Former HUL CEO Sanjiv Mehta in awe of Zubin Mehta's orchestra, lauds his 'art of leadership'

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Sanjiv Mehta, who hung up his boots in June this year, is enjoying his retirement. The former HUL boss recently attended an orchestra, conducted by globally-acclaimed Parsi conductor Zubin Mehta. Taking to the professional networking platform LinkedIn, the sexagenarian said that he was fortunate enough to witness the Mumbai-born conductor's epic skills on stage.

«Last evening, (I) had the joy of watching Mumbai-born conductor Zubin Mehta lead the Symphony Orchestra of India with works of Mozart, Schubert and Mahler. Zubin has been a conductor of New York Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, amongst others,» he wrote in his post. Mehta was impressed with the music maestro's brilliant talent to conduct an orchestra.

He said that it reminded him of the «art of leadership.» Comparing the world of music and the corporate world, the retired corporate honcho said that having leadership skills and conducting an orchestra is similar in many ways. The common skills between both fields include effective communication, collaboration, and creative and flexible culture. «The art of leadership is similar to the art of conducting an orchestra in many ways.

A conductor has to create a compelling vision, use his baton and gestures to communicate effectively, encourage a high degree of collaboration amongst the musicians, be creative and flexible and get the best out of each musician to deliver harmonious music,» Mehta's post read. Last week, Zubin paid a special tribute to the country with his rendition of the National Anthem on Independence Day (August 15). upGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a video of Zubin conducting his version of 'Jana Gana Mana' with the London-based Philharmonic