This interview with Tiger Tyagarajan, chief executive ofGenpact, a business process and technology management company, was conducted and condensed byAdam Bryant.
Q. Were you in leadership roles or doing entrepreneurial things as a child?
A. No. I was a nerd. In my family, education was all that mattered, and being No. 1 in your class was the only thing that mattered. If you were No. 2, then the question was, why aren’t you No. 1? I grew up in India, and in that culture, math and science were all that mattered.
And were you No. 1?
I was for many years. But at some point in college, I changed my view of what’s important to be successful. You have to be able to work in a team and communicate. Just knowing the answer is not good enough. That was a big transformation.
How did you learn that?