• Why Finance and I mix?
Might be genetic! My father was an accountant by profession and my paternal grandfather was an astrologer with a sharp acumen and fascination for numbers. Once I chose this stream, the very fact that finance is a great enabler, as well as the most reliable yardstick for business performance, made it even more exciting for me.
• Motto I live by…
Never do anything that you would not want to see reported on the front page of a newspaper.
• Being CFO to me means…
A conscience keeper and a provider of early warning signals to the businesses.
• When I switch any company I would like to be remembered for
Being a team player, my scalable controls and processes that I helped devise or implement.
• Next pit stop
CFO of a publicly listed company.
• Leadership goals
Inspiring people to do their best and shaping careers.
• Another CFO I look up to
It would be difficult to single out a particular person. All the CFOs that I have had the opportunity of working with in the past have influenced me positively as well as some of the CEOs that I have worked with. I applaud them for their ‘CFO instinct,’ and hence consider them as my ‘Gurus’ too!
• A leader/mentor I look up to and why
Outside the corporate world, it would be MS Dhoni. I admire him for the cool head over his shoulders and his ability to get the best out of his team.
• One deal I wish I had cracked
Thankfully, I do not have any such regrets as of now. I am glad to have had great work experiences, including M&A deals and transformation initiatives.
• One thing I still want to learn
To become an expert in the art of negotiation.
• Most overrated financial advice
I believe that the B2C business valuations these days are certainly overrated.
• Value creation to me means?
An equitable creation of value to the entire stakeholder spectrum – shareholders, employees, vendors, society.
• What have failures have taught me?
As long as we are willing to learn from those failures, life always offers everyone a second chance.
• From my previous experience, the biggest learning that remained?
Behind every great achievement lies strong teamwork.
• One misconception that CFOs have about themselves?
Being I ‘only a numbers guy’. The have successfully evolved from that phase to becoming leaders who provide strategic direction to businesses. I feel that over the last two decades, this evolution has already taken place.
• One responsibility/thing that very few understand about CFO’s function?
Risk mitigation.
• What role does spirituality play in my life & leadership?
Spirituality has taught me to treat others with empathy, treat success and failures with equanimity and most importantly, always hope for the best but prepare for the worst.