Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to thank the fifty-five thousand wonderful partners and coauthors of this book: the HCLites. Without your ideas, your belief in what we were doing, and your indulging us in some initiatives that many might have considered crazy, Employees First, Customers Second would never have become a reality. The members of my leadership team, you who dared to walk a path very few have walked before, are the true heroes of this transformation. Each of you is a fascinating person who has taught me so much; I walk shoulder to shoulder with you with great pride. I would also like to acknowledge all the former HCLites, because this journey would have been impossible without the foundations you laid over a thirty-year period; your footprints have guided us toward new destinations and firmer ground.

Shiv Nadar, you have been a wonderful friend, guide, and mentor. You inspired me as you have inspired so many other people. Your spirit—to experiment and to push the boundaries—is what I treasure the most. Thank you for believing in me.

To my customers and partners, some of whom have become friends, thank you for believing in us from the earliest days of our journey. It has been your support and participation that have helped us to evolve and improve EFCS with each passing year. You have been enthusiastic supporters of our strategy and your desire for us to succeed has been the fundamental reason that EFCS lives and breathes today.

To my industry peers, thank you for being an inspiration. You challenged us to compete harder every day, and that is why the journey has been so much fun. We have learned a great deal from each other, and I hope that we continue this competition that is based on ideas and values.

In true EFCS fashion, I have relied on friends and colleagues to help me create this book. I had the passion, if not the skills, to write a book that would be worth reading, so I looked to others to realize a dream that sometimes seemed impossible to make a reality. Many thanks to Zulfia and Amrita, two bright sparks, who helped me conduct research and translate ideas into words, and to Meena, who managed the process and ensured we kept walking the path. Thanks to Suresh, Krishnan, Heena, R. Anand, Neha, and Anand Pillai for helping me think through the structure and format of the book. Thanks to many others in my leadership team for reviewing the drafts and giving valuable input. Without your help and participation, I probably would have given up.

The spaces between the notes are where music is made and I’m grateful that I had my composer, John Butman, to bring music to this book. I never thought that words could speak what I feel until I met John. Thank you to Jacque Murphy, my editor at Harvard Business Press, for her astute feedback and for keeping me on course. My thanks to David Wan, CEO of Harvard Business Publishing, for suggesting I write this book in the first place and for his support throughout the process. Thanks also to Linda A. Hill and Tarun Khanna, who coauthored the Harvard Business School case study that laid the foundation for the book.

It takes a village to make a man and perhaps a good-sized town to make an author. My mother inspired me to fight all odds. “Difficult is nothing,” she would say. “It is just different.” This book is dedicated to her because it is her spirit that breathes life into me every morning. My father, during the evening walks we enjoyed together, instilled in me the desire to think big and to act with integrity. My wife, Anupama, is my closest friend and the woman behind my success and strength. Thank you to my brothers, Neeraj and Vibhu, who are my biggest supporters and critics. Their comments on the manuscript were very valuable. Thanks to my Aunt Kailash for instilling pride in me—pride for our history and pride as the way to live life. To my children, Varun and Sophiyaa, thanks for teaching me what love and Gen Y are all about. And I am grateful to so many other friends and members of my family who helped to make me the person I am today.

My special thanks to my team and the children who work with me in our charitable organization Sampark, which has a vision of creating “a million smiles” by helping to improve the quality of education in India; all of my proceeds from this book will go to Sampark.

It takes courage to walk a different path, but when you do, you discover that you are not alone; there are many who wish to walk with you. I acknowledge all who believe in walking different paths. It’s the act of walking and not the success at the end that makes the walk worth it.

Finally, thank you to all the readers who picked up this book and delved into its contents. I wish you the best in your journey.