In the famed corridors of Infosys Technologies, there is a name that crops up every time next generation leaders are talked about. Subhash Dhar is that name. He may not be that very well known outside Infosys at this point, but he looks destined to end up at the top.
Subhash heads the global sales, alliances and marketing division at Infosys and is also in charge of its communications, media and entertainment vertical. The World Economic Forum had chosen him as one of the 25 young global leaders from India in 2007. So he seems to have ticked all the right boxes to have have earned the tag of the next big thing at Infy.
Being an Infosys veteran (he joined in 1997), he has seen the top management from close quarters and imbibed some of their best qualities. Yet he remains very much himself, with a certain steely determination that sets him apart. People close to him say that while many years may have passed by, Subhash?s drive for excellence has not waned a bit.
His team is always on its toes with him around.
We meet Subhash at Infosys itself and he leads us into a restaurant in a very leafy part of the campus. While settling down, he starts talking about his early days. The man holds a degree in computer science from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. But he chose to venture into sales, as he would be able to travel and meet interesting people.
?As a sales man, your life is very lonely. One has to travel alone to strange places all the time. And unless you love yourself immensely, it can get tough. On several occasions, I traveled to far out destinations in India on my own, trying to sell. I would take up the upper berth in the train, take out a book from my bag and not bother about anyone else. I would only get off the berth once my station arrived. It was not like you had very interesting people in those trains headed for some deserted town. Thus began my journey of self-discovery,? says Subhash.
Those lonely years helped to shape his personality. He used the long train journeys to read up on several subjects and update himself. And even to this date, he has not given up on the practice. The only difference is that these days he catches up on his reading on long haul flights. ?I find these flights to the US the best time to read up. It also gives you a lot of time to self-analyse. In a daily work mode that?s difficult to do.?
Subhash is also known for some tough measures that he adopts that work. He prevents personal relationships at office coming in the way of professional commitments, putting off a few people in the process. ?Since I have spent a long time at Infosys, I may have developed a lot of friendships here. But that does not mean that I go with what they say. Many times, I have taken professional calls that may have upset a friend. But one has to realise that the organisation comes first. One has to take decisions that would work in the long run.?
Subhash is also a member of the Infosys Executive Council and also serves on the board of Infosys Australia. His long association at Infosys has helped him pick up the finer points of management from people like Nandan Nilekani, SD Shibulal and Narayana Murthy. He says he learned a lot from COO Shibulal, to whom he reported for many years. ?When I proposed that I would like to take over the sales and marketing function at Infosys, some people were not convinced whether we needed a separate team for it. But Nandan felt it was the right move and we created this new function. Now, people only ask me about my marketing moves and rarely anything about the vertical that I head.?
So is he in the running for post of CEO at Infosys in the mid to long term? After all, his name always does the rounds when the topic of developing next generation of leaders is raised. ?Well, there is time for all that. Those decisions are obviously left to the top management. All I am concerned about today is driving excellence. There is this great desire to get up in the morning, come to work and do something great. The effort is always there.
In fact, I feel as passionate about work now than ever.?
Not that he does not have competition. People like Chandrasekhar Kakal and Ashok Vemuri too have a great future beckoning them at Infosys. In fact, the company has been consciously carving out the next generation of leaders.
Subhash says one of the mistakes that some people make after joining Infosys is that they think the goal has been achieved on account of them becoming an Infoscian. In Bangalore there is this theory that a girl?s/boy?s value in the arranged marriage market goes up substantially once they become an Infosys staffer. ?They have to realise that suddenly they are among thousands of Infoscians, who all are working hard and striving towards a particular goal. They need to quickly forget the glory of entering Infosys. That was in the past. Now they have to prove all over again.?
The conversation breaches the 2-hour mark. It?s time to pack up. We wind up the conversation promising to meet again. With Subhash well on his way, meeting him again is a foregone conclusion.