For someone who did not quite enjoy his studies, especially during his management days at IIM Ahmedabad, Rahul Agarwal is doing quite well. As executive-director of Lenovo India, he is probably peaking as a professional and is regarded as one of the bright young marketing minds in the business. Blessed with a wry sense of humour, Rahul is amazingly forthright for a corporate leader?very refreshing in his views and thoughts. He is also an obsessive fitness freak, who does not miss a work-out even for a day.
At 38 years, Rahul is regarded as one person who can win over an associate in an hour just by the way he talks and puts his points of view across. He also comes across as being very mature for his age; someone who can easily separate the wheat from the chaff.
The Delhi-born Rahul had never thought of entering the corporate world up until he reached the 12th standard. But once he decided his career path, it was easy pickings, and his talent took over. After securing his BBA from Delhi University, he stepped into the world of IIM Ahmedabad, a world he did not quite enjoy. By then he wanted to start working. ?I would have probably enjoyed it better if I had worked for a couple of years and then joined IIM.?
After passing out of the prestigious B-school, he joined ITW Signode and then later worked with IonIdea. But it was after he joined IBM in 2001 as marketing manager that his career started to blossom. IBM probably gives out the maximum number of t-shirts?one can see hordes of IBM-ers proudly wearing them and walking around in them all seven days a week. ?That?s probably true. IBM used to give out many,? Rahul says, not able to suppress a grin. Soon he was promoted as brand manager, and his stock continued to rise as he combined stellar professional performance with good man management skills. He is credited with establishing some of the best practices in the organisation like for instance the large enterprise relationship programme.
So when IBM?s PC division merged with Lenovo, he knew he had to take a calculated risk. While there were concerns about merging with a Chinese company back then, Rahul decided to stay back and explore.
For him a winning mindset is everything. ?One has to have the right attitude,? says the man who is inspired by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan?s book ?Execution?the discipline of getting things done?.
Rahul is of the opinion that success depends on how well prepared one is. ?I mean both emotionally and rationally. One needs to increase his own role in destiny by doing something about the controllable factors and simply not worrying about things that one can?t control,? he says. ?One has to take calculated risks, only then the rewards will multiply.?
But doesn?t he think that the future of PCs is in danger, with the rise of the new gadgets? ?My guess is that only 10-15% of people will move away from PCs. I don?t think there is a danger here. PCs won?t be easily replaced,? he says defending his turf.
Rahul?s management principle revolved around being kind. ?There is no reason why one should not be kind. In fact being honest, hard working, brave and also kind are things that are important to me. My attempt always is to inspire good people to push themselves and do better.? Talking about pushing oneself, Rahul pushes himself the hardest on a treadmill.
Fitness is very important for him. ?I work out every day for about 75-90 minutes. I indulge in cardio, weights, and then do one more round of cardio to round off the exercise routine. This makes me feel good both physically and mentally.?
But it?s not these factors ?being kind and exercise friendly?that makes him special. During the interview session, I found he was able to admit to errors and failures. He was able to often take a detached view?not the kind of traits that one can easily spot in corporate life. Looks like there is plenty of steam still left in his tank.