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Thank you to the 1,400 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 questions!
I hope reading
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Jonno White
7 Questions with Sridhar Ramasubbu
7 Questions with Sridhar Ramasubbu
Name: Sridhar Ramasubbu
Current title: CFO
Current organisation: Brillio
Seasoned senior finance executive with experience in turning around tech start-ups to growth & enhanced profitability. Have worked in both public & private companies. M&A, IPO experience. Managed team dispersed across the globe and good experience in country expansion initiatives.

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader of a small or medium enterprise?
In most situations, arriving at a solution set for a problem statement is different than influencing and ensuring an impactful outcome
2. How did you become a leader of an SME? Can you please briefly tell the story?
Have worked for 2 decades in a large organization. Then I made a decision to join start-ups and work towards turning around the company. I did that in two start-ups and that put me on the true leadership journey.
3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?
I get up very early in the morning -say 4 AM and manage to complete all my prep work by 8 AM and be fully prepared for the day's deliberations. It also helps if one is working in international time zones and you get the advantage of leveraging the global team. Evening I tend to relax, work out, read and watch sports & movies.. Go to bed at 10 PM.
4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?
Pandemic taught me to act with a sense of urgency both on the business front and people front. One side is to take care of the business performance, be laser focused on " We Care" of people's health & well being and balance any pressure to downsizing. It was great learning.
5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?
There are several strategy books. The one I recently read is " The art of racing in the rain" by Garth Stein. This one showed the human element of life and it was very profound. As a leader we are often forced to make surgical decisions for better performance but this book teaches to develop a perspective of being human.
6. How do you build leadership capacity in an SME?
First step is to identify, induct and nurture capable people who are well rounded beyond functional capability. Give them the opportunity, mandate and test them on outcome. Mentor them as necessary and you will see a very strong leadership talent blossoms
7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader of an SME so far?
" Operation success but patient died" is a classic anecdote that comes to my mind rather than a story. In a leadership position people rally around for common cause very often if we have a strong leader at the top. In the pursuit of performance orientation if you miss the full picture, fail to work with all stakeholders with good buy-in, you will make progress but fail in creating an impactful outcome