Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

HOW TO GROOM LEADERS, ICICI S T Y L E Take very deliberate, calculated decisions: Why did the directors take a very calculated decision—and a very risky one at that—to send Sanjoy Chatterjee, then all of 34, to head its subsidiary in UK? "We wanted some of the top performers to be internationalized. In the same way, Rajiv Sabharwal was given early exposure to rural—again, a very deliberate decision,” says Mr Ramkumar. Train people to take the heat: Dealing with stress and pressure are part of life at ICICI. The high performance culture starts at the board meetings itself, where executive directors are grilled by the entire board. And for most newcomers, this can be an unnerving experience. ICICI has now started simulated training for potential board members which gives them a real sense of an actual setting. Don't worry about going wrong on the calls you take: In judgement calls, the risk of going wrong cannot be eliminated. In case a person fails, there is no witch-hunting. I...

ICICI bank’s leadership in the industry is exemplary. But nothing to compare its ability to spot, groom and deploy leaders in-house. One-man show LISTEN to Mr Kamath as he recounts his original formula. “This entrepreneur was told you that have the support system of ICICI. You have a limited amount of capital. We will give you one good person whom you can pick. The rest of the team you will have to build and this is your business case. Detail your business case, build your team, tell me how you will execute, start executing, report to the board on that basis. Thereafter, move it to a management by-objective type of scenario—where objectives are very clearly set, keep meeting those performance targets. Keep ramping up these targets, if necessary, maybe course correcting the strategy as you go on.” The model was successful. “It allowed the young business heads to evolve into leaders because they took the entire stress of building those businesses and getting them into shape. In that proc...

ICICI bank’s leadership in the industry is exemplary. But nothing to compare its ability to spot, groom and deploy leaders in-house. IT SEEMED like a random move then. In 2002, Sanjoy Chatterjee, 33, an almost unknown face to the outside world, was assigned to head ICICI Bank's UK subsidiary. Asking a young and relative inexperienced executive to lead the bank's UK operations may have looked risky and reckless to many at that time. But late last year, when the bank rejigged its top brass, the plot began to fall in place. Chatterjee got elevated to lead its critical international business and corporate banking divisions. His elevation hints at two things: the bank's phenomenal talent screening process and its courage to bet on young and bright executives much ahead in their careers. Chief executive officer K V Kamath, 59, knows that that's the only way ICICI Bank will be able to maintain its edge and growth going forward. The average age of Indians will fall to 28 in the...