Sujata Agrawal

Pradeep Srivastava, the genial and affable managing director of Tayo Rolls, shares his experiences and unique philosophy of life

In the early years of his career, when Pradeep Srivastava was busy marketing rolls to steel companies in India and abroad, the only time he would get to spend with his three-year-old son was at bedtime. Catching up with the day's happenings, Srivastava would ask him two questions every night: "What is the one good thing you did today?" and "What is the one bad thing you did today?" And his son would think long and hard before giving his answer.

When his son was eight years old, Srivastava expanded the unique bedtime routine to include two more questions: "What task did you postpone today? And what did you do today that you postponed yesterday?"

At the age of ten, when his son was old enough to demand pocket money, Srivastava added a twist to his repertoire, designed to teach him to measure and the value of money: "For every good deed that he did, he got +1, and a -2 for every bad deed or a task that he postponed. We totalled the score at the end of the month and that's the amount of pocket money he got. We dubbed these questions the RAM (Reflect, Act and Monitor) score. It was something special just between my son and me. If people heard us, they thought we were talking about God!"

Over the years, as his son grew older, he spent less time with his father ("As teenagers usually do!") and the RAM score faded in Srivastava's memory. A few months back, Srivastava and his wife visited their son in Bangalore. They saw his wallet lying around and, like most curious parents, started investigating its contents. To his surprise, Srivastava found a piece of paper inside with a cryptic 'RAM -2' written on it. "I realised then that my son had not forgotten his childhood mantra and is still using it in his daily life," Srivastava recalls.

Lessons from life
It is very evident the RAM mantra permeates Srivastava's own life too. He reflects on all his actions and then draws lessons which guide him through life. So powerful is this philosophy that he is now proudly sharing it with his employees at Tayo Rolls.

"RAM is a wonderful application for whatever you do in your life, whether personal or business," says Srivastava. "In business terms, our company's performance review is a reflection of what we are doing. From that flow our decisions on what we need to do, our goals. The final step is monitoring and measuring the effect of our actions." He is happy when he hears his staff talking about RAM — and even happier when they tell him that they are sharing it with their children!

Reflect, Act and Monitor also finds an echo in Srivastava's passion for information technology. A committed IT professional, he feels that everyone should have some exposure to IT as it teaches you to think logically, leverage information, manage risk through back-up and recovery processes, and helps you to appreciate the advantages of networking, since in IT nothing is stand-alone. These qualities are integral to being successful in business also, says Srivastava.

Not convinced? Srivastava narrates an incident to prove his point: When he was asked to take over marketing in Tayo, the company was selling mainly to public sector plants where the lowest tender gets the order. "I realised that we were giving them better quality at a lower price because of the tender system and sought ways to rectify this."

Srivastava set up a small computerised system at the shop floor for recording performance and taught his customers how to use it. This helped him prove to them that they were getting 30 per cent more life from their rolls, and should therefore, pay a better price.

Unique selling proposition
How did a professional who was so passionate about IT land up in marketing? That's another interesting slice from Srivastava's life. He started his career in the data processing department of Tata Steel and was deputed to Tata Yodogawa (now Tayo Rolls) in 1983 to set up the IT department. He was not very happy when asked to take over marketing instead, but two pieces of good advice made him change his mind. His boss pointed out that if he could succeed in selling an abstract product like software to his end-users, then rolls, which have a definite shape and size, should be a lot easier to sell.

The second piece of advice came from a Taiwanese businessman, who also happened to be the manager of that country's basketball team. We haven't mentioned it before but basketball happens to be Srivastava's longest-standing passion. That comes as no surprise — when you tower over other mortals at 7ft 4in, it would be a colossal waste not to be on the court slamdunking the ball.

Getting back to our story, Srivastava was playing with the Indian basketball team in Korea 1982-83, when the Taiwanese manager offered him some sound advice: Instead of sitting behind a desk (or computer), he should be out there in marketing, because "being a national basketball player you have your own celebrity status and no one will deny you access. That's 50 per cent of the job done. More important, nobody will forget you, because of your height. So the recall will be tremendous. And being an engineer and an MBA, you have adequate skills to talk about the product."

"Till then," says Srivastava, "I never realised that basketball and my height would have such advantages!" But, as he rationally points out, while this helps initially, what finally matters is that the product must be good.

Playing ball
Srivastava started playing basketball seriously when he was studying electrical engineering in NIT, Allahabad. He played for Uttar Pradesh and then for Tata Steel, which had the best basketball team in India at the time. It was for many years the national champion and most of the players, including Srivastava, became international players.

In 1983, Srivastava made his final slam dunk when he realised that there was not much scope for professional basketball in India and he could lose out on career opportunities. "I played till I could without affecting my career. It was a case of optimisation of the best choices available," explains the ex-pro.

As is his wont, Srivastava has culled many lessons from basketball that he is now applying to management. "If you are a good basketball player, you will be an outstanding manager. More than any other game, basketball helps build leadership qualities," he says with conviction (see box for more on Srivastava's views on this subject).

His children have inherited both from him — his height and his love for basketball. Jamshedpur, with its excellent facilities for sports, provided ample scope for his daughter and son to take up the sport. His wife, a professor of physics, ensured their children had outstanding academic support all through their education.

Talking with justifiable pride, Srivastava mentions his daughter's achievements on the court and off it: "She played in the junior and senior national team before she went to Harvard for undergraduate studies. Later, she started a peer-to-peer technology company — and sold it in two years for a profit. What I could not do in 35 years of working life, she did in just two!" His son will be joining Deloitte Consulting soon, after his graduation.

Standing up
On a personal note, we can't help asking Srivastava a question he must have answered many times before: How does it feel to be so tall? Srivastava, who was once the tallest man in India, smiles: "I think it has both pluses and minuses. You get used to people looking at you. In fact today I am surprised if people don't look at me when I am outside Jamshedpur!"

He follows this up with a parable he used to narrate to his children: There was a young man who was very ambitious and wanted to do well. He went to a construction tycoon and asked him the secret of his success. He was told to wear a red shirt and work with the people who wore blue shirts. The moral of the story: You are always noticed if you look different.

"This is exactly what happened to me. I am different from normal people and therefore I wear an inborn red shirt," expounds Srivastava, "But you can both gain or lose by wearing a red shirt. The trick is to use your red shirt correctly, in a positive manner. I tell my children that I had no choice but to become a good man, because if I did any mischief I would be caught immediately!"

On a roll
Srivastava is proud to be working with the Tatas. "Our code of conduct, our ethics are powerful and reflect our values." He has big plans for Tayo Rolls, which is the market leader in India and exports to 30 countries. When Srivastava took over as MD in 2004, he and his employees co-created a vision to grow five times in five years, ('Paanch saal me paanch guna') — from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore. An unheard of growth in a very slow moving specialised roll industry, it would lead them one of the global top five in their class. In two years they have already reached 185 crore! "We have realised that we have a tremendous potential to grow and our employees are ready to take up the challenge."

Taking cues from his IT background, Srivastava is endeavouring to bring in a dotcom culture in his company through Humbhi.com, a portal which helps employees to connect with each other and express their views. It has given them a sense of belonging and energised them.

Srivastava believes that the desire to win has been the driving force of his life. But he also does not lose heart if he loses. As he says, "You may lose a battle, but you don't lose the war."

The technocrat-sportsman who became an MD surely knows how to lead his team to a bright future.

Basketball basics: It's not just a game, says Pradeep Srivastava, it's a philosophy for life.

Basketball teaches you how to lead and how to be led. It teaches you how to pass (to give) and how to receive; if you are not ready then when the ball comes to you, you are going to miss it. In life too you have to learn how to give and receive. You have to be ready for opportunities that come your way or you will miss them.

Basketball teaches you to be persistent; to keep trying again and again to achieve your goals. If you stand still or hold the ball in the D-area for more than three seconds you loose possession of the ball. It's the same in life — you can't be sitting on decisions. You learn how to cut through the opponents and take a fast break. Speed is so important in business too.

There are only five players on the field in basketball, and you have to be really good to make it to the playing team, or else you keep sitting on the bench. It is the same in business, where you have to have the skills to succeed against tough competition.

In basketball it is very important to be always alert as to where your opponents are on the court. This 'sense of where you are' is equally essential in everyday life. It helps you react appropriately.

The most important lesson basketball teaches you is teamwork. There is a manoeuvre called 'assist' which involves blocking your teammate's opponent to allow your teammate to move ahead. In business, this would translate as support for your team.

Uploaded on September 21, 2006