AN EQUILIBRIUM OF OPPOSITES

Decoding the happy bundle of contradictions that is A.M. Naik

TOUGH YET TENDER, an exacting taskmaster yet a considerate team leader, A.M. Naik is a happy coalition of contradictions. It is a coalition that works, and how! He is known to have steamrolled opponents one morning and be on backslapping terms with them that very evening. He has several good friends in the industry and in government circles. But that has not stopped him from calling them out when he felt that they had slipped up. And, the best part is that his candid expression of disapproval did not affect the relationships in the slightest.

Although he has been covered intensely by the media, most people see only one facet of this many-sided personality. That is why insiders at Larsen & Toubro say that one needs to spend a year with him to discover all the dimensions of this larger-than-life corporate leader. For obvious reasons, spending an entire year was not possible, but here, pieced together from a variety of sources are a clutch of stories about the head honcho of one of India’s most admired companies. Put all the jigsaw pieces together and you will get a picture of a Naik you may not have seen before.

He is hard-driving and intense. As somebody said years ago, he is the kind of leader who, if you do not do as he thinks, will ensure that you think as he does! Many would conclude therefore that there is no lighter side to Naik. But that is not true. He has a quick, quirky sense of humour that can suddenly enliven interactions.