R. Gopalakrishnan is the executive director of Tata Sons. He has a wealth of experience, spanning about three decades. A charismatic personality and an eloquent speaker, Mr. Gopalakrishnan believes that a leader is one who has the ability to predict the future, based on the past. He has the capacity to create a vision and is always eager to meet new challenges. A leader is one who has a knack of expressing his discontent but in a constructive manner, seeking to better things rather than to merely criticise. He usually comes up with practical ideas and depicts a mental toughness, which does not give way to discouragement easily. A leader treats his peers with respect and is willing to learn always. The ability to listen to people sets him apart.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan agrees that we all would like to steer clear of trouble, but this rarely happens in reality. One learns from scrapes-how we got into them and how we extricated ourselves from them. He substantiates his point with various examples from history - from the Ming Dynasty in China to the Ford Motor Company.

According to the Tata Sons executive director, visionary organisations are able to hold their own, without having to be linked to the leaders who have led them. Such organisations are built on a strong creed, vision and philosophy. He equated these organisations to the concept of body and soul - in Hindu philosophy and Christian theology, the body is the covering but the it's the atma (soul)that lives on.

Leaders of dynamic, ever-changing organisations operate in uncharted territory-they have the ability to live with the unknown. Allowing employees to innovate and take charge requires a certain level of faith. A leader enthuses responsibility and accountability in his people. He has the capacity to create and develop vision. A person who does not feel the thrill of challenge is not a potential leader. Mr. Gopalakrishnan feels that there must be a constructive spirit of discontent and a willingness to take responsibility. Mental toughness and peer respect makes a person excel at leadership.

A leader develops a unique quality, which make people believe and trust him. When he speaks, people will listen. Mr. Gopalakrishnan feels a leader has the ability to enthrall the audience and even deliver bitter reality but with a touch of humour and empathy. He mentions that it's not a game of popularity but a question of trust and faith.

He also talks about ethical values espoused by a leader and the undying allegiance towards truth.

Delving into his own experiences, Mr. Gopalkrishnan described situations in his career during the Broke Bond-Lipton merger and the allegation of malpractice directed towards him and his employers (then Hindustan Lever). He felt that the faith in themselves and the company's creed helped them tide over the situation-they emerged unscathed with their reputations intact. A leader and a visionary organisation always look deep into the future and never ever compromise on values, no matter how tough the going gets.

CK Ranganathan, the chairman & CEO of CavinKare, is a self-made entrepreneur who began his business a little over a decade ago with a modest outlay of Rs.15,000. Today he heads a Rs.165 crore venture in the personal care industry. 'Chik' and 'Fairever' are finding their place in the sun. Mr. Ranganathan may be called the pioneer of the sachet concept in India.

On entrepreneurship: He feels that to be a leader, we have to think and act like one. Winning, he says, comes by changing the rules of the game. Strategy is not about planning but about insights and business size does not matter, speed does. A visionary always thinks out of box and creates competencies rather than benchmark himself with others.

Business is not about deep pockets, but about the strength of ideas. The best approach to the future is to invent it. As for MNCs, they are not be feared.

On failure: Failure, he says gives us insight to strategy formulation. Continuous innovation is the key to success. His brief stints with mineral water and anti-lice powder flopped but the experience taught him lessons on strategy. He knew his distribution network would not support his plan for mineral water. So he quit the business,.

Ranganathan's leadership style: Leadership can be termed as a mix of authoritative, associative and coaching in the proportion of 40 per cent, 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. There are three phrases that could well describe this leadership style -'come with me', 'people come first', and finally, 'try this'. Together, they result in mobilising individuals towards a vision, creating harmony and building emotional bonds while all the time developing people for the future. In his case, it was the future of CavinKare.