Page 38 - Seniors Today - June 2021 Issue
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of directors of a company and they were
briefing me on a project that was required
in a week’s time and it was impossible to
deliver it. So I told them that it would be not
possible to deliver in that time-frame. They
were all mighty annoyed. Immediately they
asked for Mike’s direct line and called him
up while they glared furiously at me. They
said that there was a Prabhakar Mundkur
with them who was refusing to do a project
because the time for it was not adequate. I
could hear Mike’s voice crackling from the
other side of the receiver: “If Prabhakar
Mundkur says it can’t be done, it can’t be
done”. I was overwhelmed by his confidence
in me and supporting me in front of an
important client. When I reached office, I
Monkeying around in Chinese gear at a party with Indu
Balachandran (Creative Director, Chennai)... went to thank him for his support, but he
Mike Khanna was always game for some fun just treated like one of the things he had to
“Your agency is aligned to a famous brand of do during the day.
beer with JWT around the world, so if that He knew his people well. When he once
beer came to India, you might sack me and offered to promote me to head our Bangalore
take on that the global product. Why should office which included being on the Executive
I hire you?”. Prompt came the reply: “If you Committee of HTA, I told him I would
promise not to sack me, I won’t sack you.” need to think about it. Pat came his reply:
The client was stunned and gave us almost “Prabs, don’t be a hippie. Grow up. I am
his entire business that day including his putting you on the board of the company”.
spirits division. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he
On another occasion, the MD of a spark knew my disreputable past as a member of
plug manufacturing business told him: a rock band in my growing up years. I was
“I will only give you my business if you impressed by his insight into people.
assure me that you will look at every piece
of creative that comes out of your agency.”
Mike’s retort was a winner. He told the
client: “If you look at every spark plug that
comes out of your factory, I will look at every
piece of creative.”
Mike was a great leader. He displayed
all the leadership skills that we are taught
today by the big business schools. One of
this admirable traits was that he was always
backed you when you needed his support. Wives were always included at HTA parties. LtoR_ Rekha
I was once in a meeting with the board Khanna, Anita Mundkur Ingrid Arthur
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