Drawing inferences from his own leadership journey, Dr. Sanjay Sarkar, who has served in various top corporate houses, reveals how shortcomings in professional approach and short-sighted decision-making could derail CEOs from achieving true transformation. He shares lessons from his tenure at top corporate offices, illustrating leadership strength, employee focus and strategic vision that could make or break corporate success.
From treating every department as a profit-driving unit to advocating employee wellbeing, sustainability, and ESG, his journey underscores one truth — a CEO must be technically strong, ethically grounded, and strategically fearless to truly transform an organisation.
– Dr Sanjay Sarkar
The CEO of any organisation has various responsibilities, and they start from defining company’s short- and long-term strategy for achieving short-term goals to the mission of working on the vision of the organisation.
Apart from Mission and Vision, a CEO has the following responsibilities: Developing and executing business strategy, identifying growth opportunities and innovations, building and leading the executive team, setting the company culture and values, motivating and inspiring employees, making high-level strategic decisions, setting company priorities, driving revenue growth and profitability, allocating resources effectively, exploring new markets, products, partnerships, approving budgets and financial plans, ensuring financial stability and investor confidence.
Apart from the above-mentioned, the CEO also focuses on operations management, stake holder management, risk management, innovation & change, ethics & corporate governance through the team like CFO, COO, CHRO, etc.
I have observed in my carrier how the CEOs make mistakes or get confused due to interference of non-executive promoters, Boards influenced by promoters where a CEO survives without performing due to non-professionalism in the organisation towards various strategic facility management for organisational transformation.
ATTITUDE CHANGE
As a CEO, I always treated every function or facility like a strategic function rather than a cost centre. During my tenure as CEO in Essar Steel and Birla Copper, Aditya Birla Ltd and CEO of Port at DHIL, Aditya Birla Ltd, I ensured every cost function like R&D Department, IT, Engineering Department, HED Heavy Engineering Department and Overall Operation as a strategic business unit (SBU).
I failed to be convincing in the first two years of my tenure but, subsequently, I could establish the same in Essar Steel and Aditya Birla. At Birla Copper the EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) went from Rs500 crore to Rs2100 crore in seven years — 2012 to 2019.
SETTING BUSINESS GOALS
I, as a CEO, failed to integrate the facilities as a close team to align with the facility design, location, or infrastructure with long-term business objectives or transformation goals. Most of the CEOs face this challenge due to individual interests or his relation or his control system to get benefits rather than organisational growth.
SALUTE THE EMPLOYEE
I completely believe in the need of looking into employees’ wellbeing, his training, and creating a good workplace environment rather than cutting costs in these areas. Generally, neglecting workplace design and environment, affects employee well-being, engagement, and productivity. Sometimes I have had to compromise due to organisational interference, and the place has suffered. When I got a chance to correct, I was able to reap the benefits.
CONSTANT UPGRADE
When I joined Birla Copper in 2012, I found the plant used to produce 300KT copper cathode and 150 KT diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser although the facility was for 450KT. I analysed that the technology was designed for certain input which is not available and the input material we are getting needs new technology to support to scale for full capacity utilisation.
I immediately changed the input feed quality closer to the technology design need and could increase production volume from 300 to 425KT copper and 150KT DAP to 350KT DAP.
I failed to convince the organisation for one year but with my aggressive persuasive approach I could implement and improve business performance in subsequent years.
In 2014, as a CEO, I had submitted a Rs4,000 crore capex proposal to Aditya Birla for copper expansion but the organisation did not heed to it. Now I learn that Aditya Birla Ltd is planning copper expansion from 450 to 1000KT in the copper cathode plant.
I admit that as CEO I failed to expand business with latest technology although I did ensure small upgradations in Birla Copper and managed to increase production from 300 to 425KT from the same plant.
What I have tried to reveal here is when organisational politics comes into picture, the CEO is unable to bring in organisational benefits.
SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING
After I joined as CEO in Birla Copper, Aditya Birla Ltd, I found every month we used to receive a notice from Gujarat Pollution Control Board for not integrating ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles and green building practices.
I convinced the chairman and the Board that investing in ESG is not a bad move. Rather, it reduces organisation cost drastically by improving efficiency and contributing to profitability.
STRONG, CONFIDENT LEADER
I have focused more on designing facilities like R&D, IT, engineering departments, various operation plant, workshop, heavy engineering department, power plant, port for better resilience to improve poor air quality systems, weak disaster recovery plans and inflexible layouts.
My overall experience is that a CEO should be very strong in engineering, project, operation and strategy to become a strong leader rather a boss. He should be able to guide various functions with his knowledge.