Ratan Tata’s assistant Shantanu Naidu shares two key takeaways from his boss

Shantanu Naidu joined as Ratan Tata's assistant after returning to India from Cornell University. (Image credit: Photo posted on LinkedIn by Humans of Bombay)

Shantanu Naidu is no ordinary 28-year-old. He has a job that many only dream of and the way he landed it is something out of a story. In an ethics interview with Tata Power’s Head of Public Relations and Internal Communications, Siddharth Gaur, Naidu shared titbits of his life with Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group and a much revered businessman.

Spilling the beans on how he landed the job, Naidu explains his idea for Motopaws (that makes reflective collars to help prevent stray animal deaths) was loved by Ratan Tata, a fellow canine lover. Soon after he left for his MBA and after coming back landed the job and there has been no looking back since.

In the interaction, Naidu shared two big insights that he has had while working with Tata.

Over the years, Naidu says he has noticed two values in a recurring pattern in Ratan Tata which he advised that everyone should follow.

Firstly, Ratan Tata’s acts of kindness are completely selfless. Naidu elaborates that Tata does several good deeds in a day and helps people but never does he have the expectation of getting anything back in return.

“Do it for people who can do nothing for you. Who cannot return it in any form of favour. Acts of kindness should not have an expectation of return. He (Ratan Tata) will just help so many people each day and then totally forget about it,” Naidu said.

Secondly, Ratan Tata always keeps his promises. “He keeps all his promises and never goes back on that. He will always deliver when he has given his word, no matter what,” Naidu adds saying that these are two of the most important takeaways from Ratan Tata.

Shantanu Naidu, who has an MBA degree from the prestigious Cornell University in US, also said that it took him sometime at the job to realise that Ratan Tata is a “walking talking archive”.

“He is a walking, talking archive of all things Tata, all things business and so many interactions,” Naidu says of his boss adding that there is so much to learn from even the daily, minuscule activities of the 84-year-old.

Naidu has written a book about his experience with Ratan Tata called “I Came Upon a Lighthouse” after he saw how millennials were extremely interested to know how he landed the job, his experience with Tata and takeaways and stories from their daily interactions.

Naidu turned his journal entries into a book chronicling his day to day learnings and sharing much insight into how Ratan Tata works or takes a key decision. He is happy that the book has not received negativity and hopes that it helps millennials with higher education, stress of an Indian student abroad apart from learning interesting stories about Tata.

Naidu has been working as the deputy general manager at Ratan Tata’s office since July 2018.