'' The most

respectful
thing to do is I
\
to give your
undivided
attention to
whoever is in
front of you ,
or to whatever
you are doing I

IFYOU C.AN DRE.AM IT,

YOU C.AN .ACHIEVE IT
hat is the maxim that you adhere to but I was fortunate to have people who believeo

W professionally?
I have three . One, dream big because
when you can dream it, you can achieve it. Two,
deliver what you promise because it builds trust
and long-term respected partnerships . Three,
surround yourself with people who believe in you
even when you don' t believe in yourself.
Tell us about three accomplishmentsin your career
that have given you most satisfaction.
• I successfully transitioned from working in an
agency (Genesis Burson-Marsteller) of about a
100 people to working with a global organisation
of over 3,30,000 {HSBC) employees. The scale,
complexity and change were overwhelming at first
in me and who mentored me. I went from having
a South Asia role to an APAC role to a globa
mandate of strategic communications across a
major markets.
• Driving strategic direction and commun icatior
outcomes for the challenging transformation tha.
HSBCwas going through .
• When I was able to help build the cultur e a.
BM India as chief talent engagement officer arc
contribute to making it one of the best brands ,.
the business.
Over the years,who has inspiredyou in your quest
 Kavita
Rao
President and CEO - India,
Hill+Knowlton Strategies

"# @kavitagrao

for excellence? balance?

I have been inspired by many people that I have I believe it is different for different people. I learnt
come across, both personally and professionally early in my career that you must give your 100 per
and I have imbibed many qualities from them, but cent t o whatever you are doing. So, if you are at
my quest for excellence is based on my own desire home and wit h family, then you must be 100 per
t o better myself. cent there and not on calls and emails. The same
applies for work as wel l. Of course, this is not
What do you think makes businessessuccessful? possible all the time but if you follow this for most
People, people and people. Creating a culture of the time, it works. The most respectful thing to
of excellence in everythin g that we do - how we do is t o give your undivided attention t o whoever
behave, respect each other, how we delight our is in front of you or to whatever you are doing.
clients and how we reward our people. They are
at the heart of everything that we do - our clients, Apart from work, what drivesyour passion?
people who work wi th us, and our stakeholders. My family, undoubtedly. We don't st ay in the same
city, so we try every couple of months to catch up.
Comment on India's socio-economic dynamics Second would be sports and fitness. Third, travel
from a marketing perspective. and photography.
The consumer opportunity in India has exceeded
predictions. To use an automotive example, 10 One life advicefor people who are just startingout
years ago, experts predicted that by 2018, India in their careers.
would be the seventh leading auto market in the Be curious and hungry to learn and get out of
wor ld. Today, India is already pegged to be among your comfort zone. Also, don't t ake yourself too
the top three auto markets in t h\ near future, right seriously.
behind the US and China. Urbarnsation, increasing
consumer spends and a rising middle class are th e
key driving engines of India's growth st ory. Today,
global brands want to launch in India first, before
taking th eir story to the rest of the world.

What is the key to achievinga fulfilling work-life

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