand for higher Quality. Quality is absolute pre-requisite for survival, leave alone success. Like integrity, there can be no compromise in Quality.

Sixth, you must play to win. Too long, we have suffered from an ideological hangover, which made people feel a little guilty about making profits or succeeding. Playing to win is one of the finest things you can do. Playing to win stretches you and everyone around you. It gives you a new sense of direction and energy. Playing to win does not mean playing dirty. If you cut corners along the way, you will miss out on the personal satisfaction of winning. Because, winning means reaching the depth of your own potential and utilising it to its fullest. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

Lastly, the most important facilitator of success is the blessing of a force beyond us. We can call it luck, we can call it God. As a non-religious person, I attribute much of my success to the �force beyond me�. Let me illustrate this with a touching story.

One night, a man had a dream. He dreamt he was walking along the beech with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he saw two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He found that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noted that it happened at the most difficult and saddest times in his life.

This really disturbed him and he questioned the Lord thus: �Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most trouble some times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don�t understand why when I needed you the most, you would leave me.�

The Lord smiled and gently replied, �My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints. I carried you in my arms.�