Mandate Outline

Listed 5000c Autocomp is embarking on a search for a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to spearhead the establishment of its strategy function, marking a significant milestone for the company. This pivotal role requires an individual with a robust background in both consulting and the automotive industry.

The client needed a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) capable of driving long-term strategic initiatives, encompassing comprehensive planning and execution. The ideal candidate would oversee mergers and acquisitions (M&A), manage strategic investments, and lead organizational transformation initiatives. This role required a visionary leader with the ability to shape the company’s future direction, ensure seamless integration of strategic projects, and foster sustainable growth through innovative and strategic decision-making.

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Mandate Outline

Our client is currently undergoing a significant transformation and generational shift with new leadership in key positions, is seeking a Principal for Corporate Strategy. This role, based in Chennai, requires an experienced individual to assist the Chief Corporate Strategy Officer (CSO) in developing and executing strategic initiatives. The new Principal will play a vital role in shaping the company’s growth by identifying opportunities, facilitating strategy development, and collaborating with various functions to align their strategies with the corporate direction.

The successful candidate will possess strong managerial skills, be culturally sensitive, and balance strategic planning with execution. With around 10+ years of experience in management consulting & a Premier MBA Background, the candidate should have expertise in areas such as Sales Acceleration, Growth Strategy, M&A etc

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Key Issue

A Global FP&A and Investor Relations Head for a $2B consumer durable major wanted direction to understand what his next move should be – business roles in India vs  CFO roles; working with Indian companies vs MNCs; with listed entities vs non-listed entities etc.

As a coach, in the first session, helped him delve deep into what brings him alive at work and what are the things he enjoys the most. What was of utmost importance for him to experience firsthand and also had a deeper conversation on what are the things that he was uncomfortable with at the workplace. This was to help him align clearly with his goals and give direction to what he ultimately wants to pursue. The result was he got a clear sense of purpose concerning realigning his goals.

The second session was tailor-made to help him with the execution piece of the transition to help him reach out to the top 20 search consultants in India, keep the interest alive, and induct them as brand ambassadors. The sessions were designed to help him fine-tune the following aspects of how to get them invested and make sure that they are on the same page and understand what’s important where you would like to go and the suitable method of outreach to them, frequency of outreach. Also helped with how to improve the presentation and bring out the finer aspects to make his CV alive and his LinkedIn page active by making sure he was putting out enough communication to reach out to the target audience and make recruiters understand him better.

What the Coachee had to say, after the sessions

I  went through a CFO transition coaching with Saroja and that was very helpful from many angles. What I liked most was that she raised some thought-provoking questions to help me understand my values, motivations, and fears deeply.

These are very fundamental and helped me to understand myself better and decide on my next course of action. She is very systematic in her approach and has good clarity on the process.

Mandate Outline

Client is a diversified conglomerate with about $2B in revenues coming from India, MENA and North America. The client has a presence across sectors, notably chemicals, engineering and services. The client also is witnessing a change over from the earlier generation of promoters to the next generation of promoters, with the earlier Group CHRO having retired around the time of the changeover. The firm has a very strong base, in terms of policies, processes and systems. The group has a culture that can be defined as highly collaborative, and highly communicative, with strong ethical boundaries and moral compass.

The Group CHRO will be someone who can blend in well with the cultural landscape and share the same set of values that the group stands for. The Group CHRO is expected to work with the new generation of promoters to take forward and build on top in calibrated phases, in terms of people, policies and processes, to position the group for the next phase of growth, which is imminent. Given the landscape, the group desired to hire an experienced CHRO who delivered transformation while working in a multi-BU, dynamic environment, with a mix of MNC and Indian promoter company experience.

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