The Best Advice I Ever Got: Kris Gopalakrishnan, Cofounder and CEO, Infosys Technologies

As a child, I had loved science, to the point of performing my own experiments. While I wanted to study engineering, my parents—keen to see me join the professional ranks—convinced me that I should become a doctor, so after high school I started a two-year premed track. With little interest in biology and amidst the sudden freedom of university life, I began to slack off—and I didn’t win a place to continue toward the full degree. In the Indian system, it was very difficult to change subjects midstream, and I had no idea what to do. Embarrassed, adrift, my confidence shaken, and with two years already sunk, I took what was available: I started an undergrad course in physics with a vague notion of becoming a researcher. One of my physics teachers was a real character: a tough, hard-bitten, chain-smoking guy, clearly passionate about his subject, who had been terrifying students at our gigantic state university for years. Because of (rather than despite) his reputation, I went to him for tutoring. Between problem sets one day he stopped and said, “You don’t need to worry. You’re good at this, you enjoy it, and you’re going to land on your own two feet. For now, just concentrate on your studies.” Immediately after that, my grades shot up, and I ultimately became one of the best students at our college. I earned a place in India’s top-ranked physics master’s program and continued on for a computer science degree. After graduation, I went into the IT field, and a few years later cofounded Infosys, where I’ve been working ever since. At one level, my professor’s meaning was simple: Do what you love, work hard at it, and all will go well. But the specifics of his message, and the way he delivered it, go to the heart of every leader’s toughest challenge—motivating people. I use his actions and his words as a model for spurring people on to superior performance. And I focus, just as he did, on three important things. First, I constantly seek ways to get my love for this business across. When I display enthusiasm, employees are more likely to listen to what I say and draw extra energy from mine. Second, in talking with employees, I seldom focus on numbers but instead on big ideas and their role. The prospect of earning a doctor’s salary or achieving a certain grade point average didn’t excite me, and I don’t think that talking about revenue targets or market share projections will get people inspired. Instead, I try, just as my professor did, to help people imagine a future in which their unique contribution has an impact. Finally, I get people to focus on the future impact of how they manage the task at hand. For example, a considerable part of our business comes from maintaining our clients’ legacy business systems. Often employees say to me, “Kris, this is boring. The software was written 25 years ago. All I do is patch it.” For me, this presents an opportunity to encourage employees to experiment and be creative. I try to get them to think beyond addressing the immediate task to how we may help this client be more competitive in a globalized world. They see I love thinking about the issue, they start thinking creatively, they imagine their work having a big impact—and they see the link between this future and what’s right in front of them. Today, Infosys is a $3.1 billion public company with over 80,000 employees. But my job remains the same as in 1981: to motivate one individual at a time. —Interviewed by Daisy Wademan Dowling

The Best Advice I Ever Got: Kris Gopalakrishnan, Cofounder and CEO, Infosys Technologies

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