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Mumbai: Forbes India, seen as the champion of entrepreneurial capitalism since its launch in 2009, announced the names of the awardees at the second edition of the much awaited Forbes India Leadership Awards in Mumbai on Friday, Sept 28th. Celebrating transformational leadership, this year Forbes India honoured outstanding leaders who?ve epitomized success in their fields and are the visionary champions in creating a sustainable future.
After a meticulous, exhaustive screening process and discussions later, the short listed nominees were then scrutinized by the powerful jury panel comprising industry veterans like KV Kamath (chairman of the jury), Adil Zainulbhai, Zia Mody and other prominent business personalities. The FILA 2012 award winners are:
- Outstanding Start-up ? Manish Khera / Rishi Gupta - FINO
- NextGen Entrepreneur for the Year ? Vinod Ramnani, Opto Circuits
- Best CEO ? Public Sector ? MD Mallya, Bank of Baroda
- Best CEO ? Private Sector ? N Chandrashekharan, TCS
- Best CEO ? Multinational ?Nitin Paranjpe, HUL
- Woman Leader for the Year ?Mallika Srinivasan,TAFE
- Entrepreneur with Social Impact ?William Bissell, Fabindia
- Entrepreneur for the Year ? Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group
- Conscious Capitalist for the Year ?Kamil Hamied, CIPLA
- Lifetime Achievement ?E Sreedharan, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
The awards were given out at a glittering ceremony attended by the who?s who of corporate India. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the evening was the three-minute talk given by some of the most illustrious names in the industry on the topic ?The one thing that will change everything for people in this room, except that they haven?t heard of it? Needless to say, all speakers presented brilliant and thought provoking views.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group stated that globalisation as we have come to understand it in the last decade and a half has been rolled back partially. He stated "The unfortunate thing is that the business is being accused of being non-inclusive and working for the benefit of only a few strata of society. This hampers industrial growth and hence growth of the society as a whole. The consequence of this that the State has a much bigger role to play going forward than it has had in the recent past.?
Nitin Paranjpe, CEO, Hindustan Unilever Limited spoke about why corporate profits and sustainability will no longer be two discreet topics and what this means for companies in the near future. He stated that trust and confidence in business are at a new low, which is ironic since business over the last many ages has contributed more to improve the quality of life of people through innovation and enterprise. He stated, "The model of capitalism we follow today is being questioned as narrow and not addressing the larger interests of the society. It is also ironic that if the world ever needed business to contribute, recreate growth and stimulate the economy, it is now.....If we simply have to reinvent the model of business as we know it, it is simple. We just have to get the purpose of business back to its centre. Purpose must lead, profits will follow."
Adil Zainulbhai, MD, McKinsey & Co, India aptly stated that all leaders need to consider humility as an important personality trait. He also mentioned that leaders must also remember other leaders who were humble to help them when required.
William Bissell, MD, Fabindia spoke about how we need new methods of measuring progress as conventional ones have failed. He also pointed out that what?s going to change in the future is how we define success and benefit.
Karl Slym, MD & CEO, Tata Motors spoke about the future of transportation. How about living in an age where smart cards actually drop you right at your doorstep? More greenery and more open space is the road ahead. He also stated that the speed of decision-making is the key for leadership.
For more details on the awards /jury/ winners / nominees, please visit http://forbesindia.com/leadershipawards/index.html
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gurmeet Singh, CEO, Forbes India said, ?The response we have received for the second year of Forbes India Leadership Awards is tremendous and very encouraging. We are delighted with the wonderful and out-of-the-box ideas shared this evening and hope that this platform inspires new and more absorbing conversations to be taken forward?.
The presentation ceremony was concluded with a fireside chat between Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of the Isha foundation and KV Kamath, non-executive chairman, ICICI Bank and chairman, Infosys. In this chat anchored by Indrajit Gupta, Editor - Forbes India, the duo explored some of the key challenges facing Indian business leaders over the next five years. They also further discussed how business leaders prepare themselves and their organisations for this journey.
