Name: Chetan Velhankar

Title: General Manager

Organisation: Scan-IT Solution (India) Pvt Ltd.

Cumulative experience of 22 years in India as well as overseas locations (North America, London, Amsterdam, Dubai & Singapore).

Adept at handling all departments of business, Finance, Administration, HR, Legal & Compliance, Delivery, etc. Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills to ensure that people's aspirations are aligned with those of the organization's goals & objectives.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

We’ve gone through the interviews and asked the best of the best to come back and answer 7 MORE Questions on Leadership.

I hope Chetan's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. As a leader, how do you build trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders?

The best approach for this case is to 'connect' with the people. Hear the other person's perspective and bring the best version of yourself and others.

2. What do 'VISION' and 'MISSION' mean to you? And what does it actually look like to use them in real-world business?

Vision and Mission are the top two things, for which, any work, be it personal or professional is being done. Mission should be always bigger than you and vision could be tweaked a bit, to adjust to external environment.

3. How can a leader empower the people they're leading?

Encourage the team to take decisions and stand for their thoughts. It's okay to fail, however, ensure that the team is learning from the mistakes and give people enough room to do their job.

4. Who are some of the coaches or mentors in your life who have had a positive influence on your leadership? Can you please tell a meaningful story about one of them?

I would take example of Uday Odedra, who is now APAC head of Wells Fargo. A towering personality, he would always tell his sub-ordinates that, achieving success at work is important, however, it is more important, as how that was achieved.

5. Leadership is often more about what you DON'T do. How do you maintain focus in your role?

The job objective needs to be kept clear at all times. Also, it is important to help others, who are falling behind and encourage people to give their best.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone plans differently. How do you plan for the week, month and years ahead in your role?

Yes, the thought is correct. I break down the objectives and to-do things, as per the timeline, with the variables involved.

I always keep a room for adjustments, so that the risks are mitigated.

7. What advice would you give to a young leader who is struggling to delegate effectively?

I would say, take things slowly & you don't have to burn yourself out, as it is not humanly possible to do everything by oneself.

Try delegating it, see how the results are going, and have a plan in place to ensure that things don't go too wrong. Finally, let the team manage their challenges themselves & be there for any help required.