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VOL-03 ISSUE-03 2022
Powerful
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Leadership Advents Fundamentals of Different Leadership Approaches
in Business
2022
Abhishek
Devidutta Samal An Exceptional Leader
Editor's Note Abhishek Joshi Deputy Editor abhishek.joshi@insightssuccess.com
BUSINESS ARENA’S SUCCESS EMPOWERERS
n the path to success, achievements are the milestones to be cherished when faced with the severest of adversities. It is during such times that your past accomplishments become your future empowerer.
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For them, success is a journey and not a destination, to be reached together with their compatriots. It is to be journeyed, experienced, and celebrated through the winding, upping and downing times. That is the way to live, work, play, and have fun all the time.
Establishing, running, and making a business successfully demands continuous passion, perseverance, powerful motivators and a resilient attitude.
Challenging times come and go, but since these powerful entrepreneurial spirits are untethered, they keep the flame of enterprise permanently enlightened.
Few accomplish this herculean task day-in-day-out and make winning an integral characteristic of their personality. They are powerful businessmen. Their mind is always set on the ultimate goal; the goal of personal, professional, and social improvement. To achieve it, they constantly improvise upon their skillset. The fundamental skill they possess includes readiness for hard work, longevity in arduous tasks, challenging the self every time, and innovating their perspectives and approaches towards the self and others. Their other traits are learning new things, updating themselves continuously, keeping up with the times, and bringing in positive change by developing an open mind.
Their persona brings positivity in times of depression, balance in chaotic situations, and harmony in a time of turbulence. These are the business arena's success Empowerers, making a powerful impact of positive difference in the social and business mindset. Insights Success brought this edition of Powerful Men in Business – 2022 to celebrate their journeys, stories, achievements, accomplishments, and success. Read on to learn, live, laugh, and celebrate with them and get mesmerised by them. You will also find some trendy articles crafted by our in-house editorial team to enchant you further with their stories. Hop in and have a powerful reading ride!
Similarly, they are concerned about the people more than the profits. They are also compassionate about their fellow human beings, colleagues, employees, and professional peers, including competitors. Whatever the situation, they do not forget their humane approach. This quality makes them stand apart in the crowd and helps them keep up their winning momentum in the long run.
Powerful
Men
in Business
2022
Featuring
Company Name
Brief
Abhishek Samal, Vice President
Kalinga Commercial Corporation
Kalinga Commercial Corporation is a leading Turnkey Service Provider for the mining sector to undertake contracts for raising and transporting ores and minerals.
Anand Ramakrishnan, Managing Director
Equiniti India
Equiniti is a leading specialist in technology, finance and administration services.
George Mathew, Founder and CEO
Team Sustain Cochin
TeamSustain is a leading clean and green technology solution provider that offers premier quality and cost effective energy solutions for sustainable resource utilization to markets around the world.
Harsh Pareek, Co-founder
iBraineDigital LLP Mumbai
iBraine is an online marketing company providing specialized web promotion services through search properties.
Ritesh Bhatnagar, CMO
U2opia Mobile
U2opia Mobile is a Singapore-India based innovator in mobile technology and applications.
APL Apollo
APL Apollo Tubes Limited is India’s largest Structural Steel Tubing Company with an extremely strong local presence, thanks to our philosophy of Make in India, extensive distribution network and world class quality.
Vinay Gupta, Director & Anubhav Gupta, CSO
COVER STORY
Abhishek Devidutta Samal An Exceptional Leader
08 Articles 18
Decoding Leadership Comprehending Essential Qualities of Leadership
30
Leadership Advents Fundamentals of Different Leadership Approaches
Dr George Mathew
Anand Ramakrishnan A Global Fintech Leader
22
A Certificated Expert in Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
26
Harsh Pareek Staunch Leadership Acumen
34
Ritesh Bhatnagar An Exemplary Leadership Personality
40 Vinay Gupta and Anubhav Gupta Men of Real Steel Proving Their Mettle
c o n t e n t
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MARCH, 2022
COVER STORY
ABHISHEK DEVIDUTTA
SAMAL An Exceptional Leader
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" Always work with self-confidence and a drive to succeed; achieve exemplary results and gracefully accept the challenges
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
ow frequently do we come across selfless leaders who provide a creative component to society with the potential for widespread opportunity growth? It’s incredible to observe how great leaders turn their ideas into reality. A wise leader has a strong desire to listen and interact, and it is their modesty and honesty that distinguishes them. Abhishek DEVIDUTTA Samal is leading by example with his sincerity.
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(HEMM), facilities for crushing and conveying, and transport of finished goods and waste.
Vice President of Projects and COO-Chrome Business at Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited, Abhishek started his career at Tata Steel, Kalinga Nagar, in 2017 as an intern. After training in electronics and telecommunications, he bagged the ‘Best Intern of The Year’ Award at Tata Steel Ltd.
Taking Onus as a Vice President Abhishek was awarded with the responsibility of Vice President (Projects) and COO in September 2020. It was a challenging job awarded by TSML to develop and make operational three chromite mines that were non-working and abandoned for over nine months in the Sukinda area.
He joined Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited in June 2017 as a key management person directly under the Chairman cum Managing Director with responsibility in both technical and non-technical areas to bring improvements in the company’s performance.
One of these was 200 m deep where de-watering though continued and opening access roads to develop operating faces for immediate mining was exceedingly difficult. In the other mine, de-watering itself was the problem to open the mine. With combined efforts, Abhishek and his team started the production and achieved their target.
Abhishek believed that there can be a successful career, while he accepted that, “Every day is important in his life. Every day is a new day, and it gives different experiences. To be very honest, there has not been any biggest accomplishment,” says Abhishek. And the only goal that Abhishek follows is to take his dreams and the company forward with promising growth. Managing Assets Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited is a leading turnkey service provider to the mining sector. Kalinga entered mining during 2003-2004 in small mines adopting semimechanized operation, gaining proficiency in the development and operation of state-of-the-art fully mechanized open cast mines, presently operating eight large and important Iron Ore, Coal, and Chromite mines of Odisha belonging to OMC, SAIL, MCL and TSML. Today, the company can excavate 27-30 million cubic meters and produce 18-20 million tons of finished saleable products. The company engages 7000 employees, out of which 4100 are direct employees of KCCL, mostly working at different mining sites. Among this major workforce are engaged in operation and maintenance of various mining equipment
Despite constraints during the pandemic period of the last two years, achieving steady growth continued in the previous five years, Kalinga with confidence, plans to achieve a turnover of 1500.Cr rupees during the financial year 2021-22.
Another chromite mine of OMC being earlier worked was also taken as a composite area for operation under his leadership. A Transformative Leadership There was also a need for improvement in technological and operational areas for an innovative approach, cost reduction, timely availability of spares of HEMM, etc. Improvement in the HR area, particularly training and skill development, commitment, and team effort, were felt necessary for higher productivity and growth prospects. To improve HR Management, Abhishek implemented the following strategies: •
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Before starting operation, National Anthem was played in an assembly in the operating mine sites attended by both executives and non-executives. Workers also participated in various welfare and CSR activities of the company conducted in the mines for the benefit of the local communities. Blood Donation Camp in coordination with a red cross Eye Check-up and Health Camp Distribution of Blankets Rations (grocery) and medicines to local inhabitants during the pandemic Plantation of saplings and sports activities
To bring all the categories of employees of the company together, cricket matches were organized among different mine sites. This helped employees to mix and understand each other to develop a feeling like a family. Picnics, functions, and get-togethers under employee engagement activities are also a part of this process. The company arranged tournaments as a part of employee engagement activities by participating in inter-site tournament 2018-19 and awarded Runners up medal and prize.
An Expert’s Advice Abhishek would like to advice to the budding aspirants, "Always work with self-confidence and a drive to succeed; achieve exemplary results and gracefully accept the challenges."
This helped Abhishek know about other mining sites and various company activities. A basic organizational structure was developed with the introduction of co-curricular activities to improve coordination between employees on different sites.
The company introduced Green Energy, Solar Systems for the lighting of haul roads and camps besides heating arrangement for supply of warm water to the camp. The company generates one megawatt of energy synchronized with the grid system.
With the above steps being initiated and structural changes in the organization under progress, considering contribution and performances, in this chromite project, the greatest challenge was to handle the labour unions of the previous and local issues demanding recruitment.
The company uses mostly imported equipment for better availability and assured productivity. Availability of spare parts was a major constraint even though there was a contract for maintenance services.
This was a complex problem involving socio, political, and local issues that required a sincere approach, proper communication, and management. Abhishek and his team settled these issues and ensured the operations of the mines were continuing smoothly. Development activities could be achieved as planned with the co-operation of colleagues and staff. But this challenge for the reopening of chromite mines was a challenging task that could be taken care of with much efforts with an amicable settlement of disputes. Surpassing the Challenges During the pandemic, the company has done many changes in the technical as well as in its nontechnical fields. Kalinga adopted a biometric fingerprint and RFID card-based time attendance system, compulsory for both executive and nonexecutive employees.
Advancements Driven by Technology With regards to technological developments and operational efficiency, the following activities have been taken:
Low-cost procurement was brought successfully to manage this, indigenization, and alternative sources. This enabled improvements in resource management, efficiency in availability and utilization of equipment, quick identification of problems, and immediate action. Exhibiting Excellence OMC awarded Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited for 100% achievement on production. With quality, commitment, honesty, and integrity, the company has become the ‘Fastest Growing Industry’ and achieved ‘The Fastest Growing Indian Excellence Award’ by International Achievers Summit. The Future Roadmap Digital transformation is currently changing the shape of business in various sectors. The mining industry cannot remain isolated. The geological database is now used for mine planning and progressive assessment of mining activities undertaken. It also helps in the assessment of stockpiles, dumps, production, etc.
On the mining sites, the workers regularly screened the temperature and oxygen level of the employees after coming and before leaving the workplace—installation of sanitiser machines and ensured sanitization of workplaces, machines, and vehicles on a regular basis.
The company is seriously working on improving MIS, ERP systems, data entry, data management, etc., for better efficiency in the management of maintenance, operation, and material management with faster response time.
Besides this, the company built its own isolation wards and quarantine centres in each site, and in cases of emergency, the company enabled the provision of oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, and ambulance facilities.
The company’s vision is to be a global player in the mining industry by 2030, and Abhishek wants to grow with the company, and someday, he wants to be recognized as one of the best influential leaders of the country.
A Global Fintech Leader
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umbers are captivating entities. They have enabled the mathematical revolution. Mathematics, in turn, made the finance world.
Technological forces have now transformed finance into a completely new world called Fintech. And mastering Fintech needs a different kind of leadership. Mr Anand Ramakrishnan, Managing Director of Equiniti India Private Limited, is that powerful Fintech leader. He was always fascinated by numbers and later by Finance during his post-graduation. He knew he would always end up doing something related to management and finance. He also enjoys setting up and growing new businesses. The challenges are fascinating, and the number of twists and turns along the way needs one to be flexible and be able to think on their feet, which Anand finds exciting. As with any other child, Anand looked up to his parents as he grew up, and you could say they were his first role models. In his professional world, there were many from whom he has learned and many who have contributed to his growth. Anand carries an experience of 20+ years in his career in the technology sector and has held prominent roles in various organisations as a CEO, Chief Strategy Officer, and CIO, among others. He joined Equiniti India from Quess Corp, where he was the CEO of MFX India, an Insure-tech Organization focused on Insurance and Qtek Systems, an IT Managed Services business he incubated. He was also a Director on the Board of Conneqt Business Solutions (formerly Tata Business Solutions), one of India's largest BPO Organizations.
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
During his career, he handled management roles in Wipro, HCL Infosystems, CMS IT Services, and Sonata Software. His career included overseeing operations in North & Latin America and Europe and leading expansion into Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Middle East. He has built multiple businesses and turned them into profitable entities in the past, which have helped him finetune his abilities in business strategy, leadership and P&L management. That is why he is Insights Success' one amongst the 'Powerful Men in Business-2022' Equiniti India, Capturing the Globe EQ India is EQ's Global India Captive (GIC). It is an extended arm of the global Fintech business and employs highly competent professionals delivering complex transactions. EQ India operates seamlessly with its entities in the UK, Netherlands, Poland, and USA. It is the fastestgrowing geography in the group in providing financial technology services to EQ's clients. EQ India provides sophisticated processing and payment services and effective technology solutions for increasingly complex and regulated markets. EQ India's services include business-centric process delivery such as shareholder services, estate registrations, payment reissues, transfers, multi-currency settlement and central reconciliation, investment services, pension solutions, KYC, AML and customer experience centres. These are core business processes of EQ that positively impact its customers across geographies. EQ India also drives financial services internally, wherein it delivers processes in core functions of F&A with quality, value-addition and transformation as its key drivers. Some of the key services delivered by EQ India are procure-topay, order-to-cash, record-to-report, payroll management, master data management, statutory reporting, group reporting and internal audit. In IT, EQ India provides application development and support, software quality assurance, IT infrastructure support services, messaging, telephony and Infosec services. EQ India focuses on excellence in service delivery while upholding its values of integrity and openness in its dealings. It leverages innovation, transformation and automation to deliver contemporary solutions that cater to its clients' requirements.
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EQ India employs some of the best people in India in their respective fields. In just a few years, EQ India has grown to 20% of its global employee base and continues to grow. At EQ India, Anand offers exciting challenges and significant professional growth to his teams. He believes in nurturing talent and having his teams express themselves. At the same time, he encourages his employees to have fun at work. Anand says firmly, “We believe in diversity and inclusion and have one of the best diversity ratios in the industry. We look into the future with a lot of optimism for growth and becoming one of the largest GICs in the global shareholder management industry.” EQ Group, a Fintech Leader Equiniti Group (EQ) is a technology-led financial service and shareholder management, specialist. As per Anand, their clients trust them to hold 70 million shareholder records, send £90 billion in payments each year, look after 1.1 million share plan investors and interact with 27 million shareholders and pensioners. Their technology and services cover share registration, share plans and governance solutions in the UK, equity compensation and related services for North American corporates, regulatory technology and services for credit, remediation and risk/fraud, pensions administration, payments and software. Over 70% of the FTSE 100 and 15% of the NYSE rely on EQ Group to help them respond to the challenges of an increasingly complex and regulated world. EQ Group provides specialist solutions powered by technology, which more than 5,000 employees deliver across geographies.
EQ India focuses on excellence in service delivery while upholding its values of integrity and openness in its dealings
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It delivers its services and solutions through a suite of technology platforms, which provide resilient, enterprisegrade technology and functionality to its clients. This technology underpins its strategy of expanding its service offering while adapting to changing client and regulatory requirements. Anand further says that their infrastructure is configured to be secure and resilient. The scalability of their platforms supports their business growth, as they process increasingly large volumes of data and transactions. They also have a track record of making targeted acquisitions of companies with exciting technologies, which opens new growth areas for them. As UK's leading share registration services company, EQ has been recognised as one of the UK's Superbrands for the last four consecutive years. EQ group has also received the following awards in the recent past: • Financial Times Diversity Leaders 2020 • Corporate Content Awards 2020 • Payment Provider Award at The Rewards 2019 • Digital Engagement Award at Verint EMEA Annual Customer Awards
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Looking into the Future EQ India has grown from strength to strength over the last few years, and continues this exciting growth journey. Anand always believes in the growth of not just the number of people but also in the growth in the quality of work that his team does. To develop an organisation, it is important to keep the teams motivated with challenges, which will come from doing more interesting and challenging assignments rather than just operational tasks. This is the direction in which EQ India is headed. Anand wants his teams to think more innovatively, particularly using technology, and ensure they move from being doers to influencers. As he has already mentioned, Anand enjoys setting up new businesses, growing into new geographies, and setting up new services. And most of his challenges have been during these times. The challenges are different, based on the business or geography he is working on. Setting up the cloud business and setting up a managed services business from scratch were extremely challenging, and so was being one of the first into a new geography. And as with anyone else who has lived through the last two years, COVID has been a significant challenge, both professionally and personally, the effects of which continue to linger. However, he says that they at EQ India all hope the worst is behind them.
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According to Anand, he would define a successful career as one where he should look back and say he has made a positive difference to the world and people around him. As long as he keeps working towards that, he is on the right path. Resonating Excellence EQ India has recently been awarded the “Best Brand” award for 2021 by Economic Times. Its recent awards include: • Export Excellence Award by Department of Commerce (Govt of India), 2021 • Best Finance Team of The Year Award at the CFO Summits & Awards, 2021 • Best in Onboarding Solution Award by World Training and Development Congress, 2021 • Excellence in Training Award at Asia Pacific HRM Congress, 2019 • Tamil Nadu Best Employer Brand Award, 2019 Breaking the COVID Spell Anand thinks one of the most essential things that COVID19 taught us is the ability to open our minds and look at things very differently. It has helped reduce the use of the
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word 'impossible' substantially. A couple of years ago, who would have thought you could run an entire sales cycle on Teams without physical meetings? Who would have thought Food Delivery Apps would be a lifesaver for many people? Who would have thought 'touch-less' is the way of the future, particularly since man is such a social animal? COVID-19 has opened our minds to new ways of thinking, and he thinks for the first time, people/businesses are asking for new technologies, rather than it being the other way round always. In his own company, they are working on various technologies and automation that drive their business for the future, thinking a few years ahead. Being in the financial services industry and being industry leaders, their future is about how quickly they grow and from an EQ India standpoint, how much more they can contribute to the EQ Group's growth. Anand thinks their future is indeed looking positive. They are well on the way to becoming an employer of choice in the Fintech space in India.
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D e c o d i n g l e a d e r s h i p
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Comprehending Essential Qualities of
Leadership T
hese days, leadership is essential for an organisation to accomplish its objectives. Being a solid management function, it helps to direct an organisation’s resources for improved efficiency and the achievement of goals. “ Effective leadership is necessary to bring clarity of purpose and motivate and guide the organisation to realise its goal. Following are the comprehending essential qualities of leadership. Possessing Integrity The foundation of any good leadership is integrity. To run any business without integrity is next to impossible. Whatever the situation, a great leader inspires with his principles without compromising. A great leader refrains from making false promises or taking shortcuts, choosing thoughts and action over personal gain. To pay the dividend in the long run, delivering the said promises as ethically and morally grounded is necessary. Thus, integrity is an essential quality of effective leadership. Being Innovative Being innovative does not mean being a creative genius with thoughtprovoking ideas. But a person who gives others the freedom to develop their ideas. People with great ideas also lack the will, determination, and confidence to take action. So, this quality is significant for the success of the organisation.
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Being open to new ideas and discussions is a sign of being innovative. It helps everyone think out of the box and gives an edge over others. Showing respect for other people’s ideas helps create a positive environment in the organisation. Ultimately it helps in attaining the goals of the business. Having a clear vision A clear vision is a must for laser-sharp focus on the goal. A person with a clear vision can understand what he wants to achieve, its purpose, facts, and its impact. With the help of a clear vision, a leader can formulate clear plans and give clear and valuable directions, feedback, and corrections at the right time. If team members see that their leader is clear about what they want to achieve, it makes things easier for them. Therefore, this is one of the essential qualities of leadership. Being Honest Honesty is essential to garnering trust and respect from people for reliability. As the people who walk the talk gain respect from society, honesty is the most valued trait for any business leader or any leader in general. While working in a team, honesty helps people trust that the information they receive from others is accurate to do their jobs correctly. This helps build long-term relationships and plays a significant role in the prosperity of the business. Excellent communication skills A key to outstanding leadership is excellent communication skills. An influential leader knows how to put
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across his message. Being a good orator, he can get his work done. He is not harsh and can choose words and expressions which suit the situation and allow others to express their thoughts and ideas. A leader with impressive communication skills is very conscious and learns from others’ behaviours, which gives him a deep understanding of human complexities. Therefore, this quality is a must for great leaders. Ability to delegate One of the essential leadership qualities is the ability to delegate. A great leader knows how to delegate wisely and make the best out of it. For maximising productivity and team performance, delegation is crucial. As the leader is the busiest person in an organisation, the skill of delegation gives him more time for his most important work. A necessary factor here is that delegation does not limit delegating tasks to others. It also includes having the awareness and understanding of who has the required skills and expertise to complete the task. To save time and future inconveniences, mindful delegation is vital. Ability to solve problems The roles of leadership are not limited to management or delegating. The spectrum of leadership responsibilities has evolved today. Leaders must have problem-solving skills for the proper functioning of an organisation. They should also have an eye for analysing situations to make better decisions.
So, leaders having the innate ability to respond to issues positively is necessary. By identifying and defining problems, he can use data, analyse, and communication to solve the issues. So, to eliminate barriers having strong problem-solving skills is vital. The skill of decision making By being decisive and knowing how to help the organisation, stakeholders help the business in a beneficial way. A great leader must have clarity and certainty for his work. Great leaders know how their decisions can make or break businesses. So, they examine a given circumstance many a time before coming to any conclusion. By collecting valuable information, they can make necessary conclusions that help achieve the organisation’s goals. Wrapping up Most of the time, after graduating from college, a millennial will change jobs four times. So, this is a clear sign that leaders are failing to foster a sense of trust and loyalty in their employees. Therefore, all these qualities are essential to outstanding leadership as it helps employees to perform well. That is why organisations need to develop these skills in emerging leaders. - Pooja Jaipal
While running any organisation, one must go through lots of new problems.
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Dr.George Mathew
A Certificated Expert in Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
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limate change is currently one of the world's most serious threats. It poses a fundamental threat to the places, species, and people's livelihoods. Earlier, it may be due to natural phenomena, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main reason for climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels. If we do not want to face a climate crisis, our focus must be on sustainable solutions. In addition to this, we also need newer, affordable, and more efficient technologies to lower carbon emissions. United Nations (UN) also works significantly for optimum solutions. However, it demands more contribution. Thus, there is a need for some powerful leaders who understand the situation and provides sustainable solutions.
companies. The firm is Asia's oldest solar PV and solar thermal system integrator. It has revolutionised this field by introducing three electricpowered boats, namely YS Sunrider, YS Surya, and YS CIAL. YS Sunrider and YS Surya were awarded the Limca Book of records for the Fastest Solar Powered boat and the Largest Solar-powered boats in Asia. At the same time, YS CIAL Vembanad is the first Solar Electric Boat covering over 650 kilometres across a single waterway in India. In an exclusive interview with CIO LOOK India, Dr George Mathew, Co-founder and CEO, sheds light on the company's journey, the current industry scenario, and his vision for the future.
Dr George Mathew is one such prominent business leader who recognised the realities of climate change and its threats to humanity. So, he wanted to have a positive influence on people's lives. As a result, he introduced Yesen Sustain, one of the world's most awarded sustainable energy companies.
Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us about your exciting journey of becoming a powerful business leader. I graduated from Bangalore University, India, and launched my sustainable energy company soon after graduation. This was way back in 1994. Thus, it makes our company one of the world's pioneers of Net Zero innovations.
According to tech partners, it is one of the world's first cleantech firms and one of the top five clean technology
Over the years, we spearheaded over 2500 sustainable and cleantech projects across the world, in countries like India,
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We aim to continue innovating, designing, and developing greener, cleaner, and affordable t echnologies that can change the lives of millions and help our world combat the climate crisis
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Dr George Mathew, Co-founder and CEO
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
Australia, Singapore, Nigeria, Guam, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Maldives, Dominican Republic, Somalia, Kenya, Indonesia, Nepal, USA, Afghanistan, Haiti, and UAE. Yesen Sustain works with many industries, including telecom, marine, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, manufacturing, dairy, education, defence, banking, and mining.
Yesen Sustain is one of the first CleanTech companies globally and rated among the top 5 clean technology companies by tech partners. It is the oldest System Integrator for Solar PV and Solar Thermal in Asia.
These projects helped fight or mitigate climate change and brought financial benefits to the stakeholders and the communities around the projects. The solutions were impactful in saving the environment and improving the communities' quality and standard of life.
Yesen Sustain has over 26 years of experience in design, engineering and execution – using diverse technologies. It has been a Zero debt company since its inception.
Yesen's focus is to deliver impactful products and solutions which helps fight climate change and improve quality and standard of life.
The fact that projects executed back in 1994 continue to perform beyond their life cycle is a testament to the reliability of Yesen Sustain.
Products and solutions include – decentralised clean power and water, waste management solutions, energy resilient products for regions with unreliable and no- grids, last-mile cold chain. Electric marine propulsion solutions etc.
Today the company has offices in USA, India, Guam, Australia, Vietnam, and UAE. Products manufactured by Yesen Sustain include – P-Secure, H-Secure, T-Secure, BLiph, B-Kool, and E-Secure. Yesen Sustain has also partnered with leading brands like Phocos, V-Sun, E-Trio, Polarium, and Elco Marine products.
What inspired you to step into the business arena? I understood the reality of climate change and the threats it posed to humanity early on in my life and always wanted to make an impactful difference in people's lives. And this was the inspiration behind my venturing Yesen Sustain. Brief us about Yesen Sustain and its overall operations. What kind of products and services does your company offer?
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Please brief us about how you helped enhance the outreach and development of your reputed organisation? Yesen Sustain understands that climate change is a reality for all humanity and businesses worldwide. We are developing newer, affordable, and more efficient technologies to lower carbon emissions.
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By intelligently adapting and integrating different technologies, we create customised solutions that can be maintained by communities using local resources and local skills. All our products and solutions are impactful both to the client regarding immediate financial benefits and the environment. How would you define a successful career? What would you say is your biggest accomplishment? If I have made a positive change in the way people think and live their lives, that is a successful career. I believe I have had one. Back in 1996, we started our first Net Zero project where we electrified an entire village consisting of 400 houses in Mundanmudi, Idukki, in Kerala, India.
Yesen Sustain was a pioneer in promoting the concept of Net Zero as earlier as 1995, making it one of the first of its kind in the world. •
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Apart from electrification, we also brought in drinking water and waste management, transforming the lives of the villagers. It was then the most significant solar electrified village globally at that time. Please mention Yesen Sustain's most notable achievements, accolades, accreditations, and awards. Yesen Sustain is one of the most awarded sustainable energy companies in the world, with two Intersolar awards and six nominations.
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• It was included in the Limca Book of World Records twice. Our solar boat, Sunrider, was included in the Limca Book of Records as the Fastest Solar Powered Boat in Asia, and Surya was the largest solar boat in Asia. Intersolar awards honour the companies making a substantial contribution to the new energy world. Driven by innovation, with more than two patents and 40 more in the pipeline, we are one of the world's front runners of sustainable energy. We have our indigenous range of products making sustainable adoptions desirable, suitable, and accessible.
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How do you envision the future of Yesen Sustain going forward? We aim to continue innovating, designing and developing greener, cleaner, and affordable technologies that can change the lives of millions and help our world combat the climate crisis.
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1996: World First Net Zero Village, the Largest Solarpowered village consisting of 400 houses. The project included Clean Power, Drinking Water and Waste Management. 2008: Received ISO 9001:2008 certification from TÜV SÜD for the design assembly, installation, commissioning and servicing of solar energy-based power generation and water heating projects, making us one of the few companies in the world to have achieved ISO 9001 for Design & Engineering of Solar PV and Thermal Systems. 2009: The solar boat Surya was included in the Limca Book of Records as the largest solar boat in Asia. 2009: Awarded the International Boating Award (IBA) for Responsible Tourism. 2009: Awarded SE - 1A rating by NSIC ONICRA Credit Rating Agency. The first Clean Tech Company in India to achieve this rating. This highest category rating is given for the highest performance capability and financial strength. 2012: The 65 KW Solar Power Project at Spice Village, Kumili, belonging to the Casino Group of Hotels, was nominated for the InterSolar Award under the Off-Grid Solutions category. 2013: Won the Energize Award 2013 for Excellence in Off-Grid Projects. The Award was supported by CNBC 18 and Ernst & Young. 2013: Solar boat Sun Rider was included in the Limca Book as the Fastest Solar Powered Boat in Asia and the first production model Solar Powered Boat in India. 2013: In Kerala, two prestigious projects - Malankara Plantations, Kottayam, & Hibiscus Villa, Alleppey, were nominated for InterSolar Award for the 2nd consecutive year. 2014: Intersolar Award 2014 for Remote Telecom Solar Solution. 2015: Intersolar Award 2015 for design and engineering of Sun Rider Solar Boat. 2015: Authorized channel partner of MNRE and awarded SP – 2B rating by ICRA Credit Rating Agency in 2015. This rating indicates the highest performance capability. 2016: Awarded the Solar Innovation & Excellence Award by Mission Energy Foundation for the Innovation Project (Off-Grid scale) category.
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Harsh Pareek Staunch Leadership Acumen
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eadership is a driving factor in the success of a business, particularly in this era of innovations. The pace of change means that today’s leaders need to be reactive and proactive in the face of challenges. A successful digital leader also must bear in mind that while technology is essential, the people part of the transformation is just as crucial. Leadership today is a balancing act and requires a unique set of skills to drive success that reaps the rewards for the leader, organization, and workforce. Additionally, The ability to convince people to follow you down the yellow brick road is not easy. Still, if you have the vision and can creatively weave a vivid picture that makes people believe what you believe, then the chance of success is significantly greater. Successful business leaders will have a clear vision for the future of their company and be willing to commit the resources and implement the changes needed to make that vision happen. This is where Harsh Pareek succeeds as a business leader.
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Harsh is the Co-founder of Ibraine Digital LLP. Under his exceptional leadership, Ibraine fulfils all the Digital Marketing requirements starting from Web Design and Development, Search Engine Optimization, Performance Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Data Analytics, Affiliate Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Email Marketing, etc. In an interview with Insights Success, Harsh Pareek sheds light on his journey in the niche, highlighting the challenges, industry sagacity, and his opinions on the company’s future. Harsh, please brief us about your professional tenure at Ibraine Digital and your exciting journey behind becoming an influential business leader. I Am Harsh Pareek, Co-founder of Ibraine Digital LLP, a bootstrap company founded by Mr Rahul Singh and me in 2012. Rahul and I used to work in the same agency when we started with this exciting journey of Digital Marketing. After three years of experience, I started freelancing to get in-depth knowledge in handling clients myself.
Spending a few years freelancing and working for clients from all over the globe gave me an exposure of a lifetime, which further interested me in starting with my agency. The outcome of it is Ibraine, a full-fledged one-stop solution for all your Digital Marketing need. Until now, Ibraine has handled over 1250 clients from over 20 countries. I have always wanted to start with my own business since college. Like everyone else, it was unclear what to do, so I had to experiment with various fields and worked on different jobs, including HR, Marketing, Finance, Logistics, Events, and IT. After having excellent hands-on into different verticals gave me clarity on what suits me well and what to get into. What was your inspiration behind venturing into the business arena? I never looked up to one person for inspiration but had lots of inspiration on the way. Every person who is hardworking and intelligent inspired me throughout my career. I have always looked up to the small player who started a business from scratch and grew it into a profitable venture.
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
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No matter your budget, Ibraine Digital has the right strategy for your success
I am not ruling out the giants whom everyone follows, and even I do in some sense, but people around me have chiefly inspired me as I have seen them grow every day in their life with small steps. Brief us about Ibraine Digital and its overall operations concerning the products and services does it offers? Ibraine is a one-stop solution for all your Digital Marketing needs. Starting from Web Design and Development, Search Engine Optimization, Performance Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Data Analytics, Affiliate Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Email Marketing etc., we deal in end-to-end solutions for our clients. We have the solution for Small, Medium, and Large-scale clients. No matter your budget, we have the right strategy for your success. How did you enhance the outreach and development of your reputed organisation? Comprehending an experience of over 14 years into hardcore Digital Marketing, I have seen this industry grow and prosper in the markets of India. Initially, when I started with Digital Marketing, the awareness was low in Indian Marketing, and it started growing in a few years.
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Being an early adopter, I always had an edge with domain knowledge which has helped me a lot to create the right strategy for my clients. Being in this industry for so long has also helped build relationships with so many companies, which overall helped the success of Ibraine. What kind of challenges have you faced in your initial stage, and looking at the changing scenario of the industry, what are the challenges now? I won’t say my journey has been really different for other entrepreneurs as I have faced almost a similar challenge that others do which includes investment, technology, good skill etc. Overall, it hasn’t been much of a bumpy ride as I always believe in advance planning and execution, so things have been smooth most of the time. I want to highlight that as the industry is growing at such a pace that there are lots of young blood who want to make a career into it, which is a perfect thing, but the overall quality is somewhere compromised in this race to success. Finding employees with good experience has become a bit of a task
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lately. Still, it probably can be solved once new entrants understand that quality is the key to success with marketing into the Digital Space. How would you define a successful career? What would you say is your biggest accomplishment? Success is different for everyone and cannot be compared. Just growing in life and making lots of money is not success. For me, success is when you make someone successful with your skills. I still remember when one of my clients told me that “Harsh, you made me a millionaire”, which gave me the real taste of success. He had a start-up tour and travel company in South America. We actually turned that company into a multi-million-dollar company with the help of Digital Marketing. There are many more examples in our journey that I consider my success. What was the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, and how did you manage to surmount the adversities of the pandemic? We don’t have to be in one place in the Digital Marketing space—we can work remotely from anywhere. Since the pandemic started, our entire team has
been working from home with more efficiency. One challenge was that we lacked the brainstorming activities we used to do in the office every day. Nevertheless, we were saving more time on travelling and applying the same to work which has improved the productivity. In terms of technology adaptation, we have subscribed to team management, client management and project management software to keep track of everything we are doing. This also helps the new joiners understand the work efficiently and collaborate with the team. How do you envision the future of your Ibraine Digital? What are your future prospects? We want to help as many businesses as we can, so we are registering our business in UAE and USA so that we can have a local footstep there. Though we have many clients, we are working with from these geographies, having a local presence helps more.
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Fundamentals of Different
Leadership Approaches
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eadership is a significant part of our professional and personal lives. Based on our experience or observations, all of us have ideas about how a leader should be and should not be. Most of the time, we tend to align with the leaders who meet our leadership definition.
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Moreover, questions such as: What makes a great leader? Why do people like to follow some leaders and not others? What leadership approaches can effectively click with a group of people to gain maximum results? Are debated in every organisation all the time. The quality of leaders is determined by the practices that they follow to manage their situations, people, and organisations. It can be said that every leader has their own approach to leading. This means that there are as many approaches to leadership as there are leaders. Through scholarly research, leadership approaches are devised into widely acknowledged different styles. These are mainly driven by underlying fundamental values that leaders follow to achieve clear and maximum results from every employee.
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Leadership Advents 31 | March | 2022
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These different approaches to leadership with their fundamentals are mentioned below. Autocratic Leadership The main idea behind autocratic leadership is to get the tasks done by the people without them questioning or adding any input. This type of leadership approach limits the creative control of the work to the hands of the leaders only. Employees are expected to complete their tasks strictly under the guidelines provided by their leadership. This approach can garner productive outcomes in some situations, but the possibilities of expansion cannot be explored due to a lack of creative freedom. Despite this, this leadership approach can be advantageous when the leader has far more expertise and experience in the field of work than the people he is leading. Democratic Leadership The participative approach of the leaders drives this type of leadership. Leaders who adopt this approach allow people to participate in the decision-making processes. They believe in the brainstorming process to churn out their colleagues’ best ideas and input. The leaders retain the right to make a final decision. Employees can gain confidence in their leaders when they are allowed to take part in the decision process. It can motivate them to improve and work hard to prove their worth to their leaders and colleagues. It also includes drawbacks like communication failure, attaining no results, and subtle conflicts if the discussion is not carried out under the set rules. Also, employees may feel pressured to bring their positions in line with the leader’s viewpoint to earn brownie points. Delegative Leadership In this type of leadership, the leader trusts their group to come up with the decision. They allow them to put forth the discussion and form the final decision. These leaders will take full responsibility for the decisions taken by the employees, yet they will leave the decision-making process entirely in the hands of the team. The delegation approach fits well with the group of highly skilled workers and creative teams. On the other hand, a group lacking the needed skills, motivation, or adherence to deadlines can lead to poor performance.
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Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership primarily consists of exchanging ideas, directions, and resources. Employees are rewarded or reprimanded based on their individual outcomes. This is an effective method of letting people know when they are doing their best or not meeting the desired results. This type of leadership is widely adopted in organisations to keep employees motivated by valuing their hard work. The drawback to this method is that some employees may feel ignored if only some are awarded and others are not. It could make them feel that the leader is lenient toward selective people. Transformational Leadership Transformational leaders take the path of motivating their group towards shared visions of the future. They use the intellectual stimulation method to drive the performance growth of their people. These leaders are well known for their communication skills. They also exhibit their integrity, self-awareness, authenticity, and empathy to set themselves as an ideal example to follow. The drawbacks of this method can be wearing out of motivation, overlooking the details, employee burnout, and many more, which can cause a sudden downfall in results. Servant Leadership Servant leadership essentially means that, regardless of the hierarchical position in the organisation, these leaders lead by meeting the team’s requirements. These leaders are motivated by the serve-first mindset. They give equal importance to empowering and uplifting the people who are working alongside them. Such leaders find value in serving and not just passing on commands. Some disadvantages of this type of leadership are that it takes time to establish values and the possibility of leaders being viewed as less competent by their team members. Leadership’s New Normal The post-pandemic approach of Leadership is more resilient than ever. It is redefining the business success mantra. The future is of those leaders who adapt to the rapidly changing times quickly and overcomes every adversity resiliently. - Vishal Golekar
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Ritesh
Bhatnagar
An Exemplary Leadership Personality
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nnovative leadership skills inspire people to complete a series of tasks according to a specific schedule if they are in a management position or lead a project. These are skills that help organising the subordinates to achieve their shared goals. However, leadership is not just a skill but a combination of different skills coordination and unique approaches towards driving the growth of the organisation. But does it really make any difference? Standing out in the competitive world requires an innovative mindset and an ideology of being unique and inventive. Throughout history, great leaders have emerged with their leadership ideologies in providing directions implementing their plans to discover new things. Also, motivate people through their distinctive plans of action in achieving their desired success. This has been proven effective for almost all industries and organisations to date. Moreover, with such exceptional approaches, these personalities have changed the scenario of today’s world. Also, their significantly creative innovations in various industries and organisations are making a huge difference. One such personality is Ritesh Bhatnagar. Ritesh is currently working as a Chief Marketing Officer at U2opia Mobile. He is responsible for the overall marketing, brand management, and growth strategies internationally. His most recent projects involve launching a live gaming streaming channel along with an EA sports team and making WOO–a leading dating app in India and for the Indian diaspora globally with an active user base of 12 million users.
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An Innovative Platform U2opia Mobile is a Singapore-India based innovator in mobile technology and applications. The company holds a diversified consumer and enterprise products portfolio in more than 70 countries. U2opia has verticals across Telecom, Digital Marketing, Gaming, Fantasy Sports, Dating, and Media. As a company, U2opia always works on platform-specific strategies and community outreach to positively impact its corporate image and brand reputation. The company has captured international markets and increased its consumer base with this. The company uses diverse platforms like email, mobile social media, and marketing campaigns to enhance outreach and development. U2opia also nurtures leads through its website and SEO first content strategy for each of its products, which helps global organic reach. Below are some of the marquee products within U2opia. Dating: Woo is a leading dating app in India and for the Indian diaspora globally, with over 12 million actives plus subscribers. Woo is a dating app that puts women first. This digital app is aware that gut-instinct plays a crucial role when you like someone new, so U2opia has built its app from that place of sensitivity. The app makes it easy to navigate this dating world by making it a comfortable and fun experience. Women’s interests in ensuring safety and privacy are paramount for the company. With over 12 million matches and counting, WOO application is committed to changing the dating game and helping women feel more empowered to make meaningful connections with people they fancy. It is not surprising that this is the dating app women love.
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
The strengths that set Ritesh apart are his creativity, leadership, and risktaking ability. He is also a big advocate of identifying top talent and supporting their strategy and vision
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Gaming: - Mojo Gaming is India’s first indigenous highquality social gaming portfolio and a distribution and publishing platform. Mojo Gaming is a multi-genre gaming platform that brings together casual and hardcore gamers under one roof. It has five modules - Competitive Skill Gaming, Daily Fantasy Sport, eSports Streaming, an Ecommerce engine called the Game shop to purchase top-ups of top-selling games and eSports daily matches and large tournaments across popular Battle Royale 3X3 game formats.
Fanmojo covers Cricket, Football, and Kabbadi and is available in multiple countries. It has also been featured in Forbes India.
Content: Mr. Phone is a video content platform on Technology. The platform is a unique amalgamation of technology-driven curation of smartphones, gadgets and devices and a content resource for the latest information from the world of phones. From original thought-driven articles to incisive reviews on YouTube, Mr. Phone ensures that all your technology-related queries are answered.
An Exemplary Leadership With over 20 years of experience in driving marketing for the leading brand globally, Ritesh takes pride in being an agile leader, combining traditional and new-age marketing and business concepts to help achieve brands grow and achieve industry recognition.
Anaadi Army is redefining the Esports space in India. U2opia holds a full-fledged team of young gamers who compete at international levels. U2opia has its channel. Gaming enthusiasts get the latest updates on e-sports of their favourite games! There are also frequent tournaments with real rewards for all its subscribers. Esports is a robust growth market with which the youth and young adults feel strongly connected. Telco-Tech: U2opia’s B2B leg, A Digital Lifestyle platform, has operations in 70 countries, with 120 telecom operators. Its products like Chatezee, SportsMoby, FanMoby, Bid and Win, Gaming Players' league, Reycreo, and Spin N Win reach billions across the globe. Fantasy Sports: Fanmojo is the fastest growing fantasy sports platform with over five million users in India.
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Ad-Tech: SupremeDM is a global digital marketing platform. U2opia’s combined expertise in creativity, technology, and data delivers be-spoke integrated solutions that accelerate businesses. From content-rich brand experiences to valuable digital products and services that connect with the hearts of its consumers.
The strengths that set Ritesh apart are his creativity, leadership, and risk-taking ability. He is also a big advocate of identifying top talent and supporting their strategy and vision. His prior experience includes new business development, marketing, sales, and advertising. One of his most memorable experiences was his six years working as a category head for USL/Diageo. He launched Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first season of IPL, which helped achieve a club value of USD 250 million in two years. Ritesh is an INSEAD alum and holds a mechanical engineering degree from Pune University. In his free time, he likes to play soccer and cricket. Besides this, he also coaches and mentors young minds on leadership and marketing concepts.
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A Spark to do things Differently One thing that has always made Ritesh’s mind tick is consumer behavior. The whole buying behavior would always get him intriguing. How brands position themselves based on consumer insights and create successful brand stories. How do you build a powerful global brand that resonates universally but also accommodates local nuances? How do you ensure that it is dynamic and flexible enough to change at market speed? Such concepts always intrigued Ritesh and made him venture into the brand and marketing world Ever since Ritesh stepped into his professional life, it has always been his dream to build a successful career that inspires others and helps him establish his unique professional identity in today’s competitive world. Ritesh has built an intellectually stimulating career and offers an opportunity to capitalise on his professional experience and functional skills, thus building a path of experience that paves the way for Ritesh to learn new and interesting things. His focus has always been on building his career step-bystep, ensuring a strong foundation and honing his functional skills to equip himself to adapt to this new era of marketing and business. Ritesh has had a chance to interact and learn from others in a global milieu and gain a better understanding from handson experience of managing people with divergent views and learning in a multicultural business environment. Ritesh’s role models are Narayana Murthy and Steve Jobs. Surmounting the Initial Challenges Ritesh took a U-turn from advertising and landed in Bengaluru to work with USL Diageo, where he led flagship liquor brands- Royal Challenge and McDowell’s No.1. The change was challenging, but it was worth the price that he had to pay to climb the corporate growth ladder in hindsight. When he started his career, he came across advice like: “Never change your industry, stick to it always,” and Ritesh ditched the advice. “Never work in a small state or remote area,” He also ditched this advice. Ritesh handled both liquor brands as a category head, but his vision was to grow in a core marketing role and become a CMO. For that, he required sales experience as both functions work in harmony.
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To sharpen his sales skills, he went against all odds and even lived in a small city in Punjab. The risks did not stop there. Again, Ritesh changed industry gears and moved to the telecom space with Aircel, where he led branding and communications. His experiences in sales steered his growth across diverse industries. After Aircel, Ritesh transitioned to the internet space with U2opia Mobile, a Singapore-India based mobile tech firm with over a billion users. Ritesh realised the world was headed to digital transformation, and U2opia is going to be one of the drivers, so he took the leap fearlessly.What made such distinct roles possible? Ritesh’s risk-taking appetite. He always mapped his career vision with the changes industries are going through. Ritesh used to read between the lines, and he continued his journey in the internet space, which needs no introduction today. Excellent Piece of Advice People must learn to take risks. Ritesh’s formula is simple: He weighs the pros and cons and takes calculated risks.
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Ritesh says, “If you see any successful personality in the history of business and life, you will find one trait common: Their risk-taking abilities.” “Sometimes it pays off while other times it will not work as expected. But this will lay the foundation of your success brick by brick, one step at a time,” he adds“Do not take blind risks, but if you think there is not much to lose, go for it because that is how you will grow. Go for it if a career move aligns with your vision,” adds Ritesh. Defining a Successful Career The biggest challenge in today’s dynamic market is changing the leadership paradigm. Leaders are facing accelerating rates of volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity. To be a successful leader in the current environment requires a constant state of innovation. Ritesh feels that he was, and he is, still able to constantly innovate and adapt and not shied away from taking a calculated risk in this ever-changing world. Ritesh believes that he is an agile leader who has a great combination of traditional and new-age marketing and business concepts Ritesh’s most memorable experience was working as category head for six years at USL/Diageo. He spearheaded the launch of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL first season, which helped achieve a club value of USD 250 million in two years.
Keeping in mind the industry scenario, U2opia also integrated games into its shopping and offer platform-cash buddy to entice, engage, and retain users. The company has changed its entire strategy on its technology content platform. YouTube videos became more innovative and relevant as per the current trends. Today, U2opia hopes to keep its business growing by being relevant, innovative, and opportunistic in these testing times. A Reliable Future… U2opia Mobile is delivering flexible and innovative tech solutions for consumers and enterprises. Going forward, the company is focused on gaming and AdTech space and expand across the globe. U2opia Mobile aims to reach more customers and subscribers, drive revenues or open additional revenue streams with its products and applications. Exhibiting Excellence U2opia mobile has completed 12 years of growth in digital innovation and has been awarded with, • Great Place to Work by Google in 2018 • Fast Company 50 Most Innovative companies award. • Enterprise Architecture Awards • Top 1000 growth companies Asia by Financial Times • Frost and Sullivan best practices award.
Surmounting the Adversities of the Pandemic For U2opia, the COVID-19 lockdown saw a huge surge in its consumer-centric platforms. The dating app WOO and gaming app Mojo gaming. Both these platforms experienced a growth rate of 20% to 30% organically. However, U2opia, as an organisation, maintained its growth even after the lockdown came to an end. It enabled customised features in the apps like Woo calling, Woo Hide and Woo Globe. Woo calling allows women to call from the app without revealing their phone number. In this lockdown period, this feature usage has gone up by 30%. However, the team of WOO app ensured that they keep engaging their customers with customised solutions and kept innovating—being relevant with the times.
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Vinay Gupta
and
Anubhav Gupta Men of Real Steel Proving Their Mettle
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ation Building depends upon the structural strength of the industry. Industry building depends upon the inner strength of the enterprise. Enterprise core development is based on the indomitable spirits of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is made up of the steely nerves of generations of captains leading the league of entrepreneurs. Together captains redefine leadership benchmarks. Leadership is that breed of innovators who not only challenges the status quo but, by swimming against the tide, turn the stream in their favour. These are legends made up of the real steel who keeps proving their metal, again and again, repeatedly. Meet Mr Vinay Gupta, Director and Mr Anubhav Gupta, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), the legends of APL Apollo Tubes Ltd., India’s numero uno structural steel tube company. With seventy-five registered trademarks, sixteen patents, eleven plants, eight hundred distributors, over twenty-two hundred employees, two-point-six metric tonnes capacity and half of the industry’s market share, they are a legacy of trust and a promise of strength. In an exclusive interview with Insights Success for its edition of ‘Powerful Men in Business 2022’, the dashing duo Vinay and Anubhav share their insights into their journey, legacy, and future vision about the Indian steel industry in general and APL Apollo in particular. The interview is reproduced below for the strengthening of your business.
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Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us about your exciting journey of becoming a powerful business leader. Vinay - I am the director of APL Apollo Tubes Ltd. I have more than twenty years of industry experience in the manufacturing and trading pipes, tubes, sheets and other steel products. I have been assigned the responsibility of driving the company’s pre-galvanised and international market businesses. Anubhav - I started as an investment banker in 2008; my career journey includes fourteen long years in various reputed organisations. Being an investment banker, I learned a lot about the industry, business models, and setting industry benchmarks. I Joined APL Apollo in the year 2019 as Chief Strategy Officer, wherein I leveraged my expertise to create in APL Apollo a unique operational model for its sustainable growth by anticipating and exceeding the stakeholders’ expectations. What inspired you to step into the business arena? Who were your role models growing up? Vinay- I have inherited excellent entrepreneurship skills from my father, late Shri Sudesh Gupta and elder brother Mr Sanjay Gupta. Receiving a legacy is often seen as an honour. However, for me to bring my family legacy forward and grow, it required a conscious effort and responsibility to follow the work ethics, ideals, work patterns and dedication. Anubhav- Being a management graduate, I have always been fascinated by business and industry. My role model is Mr Sanjay Gupta. I would repeat Vinay’s line here that
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Director
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Brief us about APL Apollo and its overall operations. What kind of products and/or services does it offer? Vinay- APL Apollo is India’s largest innovative steel pipes manufacturer. With a solid Pan-India presence, it serves as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for steel products catering to urban infrastructure, automobile, construction, housing, energy, irrigation, solar plants, and greenhouses. Over the thirty-five years, APL has built a robust 3-tier distribution and supply chain network. APL has an extended distribution network of warehouses and branch offices in twenty-nine cities across the country, catering to the domestic market as well as twenty countries worldwide.
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Mr Anubhav Gupta
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
We created new market for structural steel tubes through innovations
receiving a legacy is often seen as an honour. But as an Indian entrepreneur, Mr Sanjay turned around this business from scratch and always inspired me to join this company. I am fortunate to get aligned with him, where I learned many things from him.
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Mr Vinay Gupta
It enjoys a direct marketing presence across India with over eight hundred dealers and distributors along with eleven manufacturing facilities across India. APL has a total production capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per annum. APL is known for bringing new technology to India and creating a new market. We created new market for structural steel tubes through innovations- with the potential to replace conventional steel construction products like angles and channels and several other building materials like wood, RCC, aluminium, and PEB. Anubhav- Being the market leader, we enjoy the lion’s share of 50% of the market in the structural steel tube industry. We are expanding our own capacity through greenfield expansion of 1.4 million tonnes per annum to reach an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes.
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Powerful Men in Business-2022
Please brief us about how you helped enhance the outreach and development of APL Apollo? Vinay- We always focus on innovation and create new markets and demand. Instead of following the prevailing trend, APL transformed the whole scenario by producing square and rectangular hollow sections with a better loadbearing capacity for massive structures and replacing the conventional steel products. We have launched a series of brand awareness and marketing campaigns to familiarise consumers with our exclusive products. We always strive to become better and open to new ideas. Our adaption of the latest technology, innovative product offerings and capacity to unlock new markets helped us be a high-performance organisation. Anubhav- We operate in a dynamic market segment, where many external factors influence the business. To meet the stakeholder’s expectations, we always remained resilient in all adverse situations. We have proven our performance historically in all adverse situations and will be continuing our hard work and dedication to keep ourselves as a market leader going ahead.
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What kind of challenges have you faced in your professional journey so far? What kind of challenges do you still face today? Vinay- We have faced challenges like tough competition from the unorganised sector and adapting digital transformation and the brand-building process. However, we always work on our core values to strengthen our market position. We stick to our strengths – • Cost control measures, • Innovative products to create a new market, • Improving sales mix with value-added products and • Product awareness by branding and distribution expansion We understand that AI, IoT, and cloud adoption will unleash the next digital revolution in the manufacturing industry. APL is already in the process to adopt significant technology changes. Anubhav- I would not say I have ever faced challenges. Instead, I have always learned from my mistakes during my professional journey. I always remained open to learning excellence in my career journey. One thing I always believe
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is ‘next one should be the benchmark’ which I learned from Mr Sanjay Gupta, CMD-APL Apollo. Again, learning what I am getting today is to be resilient and unstoppable. How would you define a successful career? What would you say is your biggest accomplishment? Vinay- I have a strong focus on execution and operation. I follow a solution-driven approach and am always open to new ideas and suggestions. Even if all the systems are in place, it is essential to be in touch with the operation and production team. I like to talk to every department about their targets, requirements, issues and modifications. To achieve all set targets, developing new markets and bringing new technology to the Indian market give a feeling of accomplishment. Further, we will work on our set goals. Anubhav- A successful career is a combination of learning and accomplishment; my biggest accomplishment is seeing my company grow 10x within two years. Please mention APL Apollo’s most notable achievements, accolades, accreditations, and awards. Vinay- Adopting Direct Forming Technology (DFT) is one of the most notable achievements of the organisation. DFT technology has advantages in the form of 3-5% raw material saving, allows the processing of small batch orders, less time-consuming. APL Apollo is ISO 9001:2015 certified and has achieved the recognised export house status. APL products are BIS marked and certified by reputed international agencies like SGS (France) and CE (Europe). We have been awarded the best performer in Export by the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) and EEPC India. Anubhav- We are proud to say we are the pioneer of our field. As a single consumer, APL Apollo consumes two per cent of the total steel production of the nation. COVID-19 has redefined many of the business operations and working fundamentals. How did you adapt to these circumstances? What new trends and technologies did you incorporate for ensuring optimal business proceedings? Vinay- We had faced many challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Uncertainty and safety of employees were the main issues. To ensure employee safety, we took care of all the protocols at our plants. We instilled face recognition with temperature measurement devices in our facilities.
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We have started using virtual meetings more often. SAP modules have been upgraded for more digitalised data and reports. We have implemented supervisory control for all the operations through digital connections for better monitoring. Anubhav- There were five main challenges we faced when the COVID-19 pandemic struck: Business uncertainty, the safety of employees, supply chain disruption, disruption of demand and structural damage to the industry. To tackle uncertainty, we switched to the cash-and-carry model from the normal trade practice. To ensure employee safety, we took care of all the protocols at our plants. We made bulk steel purchases before prices went up due to the disruption of supply chains. We aggressively focused on rural markets and became insistent on our pricing policy. So, rural sales expansion and an aggressive pricing policy helped us increase our market share. As many of our hotel and airport projects were impacted, we focused on other segments such as hospitals and rural housing. On the technology front, we moved to virtual meetings, a more automated system to monitor and control the production process. How do you envision the future of APL Apollo? Vinay- APL may explore various segments in the future, though its focus will remain on the structural steel segment. The company is developing exciting products like colour coated tubes and higher diameter and low weight columns. India is increasingly adopting high-rise buildings. APL is ready to capitalise on the opportunity with higher diameter lightweight strong tubes. Other designer tubes/colour tubes and readymade solutions will be used for home décor in offices, eateries, restaurants, retail shops even residences. These new market creations will surely increase the demand for structural steel tubes, and APL Apollo will keep increasing its market share. Anubhav- We envision APL Apollo to remain the market leader in the structural steel tube segment. We are continuously working to create innovative products by realising the market need.
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