VISION, INNOVATION AND PASSION ARE WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCEED, BELIEVES YASHPAL GUPTA
An engineer by qualification, he started career as a Scientist with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( CSIR) in 1990, before switching over to State Bank of Indore in 1992.
During his busy career, Gupta has acquired additional qualifications – including an Executive MBA from Indian School of Business ( ISB), One ear Management course in Planning and Leadership from IIM, Kolkata, Financial Risk Management ( FRM) from Global Association of Risk Professionals ( GARP), and Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Banking and Finance ( CAIIB).
I have been associated with several new initiatives at IDBI and IDBI Bank. These include acquisition of property from defaulting borrowers, setting up of debt syndication and advisory department, innovative financing structures, carbon credit services, conceptualization of environment friendly subsidy schemes with World Bank, etc.
Analytical skills, domain knowledge, out- of- the- box thinking, strategy and planning, timely execution, teamwork, ability to motivate team members, and persistence are my key strengths. I have a “ never- saydie” attitude and keep on trying till the objective is achieved. I am also completely transparent while dealing with team members and give them full freedom to express whatever is in their mind. I constantly encourage them to be innovative and come up with new ideas, however foolish they may appear.
A successful leader should be strong. S/ he should lead by example and follow the principle of “ Do as I Do” rather than “ Do as I say”. S/ he should set a clear vision and direction and motivate the team to move in that direction. S/ he should follow a “ carrot and stick” approach by rewarding good performance and being tough with poor performance; respect individuals and give adequate freedom to express themselves and work according to their comfort levels, as long as it meets the overall objectives. The leader should credit team members for successes and take the ultimate responsibility for failures.
Good education not necessary for success Good education is an important but not a necessary condition for success. While good education from premier institutions gives a strong platform to start, I have seen a large number of people from these premier institutions not being so successful.
Similarly, I have seen a large number with poor educational background being immensely successful entrepreneurs.
Work hard and smart Nowadays, one needs to be fully aware of what is happening in her/ his team, organisation, competitors, and around the world. Continuous availability of information, analysis of this information, and timely action are necessary. Most jobs require frequent travelling and regular communication with colleagues and the outside world. ou have to work from home, while travelling, while waiting for meeting in others’ offices, and of course from your own office. I have seen most successful people work more than 15- 16 hours a day.
However, hard work is not sufficient.
There is a saying in Hindi that “ Mehnat to Gadha bhi karta hai ”, meaning that even a donkey works hard. So, in order to be successful one needs to be smart as well. Invest your energy and efforts in doing only those works that are essential and which would give you maximum benefits. Be innovative and constantly look for opportunities.
Manage your time I adhere to the following principles: make a schedule of things to be done in order of priority every morning, delegate as much responsibility as possible to subordinates, try to be brief and specific in conversations and meetings, reduce paper work, try to reach meetings at scheduled time, and make full use of travel time. I must confess that most of the time at the end of the day I find a few important things could not be done.
Create opportunities I strongly believe that success lies in identifying and creating opportunities out of difficulties. While prolonged sluggishness in the economy has posed several challenges on debt syndication front, it has also created business opportunities for us. We have also been able to use several innovative methods to reduce cost without affecting our revenue.
Be a VIP! For me, VIP is important for achieving success. VIP means Vision, Innovation, and Passion.
As EVP of IDBI Capital, a 100% subsidiary of IDBI Bank, ashpal Gupta manages more than 100 professionals across the Corporate Advisory Group ( CAG). He has been with IDBI Group for 20 years and has been actively involved in its journey from being premier Development Financial Institution ( DFI) of India to one of the largest Commercial Banks in the country.
