Remembering Diwan Arun Nanda: Leadership lessons that endure

The passing of Diwan Arun Nanda is a tremendous loss — not just for the advertising industry, but for everyone who had the privilege of knowing or working with him. While many will rightly celebrate his towering achievements, his pioneering contributions, and the empire he built, I want to reflect instead on my personal interactions with him and the invaluable leadership lessons I drew from them.

My association with Arun began in 2005, when he hired me as President of The Media Edge. It was my first national role — in fact, several levels above what I had been doing until then. What struck me immediately was his ability to look beyond conventional checklists of experience and credentials. Despite the fact that I lacked 4-5 years of senior leadership exposure typically expected for such a role, he focused on what I had accomplished and the strengths I could bring. From him, I quickly learned one of the most powerful leadership lessons: great leaders build successful organizations by amplifying people’s strengths, not by dwelling on their gaps.

I have particularly fond memories of launching TME as a new media brand under the Rediffusion DYR umbrella, after The Media Edge’s partnership with WPP came to an end. In true Arun Nanda style, he entrusted me and my team with complete ownership — from conceptualization to final execution. He was always available as a sounding board, yet never intrusive. His presence at the launch, in full support, underlined a second enduring lesson: leaders empower others by trusting them deeply and showing up to endorse their success.

That trust was transformational for me. By not second-guessing my decisions or micromanaging, Arun gave me the space to grow into a leader far more quickly than I could have otherwise. During my three and a half years at TME, we grew from strength to strength — not because of top-down instructions, but because of his steady presence in the background, ready with guidance when I needed it.

Another aspect of his leadership that has stayed with me was his mastery in profiling people and organizations. I still recall Brand Equity carrying a detailed feature on my joining TME and outlining my agenda as its new leader — all thoughtfully orchestrated by Arun. Through gestures like these, he taught me a third vital lesson: the lost art of making people feel special in their defining moments. He ensured that I never felt inadequate, only supported and celebrated.

Arun Nanda’s leadership was quiet yet profound, anchored in trust, empowerment, and genuine regard for people. For me, his legacy is not only in the institutions he built, but also in the leaders he shaped — often by simply believing in them before they fully believed in themselves.