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D Narula is a missionary with a difference—he enriches the lives
of others by changing their outlook. He tells SUDIPTA DEV why he
left system consultancy for turnaround consultancy
A D
Narula had long ago recognised that he had a singular mission in
life—to bring about transformation in the lives of others.
The man of course considers himself to be a perpetual learner, and
acknowledges that it is in the process of conducting transformational
programmes that he learns the most. Narula has been associated with
as many as 200 companies and touched the lives of more than 25,000
people in the last three decades. An engineer and management graduate,
Narula has a diversified portfolio that ranges from software development
to marketing to education, but it is the field of turnround consultancy
that is closest to his heart.
Reminiscences
come easy to 62-year-old Narula, the intervening long years notwithstanding.
He recollects with clarity how as a six-year-old he had come to
India from West Pakistan with his family. The family kept moving
to different places in North India and eventually it was in 1951
that they came and settled in Mumbai. “My father died when
I was 13. Following my studies I chose not to go abroad although
I had got admission in three places, as I wanted to support my mother,”
he says. Narula’s first job as a graduate engineering trainee
lasted for exactly 45 days. He then joined Voltas and stayed with
the company for eight long years. Initially in the marketing division,
it was his interest in the field of computers that made him introduce
computerisation in the company. At the time he left the organisation,
he was the systems manager.
In
1970, Narula started his own organisation—Speedex Dataprocessing.
At that time there were no small players in the market, only names
like IBM and TCS. The smaller players focused on data centre services.
Things changed drastically in the year 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi opened
the floodgates for PCs.
Narula
took up an assignment with Datapro to set up an education centre.
Its success led to a whole network of centres across the country.
A professional who has always been motivated by the challenges of
diverse assignments, his focus ranged from education to business
development, organisational development, and some marketing. “Being
a consultant with Datapro I could continue to do other works and
pursue my mission in life, that is, enable breakthrough results
in life of individuals and operations,” says Narula.
In
1984, he got involved with the Landmark Education Corporation headquartered
in San Francisco, after attending one of their programmes called
‘The Forum’. He became a certified seminar leader, and
the association continues till today. Every week along with his
wife Manju, he conducts transformational programmes for Landmark,
free of charge. The reason for him is simple—“I want to
keep learning”. He believes that it is the constant interaction
with people while leading such programmes that satisfies the learner
in him.
Landmark
has centres in major metros of the country, and Narula is associated
with the Mumbai centre. “I was not interested in becoming an
employee, but wanted to participate in transformational programmes.
I stopped system consultancy and got into turnaround consultancy,”
informs Narula.
In
the last 18 years he has been partnering with many organisations
to enhance corporate/personal productivity. What keeps him going
is the tremendous feedback he gets from the participants of the
programmes. Sometimes even years later in a chance encounter they
remind him how his workshop had changed their outlook and consequently
their lives. His concept extends beyond the confines of mere motivational
programmes. The dictum is simple: “People have forgotten what
they want in life. They can achieve whatever they want but are afraid
of embarrassment and failure. Once the block is removed (this is
where group dynamics comes into play), they are given the methodology
to tap their hidden potential.”
Apart
from conducting transformational workshops for corporates and individuals,
Narula and his wife have been very active with school children.
The
past chairman of the National Association for Companies in Technology
Training (NACTT), he is also a master in Neuro Linguistic Programming
(NLP) from the National Federation of Neuro Linguistic Programming
in Florida. “This is a latest science which says that you can
read people by knowing how a person is programmed. If you have a
role model, by using NLP one can learn his secrets. This subject
is very close to me as it helps in relating to people much better,”
states Narula.
Today,
he wants to share his repository of learning with anybody who is
interested, and be an “open source” for all to enrich
their lives. In the pipeline is an interactive website and a ‘train
the trainer’ programme, to take his mission forward.
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