Shyam Srinivasan’s obsession with cricket is part of banking folklore. Put him before an audience and the game invariably takes over — with anecdotes of sixes and fours doubling as metaphors for strategy, leadership, and risk-taking.
Yet, for the veteran banker, cricket is only half the story. The other half is faith. Srinivasan readily admits that his career has been powered as much by “divine energy” as by discipline and hard work. “I’m superstitious to the point of being stupid,” he says with a smile, flashing his phone wallpaper of Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak. His day begins and ends with that image.
A light sleeper who manages no more than five-to-six hours of rest, Srinivasan follows rituals that leave
little room for compromise. From cleaning his puja room to chanting shlokas, meditating, or visiting a temple, two hours each day are reserved for what he calls “God Time”. “I never compromised on my God Time in the last 25 years or so. That gives me confidence, that gives me my anchor,” he says, matter-of-factly.
Leadership and grit define a transformative career
Faith may anchor him, but it is grit and leadership that define Srinivasan’s illustrious career. As Federal Bank’s longest-serving MD & CEO, he transformed the institution from a small Kerala-based lender into a national brand during his 14-year stint. The numbers speak for themselves: the lender’s market cap, just about Rs 4,500 crore in 2010, swelled to nearly Rs 50,000 crore when he stepped down in September 2024. Its business expanded more than eight times — from Rs 63,000 crore to nearly Rs 5 lakh crore. Even during the industry’s worst asset quality crisis, Federal Bank’s gross NPAs never crossed 3-3.5%, compared with the double-digit levels seen elsewhere. By the time Srinivasan exited, Federal Bank had risen to become India’s sixth-largest private bank — a position built on the foundation he laid.
Srinivasan sees leadership not as a pursuit of personal success but as the ability to make others feel they are winning. Attrition at Federal Bank was just 3% or less, in an industry where 40-50% was common. “That means they felt it was home. I take great pride in making Federal Bank a happy place to work,” he says.
But for someone who worked with global names like Citibank and Standard Chartered, leading a regional bank was far from easy. When Federal Bank’s stock climbed to Rs 60-80 soon after he took charge, expectations soared — only to come crashing down to Rs 28, where it stayed for a while, testing both his patience and public confidence. Public pressure mounted, but Srinivasan found strength in the promoters and the board who backed him unwaveringly. “My inner voice, the confidence from my family, and the support of the board told me to carry on,” he recalls. By the time he left, the stock had touched Rs 206.
“I think staying the course, and having the grit to persist no matter what, is what helps in the long arc of careers,” he says.
That conviction is what he now passes on to younger professionals. His advice: remain “happily dissatisfied”. “Trying to make a boring job fun,” Srinivasan says with a wink, before adding: “Though in personal life, it may not be such a good idea”.
Srinivasan has little reason to feel dissatisfied in personal life. His wife, Maya — his batchmate from IIM Calcutta — has been his steady anchor for nearly 40 years. “Maya is a blessing because she understands the professional demands of corporate life, and she’s much cleverer than me,” he says with a chuckle. The couple chose not to have children. “So, my work became my everything,” he adds. Their shared rituals — temple visits, occasional travels, and a love for simple meals of thayir sadam (curd rice) and vathal kuzhambu — have kept him grounded.
Post-retirement vision and mentoring
Now, as senior adviser and operating partner at TVS Capital, Srinivasan has packed plans for his post-retirement life. Having never travelled abroad for more than 15 days at a stretch in the past 15 years, he now hopes to explore parts of the world he missed while in office. A natural orator, he continues to engage with young professionals, eager to share lessons from his own journey.
During his Federal Bank years, Srinivasan made it a point to write to all 15,000 employees every Sunday morning, reflecting on leadership, often drawing analogies from sports. Today, he writes regularly on LinkedIn — with great traction — and is working on turning his reflections into a book. “Some work is going on,” he says, without revealing much.
The one area he admits to having neglected is his physical fitness. “I wasn’t consistent earlier, but now I’ve become reasonably disciplined — with yoga and morning walks.” Retirement, he adds with a smile, also means more “God Time”.