Reading success stories of greatest professionals stimulates motivational enzyme within us and we all wish to emulate them on path of success.
With a firm belief in her heart and living by her own belief that women in any organization can grow just by their merit and not by special favours and privileges due to their gender – Chanda Kochhar has listed herself as one of the 50 most powerful women in business in the Fortune Global 2014 analysis. This Indian lady is world renowned for her corporate leadership and bold decision making skills. She is the current Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer of the ICICI Bank which is India’s largest privatised financial institution. She is the leading example of today’s women and her empowerment to make the world a better place to live in.
Her vision was far beyond the local level. It was she had the courage to keep working hours of the bank be 12 hours whereas rest all brands worked for 7 hours in a day. She is one of the few bankers who envisioned the idea of2000 ATM machine installations throughout India promoting electronic banking in a large scale. ICICI bank received the recognition to be the “Best Retail Bank in India” for the years 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 under her lead.
Childhood – Chanda Kochhar, born on November 17 in the year 1961 in Rajasthan completed her graduation from the Jai Hind College in Mumbai. She did cost accountancy from ICWAI and learnt the various skills of management by pursuing a Master’s degree at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. She was an extremely enlightened student and earned recognition of the Wockhardt Gold Medal for her excellence in Management studies. She also received at the J.N.Bose gold medal award for her outstanding performance in Cost Accountancy.
Career – The direction of her life transformed when she joined the ICICI or The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Limited as their trainee management in the year 1984. There was no looking back since then. Year 1994 saw Chanda become the Assistant General Manager while in the year 1996 she became the Deputy General Manager. Under her leadership, the company saw a new dimension. In the year 1999 she was further promoted as the General Manager and was honoured with the responsibility of managing more than top 200 reputed clients of the company.
The company started its retail operations in the year 2000, under Chanda Kochhars leadership and visionary ideologies. In the next few years the company became the largest in the retail sector in the nation. The company honoured her by making her the Deputy Managing Director who proficiently managed the entire corporation and the banking sector of the retail. Year 2007 to 2009, saw her working hard and ambitiously as the CFO or Chief Finance Officer, JMD or the Joint Managing Director and the official representative and spokesperson for the brand.
In May 20009 Chanda Kochchar was given the recognition to be the Chief Operation Officer and the Managing Director for five years by the ICICI bank.
An eternal optimist she does not shriek away from challenges. She believes that new entrants cannot disrupt large banks and that competition provides the best value to consumers. For her challenges are no more confined to achieving scale but of aligning strategy of organization with changed environment.
A mother of two, Kochhar efficiently juggles her career with family. She never slacks in her 24-hour schedule and utilises her breathing time to go through mails, telephonic conferences or to catch up on sleep. Her appointment as the head honcho of ICICI is an inspiration for all the women aspiring to make a mark in the corporate world.
Achievements –
1. Retail Banker of the Year honour by the Asian Banker in the year 2004
2. Business Woman of the Year recognition by the Economic Times in the year 2005
3 .Rising Star Award by the Retail Banker International in 2006
4 .She was featured in the list of “30 Most Powerful Woman Leaders” in business for eight years continuously.
5. Transformational Business Leader of the Year by the All India Management Association in the year 2010
6. Chanda Kochhar was ranked the 10th in position in the list by Fortune of “ Most Powerful Women in Business” during 2010
7. Achieved 92nd rank in Forbes list of “Most Powerful Woman” for 2010.
8. The CNBC TV 18 awarded her in the year 2010 as the “Outstanding Woman Business Leader of the Year”.
9. Her name got the rank to be the 11th in the Financial Times list for the “Top 50 Woman in World Business
10. She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2011.
A true inspiration for all men and women is Chanda Kochhar. She has achieved a perfect balance in between work and home. An optimistic for eternity, she is always up for the challenge and faces criticism fearlessly and with humility. Women in our country for ages has been struggling to play so many roles in their lives – as mothers, as homemakers, as business women, as innovators and as dreamers to build a nation’s destiny. It is one and only one who can strike the balance of work and home can see the fruits of success and peace in life.
Source and Credit:http://www.mbarendezvous.com/motivational-story/chanda-kochhar/