17 December, 2021: The Centre for Teaching and Learning at IIM Bangalore hosted a webinar on ‘Don’t Just Make a Living, Make a Life’, on December 15th, as part of its Samiksha series of webinars. 

Management expert, author, commentator and former Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning) Gurcharan Das was the keynote speaker. He explained the difference between making a life and making a living through two stories. The first story was that of his own, where he spoke about his personal and professional journey; the second was that of a colleague who battled all odds.

He broadly spoke about the difference between making a life and making a living, explained through two stories. The first story was that of his own where he spoke about his journey from his change of name, and his choice of Harvard to study at, to his landing a job with Vicks and finally of becoming an author, and that how he made a conscious choice of wearing two hats – one of a professional (during weekdays) and the other to follow his passion for philosophy, writing, and so on (during weekends).

The second story was about his coworker.  While he was dedicated to his profession, he did everything he could to push himself in doing better – by taking English classes, by exploring and learning about new devices or machines used in the office and sometimes by volunteering to play new roles at work. He rose through the ranks in his profession from being an Assistant Security Guard to being a Director in the company. 

In his talk, he also stated that a leader must have three important qualities – determination or fierce will power, humility, and integrity.

Prof. Dalhia Mani, from the Entrepreneurship area, IIMB, moderated the session and led the Q&A with insightful questions, prompting Mr Das to describe her questions as “the best”.