Perseverance, grit, and empathy are mantras of success for these high-profile BFSI leaders

Considered to be one of the greatest football coaches, Vincent Thomas Lombardi once said, "Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price that all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” Here are four leaders in the BFSI sector, who too have achieved success without taking any shortcuts, with determination and self-belief. Along the way, they have radically transformed their organisations and demonstrated that with vision and perseverance, even seemingly impossible goals can be achieved.

Alok Bansal, Visionet Systems India's MD and Global Head of BFSI Business:
By putting people first, Alok Bansal, the MD of Visionet Systems India and the Global Head of BFSI Business has been successfully launching human-sensitive initiatives in the technological arena. As a leader with a macro as well as a micro vision, he is known to go into the nitty-gritty of everyday operations. He has also been responsible for bringing 7x+ revenue growth in over 6 years in Visionet. Under his guidance, Visionet has also been able to build a stable portfolio with a high rate of customer satisfaction and has been experimenting with new path breaking products. Through ‘Unnati for India’, a free skilling programme, Alok aspires to mould the youth population of India into a future ready workforce. The programme is the product of his vision for a collective change in society. He believes in creating leaders rather than followers and says repeatedly in his interviews that for him, human capital comes first. During the worst days of the pandemic, the company under his leadership helped thousands of Visionet employees through their medical and mental health challenges. As a leader, recognising and appreciating merit, being accessible to employees, being transparent and investing time in them, is important to him. As is creating a gender-equal, diverse and inclusive work environment at Visionet where every individual feels valued.

Renu Sud Karnad, Managing Director, HDFC Limited
The Managing Director of the Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, Renu Sud Karnad always believed that success follows naturally when you focus on what you love and have a strong belief in yourself. This attitude has led her today to helm one of the top financial companies in India. With her business expertise and experience, she has been able to guide her team to disburse cumulative home loans worth more than Rs. 5 trillion. Renu has also taken initiatives to expand the company’s operations by constantly monitoring the needs of the customers and has guided HDFC to roll out client responsive mortgage products and services. Be it launching a spot home loan offer on WhatsApp or tying up with Accenture for digital transformation, her formula of success is that she simplifies complex ideas and has a future forward thinking. This is why she has won umpteen awards and accolades including 'Outstanding Woman Business Leader' at the CNBC-TV18 Indian Business Leader Awards (IBLA) 2012 and was among the 25 Most Influential Women Professionals in India as per India Today Magazine’s power list 2011. For six consecutive years from 2011 to 2016, Renu was also among the most powerful women listed by Fortune India.
 
Zarin Daruwala, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, India
If it wasn’t for her perseverance, work ethic, and decisiveness, Zarin Daruwala, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, India would not have risen to the top. Zarin started her career as an avid learner and believes that the lessons she gleaned from her mentors during her formative years in the industry have helped her take crucial and transformative decisions later on. She continues to learn even today from clients and team members and has gone on to improve customer experience in the retail banking sector and has initiated rural banking and agribusiness. Rural ATMs were launched in India and loans to farmers were disbursed through cards in 2004, under her guidance. Zarin also has a rich experience in various banking departments such as corporate planning, human resource, credit, and investment banking. A Gold Medalist in India Company Secretary Exams, Zarin has also been featured as the 13th most powerful woman in business by Fortune India. For seven consecutive times, she was listed as one of the most powerful women In Indian business by Business Today.  
   
Pushan Mahapatra, President-Strategic Investments & Head-Open Market of SBI General Insurance

Pushan Mahapatra is a man who believes in the sustainable development of an organisation and has been the force behind SBI General Insurance's consistently good performance and healthy growth markers. He believes that all Indians need to get an insurance cover irrespective of whether they live in an urban or a rural region and argues for simple products with high value for insurance penetration in rural areas. SahiPay is one such tech-enabled platform with financial inclusion that is aimed at helping customers in semi-urban and rural areas. This was developed under Pushan’s leadership after SBI General Insurance tied with Manipal Business Solutions. During the most challenging phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, he helmed Aarogya Sanjeevani, for the rural and semi-urban market with a basic health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs. SBI insurance also had an Emergency Management Team during this time. Over the years, Pushan has gone on to digitalise processes to ensure the reach of the bank in the most underserved areas. He however humbly attributes SBI General Insurance's success to its brand name and the trust it inspires among its loyal customers.