UW-La Crosse and the College of Business Administration were honored to host Ram Charan, world-renowned business author and lecturer, on campus to speak this past Wednesday, Oct. 28, as part of the Russel G. Cleary Leadership Lecture Series.  

Ram Charan spoke on a wide range of topics, but much of his focus revolved around the importance of globalization and understanding its impact in multiple sectors.  People, companies and governments all within different nations are important to understand from a contemporary, technological standpoint, according to Charan.  He shared with the predominantly young audience in attendance on Wednesday some highlighted points to take home.  Charan emphasized that everyone must find what it is that brings them happiness, and only then will energy follow.  With this energy, one will find their own success. Above all, Charan stated that if someone is not happy in their current work environment, they should leave that environment immediately.  

Charan is also the best selling author of The Attackers Advantage, Boards that Lead and Global Tilt, among other texts, and he was willing to share more insight as to how to strategically discern what latest things in this globalized market will harvest success.  

He did, however, have more advice than just following one’s gut; he shared with the UW-L audience what he sees as the next big steps for a business mind in this highly globalized world.  

One of the main texts Charan alluded to in his talk was his book Global Tilt, in which he addressed the globalized, technology based opportunity that the world presents students with today.

After Charan’s lecture, one finance student in attendance noted, “I think he gave me a better idea that I’m not just a little person.  I can make a difference if I think big and have big ideas.  I think this talk was a step in figuring out where I want to be.”

Charan stressed the importance of first realizing that we live in a digitized world and that the future of business is in “digitization” and globalization of the market.  He provided examples of already digitized companies such as Amazon and eBay, among others, and explained that because of this, the future lies in our mobile phones, writing algorithms and software.  

During his talk on globalization, Charan stressed the importance of globalizing the self by also visiting other cultures.  

“There’s no substitute for visiting, go and see,” said Charan. “Think globally.”

The College of Business Administration Russel G. Cleary Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series looks forward to hosting more highly regarded speakers.