Narayana Murthy's ‘don’t become like me’ advice to a 12-year-old: ‘I want you to…’

Narayana Murthy encouraged a young student to forge his own path, emphasizing discipline and leadership lessons learned from his father.

Narayana Murthy was asked by a 12-year-old at the Teach for India Leaders Week how he could become like the Infosys co-founder. His response was: Don't become like me as Narayana Murthy said, “I don’t want you to become like me. I want you to become better than me for the greater good of the nation."

Narayana Murthy inspired a young student to create his own legacy while emphasizing discipline and teamwork. He recounted pivotal lessons from his past, including the importance of taking responsibility and valuing communal resources, shaping his approach to leadership.

Create your own path and make a difference, Narayana Murthy said as per a Times of India report, asserting that life is “not about following in someone’s footsteps.”

Talking about the importance of discipline, he said, “My father taught me to manage time through a timetable, which played a crucial role in my securing fourth rank in the state SSLC exam."

Recounting the time when he was a young engineer in Paris and he accidentally erased an entire computer system's memory while testing a program, he said that he was faced with the potential collapse of the project but his then boss Colin immediately joined him and they worked for 22 hours straight to restore the system.

“Colin praised my dedication but never mentioned his own sacrifice. He taught me a critical leadership lesson: take full responsibility for failures and share the glory with your team,” he said.

Narayana Murthy also shared a lesson from his SSLC days when his headmaster taught him the value of communal resources. His headmaster had said during a chemistry experiment, “This common salt belongs to everyone in this school, not just me. We must treat it with care."

He also discussed a lesson in teamwork from his time at IIM-Ahmedabad where he learned to separate the person from the lesson they impart. A professor once told him, “The lesson learned is more important than how it's communicated"

which Narayana Murthy said is crucial for maintaining strong team relationships.