Follow four simple principles to make a difference, Premji tells employees

In his New Year message to employees, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji has asked them to follow four simple principles ranging from finding a common ground to solve issues to being committed to values.

Premji, one of the leading philanthropists in the country, said the success of the company will help make a difference to some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.

He pointed out that almost 40 per cent of the company is owned by a philanthropic trust, which is completely focussed on trying to contribute to developing a better world. Hence, the more successful Wipro becomes, the more the disadvantaged will benefit.

The four principles that, he said, should help guide them are:

Finding common ground: We must find common ground, rather than focussing on conflicts. The reality of the world is that there will always be disagreement and differences between people, but finding common ground is the only way of moving forward.

Concern for others: We must have a genuine concern for others. We must respect all human beings equally and we must have the same respect for nature. This respect must manifest in action.

Connectedness: We must recognise that societies, economies, and the environment are all deeply connected. Individual human beings and peoples find meaning in this connectedness, not in separation and isolation. Our problems and solutions are deeply connected. So every effort of ours to find solutions and to find meaning must strengthen this connectedness.

Commitment to values: The bedrock of everything must be an unflinching commitment to Values, at the core of which is Integrity. Integrity is certainly about honesty and honouring commitments, but it is more than that. It is about having the courage to persevere for what is right and what is good.

“For five decades, I have been completely invested in Wipro and its people. Wipro makes a real difference to its clients across the world, and this is what powers its success. It is your commitment and hard work, and that of every Wiproite, that actually makes this happen. I have the greatest pride in this,” Premji said.

Premji, hailed by the Time magazine in 2011 as among the 100 most influential people, said during his recent visit to Sirohi in Rajasthan he happened to watch the assembly proceedings of a school and during that time, one of the young girls asked him what was it that he has done that makes him feel really happy and fulfilled.

The question, Premji said, provided greater clarity and insight for himself. “The greatest fulfilment is in knowing that the work that we are doing at the Foundation has some role in shaping confident, thinking, caring and ethical human beings like her.”

Premji, who heads the $9-billion Wipro Group, said 2016 has raised questions and obstacles, on the path to a better world, which cannot be ignored. “These questions have arisen from developments in the political arena, from the fast unfolding environmental crisis and from forces that want to shape the world in to a place of exclusion, conflict and suspicion.”

He said once these issues started getting addressed head-on rather than ignoring them, continuous progress can be made and each and every employee can play a part and as a company it can make a substantial difference.

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