Jamshedpur, March 25: "Never shy away from learning leadership skills and challenge yourself to take up tough jobs; do not let others demotivate you; strive to win but learn to differentiate between right and wrong; be prepared to constantly raise your bar and lastly always love your job...."

Those were the five motivating life lessons from the chairman of Godrej group Adi Godrej, while delivering his convocation speech at XLRI, Jamshedpur, today.

Natty in black gown and yellow sashes, 607 students who graduated from XLRI-Jamshedpur over the past three years attended their 61st annual convocation on their campus today and pledged to pilot the nation on the growth runway.

The elite cradle conferred medals and certificates on 358 students of two-year postgraduate diploma in management, 117 students of one-year postgraduate diploma in general management, 56 of three-year postgraduate diploma in business management, 47 of postgraduate diploma in business management from Dubai campus, 11 of fellow programme in management from Jamshedpur campus and 18 Indian students of two-year postgraduate in global business management (XLRI in partnership with Weatherhead School of Management, USA and Tongji University, Shanghai, China).

Students were also recognised for their commendable academic performances, while five students were felicitated with a special award for undertaking social initiatives under a programme sponsored by the State Bank of India.

Shaurya Sharma and Ruma Chaudhary of business management received the all-round student award in the men and women categories, respectively.

Jayna Maheshwari, Anshul Jain, Shashank Jain, Vineet Vergis George and Mandar Manohar Akhare were awarded for scoring the highest marks in human resource management, business management, general management programme, global MBA and business management from Dubai campus, respectively.

This year XLRI conferred the prestigious Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace on Adi Godrej.

"The future of our country is bright and India is poised to become the largest global economy by 2050. All the graduates of premier B-schools should contribute towards the development of our country," said Godrej.

Praising the demonetisation move, Godrej said, "It's a good move towards curbing black money and will help our country to attain new heights."

XLRI director Father E. Abraham, while presenting his annual report, said that the foundation stone for the upcoming XLRI campus in Delhi was laid on January 16 this year at Jajjhar and there were plans of expanding the campus in western and southern parts of the country.

"We are proud to announce that XLRI has received the international accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)," said Father Abraham.

Congratulating the students on their graduation day, Tata Steel managing director T.V. Narendran, who is also the chairman of the board of governors at XLRI, said, "You will face a lot of challenges and make decisions that will impact the lives of many of your colleagues and fellow citizens. It is important to exercise your discernment and do the right things."