Bangalore: Wipro Corporation chairman Azim Premji on October 29 said leadership based on values has long-term benefits and cutting corners can at best provide immediate results, with hidden consequences that could prove disastrous later.

"You may call it by any name, but there is powerful law in nature that returns you many fold whatever good gesture you make towards the society," he said in his address to the Asian Regional HRD conference at Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.

With all the recent controversies surrounding many companies, one no longer heard of the debate whether values come in the way of success, he said. Values not only help in achieving success but also make success more enduring and lasting.

"We have seen huge corporations being felled down in a few days because somewhere the foundations got eaten up," he said.

Values, he said, could serve as a strong anchor in a turbulent sea of changes. Values also provide the courage to stand up to any distractions along the way. The strong desire to move ahead could at times tempt businesses to cut corners or bend the rules.

"This has a tendency to catch up as we have seen in the recent months. Values provide the necessary brakes or limits to keep leadership from going astray. Values essentially provide us with an internal discipline," he said.

PTI