Talent is extremely important. It's like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there's a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they employ.

Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people.

I would say that I'm blessed with a very, very good executive team that operates, reasonably autonomously, each of the companies.

I do not know how history will judge me, but let me say that I've spent a lot of time and energy trying to transform the Tatas from a patriarchal concern to an institutional enterprise. It would, therefore, be a mark of failure on my part if it were perceived that Ratan Tata epitomises the Group's success. What I have done is establish growth mechanisms, play down individuals and play up the team that has made the companies what they are. I, for one, am not the kind who loves dwelling on the 'I'. If history remembers me at all, I hope it will be for this transformation.

But I noted with real satisfaction how well ex-footballers seemed to have leadership qualifications... I believe that football, perhaps more than any other sport, tends to instill in men the feeling that victory comes through hard - almost slavish - work, team play, self-confidence, and an enthusiasm that amounts to dedication.

The thing that's been consistent is that this is a team sport and nothing happens through the work of just an individual. We all do this together and it doesn't matter whether you're going to do a startup or you're at a big company, that's going to be the case. And what sport taught me was the importance of that and how to treat a teammate, and how to work together.