SK Choudhary and RC Bhargava during the function in Ranchi on Monday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, July 4: Being a good person is more important than being a rich manager. That was the message from management gurus to budding managers at the induction of the second batch of Indian Institute of Management-Ranchi today at the Sri Krishna Sinha Institute of Public Administration (SKIPA).

“Remember, humility will get you further than the feeling that you are greater than others,” said Maruti Udyog chief R.C. Bhargava, who is also chairman of IMM-Ranchi board of governors.

Bhargava urged the students to think about what they would look back on when they retire. “If being the richest manager means a successful manager, then the richest country in the world, the USA, would not have been facing so many problems at every level, including dissatisfaction among its people,” he said.

He advised the students not to be arrogant. “You are the brightest among the bright because of a very good combination of genes. Success comes also from a combination of luck, being at the right place at the right time,” he said.

Bhargava urged the new IIM students to aim for a sense of inner satisfaction and not riches.

Speaking on the occasion, IIM-Ranchi director M.J. Xavier advised the students to be “polite, nice, good to people” and make it a part of their skill. “Don’t have collars rolled up, roll that down,” he added.

Xavier told the students to compete, but in a healthy way. He likened them to the farmer who distributed good seeds, which he yielded a good crop, among his neighbours too. “Competition is degrading and demeaning if it leads one to destroy others,” he advised.

The new batch of students of IIM-Ranchi were asked to be “socially sensitive” and understand the pathetic conditions in rural areas and leave an indelible mark by doing something for the rural poor and the state.

Xavier thanked chief secretary S.K. Choudhary for taking prompt action soon after taking charge to provide the institute with some extra space and hostel accommodation for students. “Otherwise, I wasn’t sure if we could have the second batch,” he said.

The chief secretary, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said: “Very soon, we’ll be able to give you a campus, we have figured out the land.”