“People have to take control of their own lives. Education is key because it also…” — Azim Premji

The customer is a remarkably selfish person: He takes the relationship to where the execution is in his favor.

There are three lessons in philanthropy - one, involve the family, especially the spouse. She can be a remarkable driver of your initiative. Two, you need to build an institution, and you need to scale it up. Choose a leader for philanthropy whom you trust. Three, philanthropy needs patience, tenacity and time.

The principal challenge we face is to go up the value- and domain-skill chain and build a strong consultancy front end and, also, to globalize our leadership much more.

You need a commitment which is long term and a commitment to leadership, because that's the only way you build excellence.