Chanda Kochhar: Of focussed energies
The ICICI Bank CEO & MD shows how it's done - work hard and work smart
She was all of 22 when Chanda Kochhar joined ICICI as a management trainee in 1984. Fresh out of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, if Kochhar showed signs of nervousness back then, but it’s all in the past now. Today, she heads India’s largest private bank and the second-largest bank in the country – and there’s no question of nervous moments. As CEO and MD of ICICI Bank since 2009,a confident Kochhar has ushered the bank into a high-growth path, which registered a 30 per cent increase in profit for the first quarter of the current financial year.
However, there was a time when Kochhar had just taken over as the head of ICICI Bank and had to see the bank through the global meltdown, which led to a steep decline in the company’s profits. Instead of looking for excuses, Kochhar took the challenge head-on and devised a strategy wherein the bank’s current account savings account (CASA) deposits needed to increase, and there had to be an emphasis on increasing secured loans and reducing unsecured loans. The bank also improved its branch network. The strategy worked – the percentage of unsecured loans came down, as did the net NPA (non-performing assets) ratio, along with provisioning costs.
For someone who believes in hard work and the pursuit of excellence and perfection, Kochhar has shown the way to thousands of women who can realise their dreams only if they put their heart and soul into it. Why, it can’t have been easy not only surviving in banking industry – considered a male bastion for decades -- but also carving a niche for herself.
It’s not just about her knack for understanding the finance industry and economy well, it is also about Kochhar’s abilities as a leader to steer the team towards the goal. The way she got the top management level understand and support her strategy for the company, to have the message steeped down to all levels of the bank was something only a true leader could have achieved. She is known to take crucial decisions with a clarity rarely seen in several and focusses on the task at hand without giving up an objective analysis of it at the same time.
Is it any wonder then, that her leadership qualities have been recognised nationally as well as on an international platform? She was conferred the Padma Bhushan, India’s highest civilian honours, and was ranked fifth in the international list of “50 most powerful women in business” by Fortune, and was named among the “50 most influential people” in global finance by Bloomberg Markets magazine. But that’s hardly surprising, is it?