Recently, Shared Services Forum (SSF) felicitated Priyan as the PIONEERING BUSINESS LEADER FOR GLOBAL SHARED SERVICES for his “Creativity & Leading Global Shared Services and Enterprise- wide Transformation Mission, delivering Value and Impact to Business, Industry & Society”.
Sanjay Gupta, Chief Architect of SSF, has a heart-to-heart conversation with him to understand what makes Priyan be the Leader that he is, what makes him tick, and what makes him successful.

The Conversation
SSF: You are a pioneering leader in several aspects of modern business. You have established yourself as a prominent contributor to modern business thought, to the extent that you are looked at as a brand in yourself. What in your words is the description of ‘Brand Priyan’ and how is it a differentiator in people’s minds?

Priyan: A person’s ‘brand’ should be indifferent to titles and profession. It is all about ‘who’ you are and not ‘what’ you are. It is really based on your likes and dislikes, your values and your habits. If I was to describe ’Brand Priyan’, I would picture a regular guy who loves being around people and wants to get better at everything I do.

Whether it was work, sports, music, or leisure, I was always surrounded by people. My home was a place where friends hung out and we were always trying to get better at something or the other.

I was fortunate to have many positions that gave me room to drive change. I had the confidence that I could do things differently and better. I also knew that I could drive and engage people to rally around an outcome. I was fortunate to be able to channel my energy and abilities and make up for what I missed out on my first love – sports.

So it is really about being a regular guy, passionate on purpose surrounded by great people doing extraordinary things, all excited about achieving the potential outcome. Getting ordinary people to do extraordinary things’ is what I take pride in. I found that with my team. We were not the most senior people in the organization but what we achieved was transformational. We all believed in each other and in what we were doing. We believed that a shared service was going to change the business world even before it became a familiar term or industry.

Our industry has in many ways complimented Mother India’s brand.
When you think of ‘shared services’, you think of India – and to think
that we were the first to do it is a pretty humbling thought. ’

SSF: How does the world look at you differently from other leaders – several of them being your contemporaries? There is a certain aura around you.
Did you use this differentiator in your work life and become more successful than several others because of the things you do differently?

I think that it inspires them to help me and also chart out their own personal and professional journeys. We spent so much time imagining the possibilities and planning where we can go together with shared services. I experienced this with the team in India.

We had this wonderful green field opportunity to create the FRCs* ground up for American Express. I could sense the pioneering spirit and inspiration of the leader Harry Robertson and his leadership team in India. Books can be written about it. I am really proud of the leaders we nurtured and built during this initiative. They have gone on to have a tremendous impact on this industry. Our industry has in many ways complimented Mother India’s brand. When you think of ‘shared services’, you think of India – and to think that we were the first to do it is a pretty humbling thought.

SSF:You are a role model for many leaders. What is it that you specifically do to continue to remain relevant and to keep up with the modern age organizational thinking?

I am at a stage where I could better balance my personal, professional, and spiritual needs. These are like the legs of a three-legged stool. If one is out of balance the seat gets rocky. Sometime tough decisions need to be made to ensure that your stool is not standing on only the professional leg.

The real ‘mantra’ is to have a growth mind-set…. I take stock often, take
timely measurement on progress, and constantly check if I have enhanced
my knowledge, my skills, my relationships, my Accomplishments and my
reputation…. When you stop growing, it is the beginning of the end.

SSF: While it is easy to say that challenges are opportunities, how do you tackle challenges and look at them as opportunities and what is that moves you to look at those things as areas of improvement?

Priyan: In school, I wasn’t at the top of class or bottom of the class. For me to get to the next level was always a challenge. I have also been playing sports all my life, I still play squash., and as the old guy in the squash league I have to play smarter to compete. Further as an immigrant in the US, I initially felt like an outsider always trying to establish credibility. All these experiences have built a competitive streak in me. Remember when David confronted Goliath with only a catapult, he did not say that this guy is too big to hit, instead he said that this guy is too big to miss. So it is with my problems and challenges. If you can treat it like competition and conquer them, amazing things can happen. You have to look beyond the challenge, as just another hurdle to get to the next level.

SSF: Is there a ‘mantra’ that you set for yourself to keep the power within you and to turn business challenges into opportunities?

Priyan: The real ‘mantra’ is to have a growth mind-set. I am convinced that being a regular guy, I always needed to be learning something to keep up and that’s been a real motivator. Thanks to the shared services discipline I review, take timely measurement (KPI’s) on progress, and constantly check if I have enhanced my knowledge, my skills, my relationship, my accomplishment, and my reputation Even today, though I have officially retired, I am constantly looking for ways to learn.

I really love this book ‘Mind-set’ by Carol Dweck, She talks about having a ‘growth mind-set’ rather than a ‘fixed mindset. When you stop growing, it signals the beginning of the end. I really believe that ignorance can be fixed, but ‘bad attitude is fatal’. This book describes that people can be very smart, yet carry a fixed mind- set. It warns us against such a mind-set.

SSF: You have been reported as saying “getting better” is not enough; one has to “get better faster”. Is it like a non-ending spiral? What do you think is the recipe for businesses to cope with this ever increasing pressure?

Priyan: The speed of change will only get exponentially faster. You can only worry about what you can control. So you have to move as fast as you can, given the environment you are in. You have to be a fast follower when important new things happen. You have to be in a position to exploit technological innovations as soon as they become relevant. Pressure will remain a fact of life but it is all relative. If you don’t react to pressure in the right way, it will always result in drudgery. Similarly, Technology disruptions could be seen as threats or as growth opportunities depending on your attitude.

I have seen companies and people crumble under pressure, when in fact this is the time to shine.. I was in the midst of all the chaos when 9/11 happened in New York. Watching Ken Chenault, our CEO, operate, was a lesson in leadership. He modelled composure, confidence and hope. It was all about the very basics of leadership – caring for people, even though everything seemed to be falling apart around him. He was a tower of strength, and just so composed and together in his personal, professional and spiritual being – even at the worst of times.

SSF: “Manage processes well, and the businesses manage themselves”, it is said. What advice can you give to the manager in a hurry?

Priyan: It goes back to what I said earlier. If you cannot be the person you want to be, you need to do something about it. If you are on this treadmill running to nowhere, sooner or later you are going to get disillusioned. You have to find purpose in what you are doing. When you see the big picture of where you are going, with an ultimate purpose, you can put all your busyness into perspective.
You have to make some hard choices to cope with the tyranny of “Busyness”. We are taught in business how to prioritize and to establish process around our work.

You have to remember that when you are working with people – you
don’t bet on strategy, you bet on people...

We need to apply those same principles in other aspects of our lives so that we will find purpose and a process to drive effective outcomes in what we are doing. We need to ask ourselves if we are using the principles of process management by eliminating all those inefficiencies and clutter in our lives. We must try to create balance regardless of how hard we have to work. Most people define ‘balance’ as working for only 8 hours a day. I do not think that’s realistic. There will be a stage in your life when you have to work 12 hours a day. You will have to be flexible and be prepared to work after the kids have gone to sleep. Technology enables us to do that. There are different seasons of life for different things to happen. We need to go with the flow, be happy at work and at home and things will work out.

SSF: How important is people management as opposed to process management? Does process management in its wider definition already include people management? Can there, and should there, be situations where leaders prefer one over the other?

Leaders sometimes get very hung-up on processes to the extent that it becomes very mechanical. Processes must be designed around the leader’s desire to make their people successful. For instance talent assessment without an effective process of feedback and coaching is of little use. Once you believe that ‘inspiring comes before evaluating’, you could then use processes to optimize performance. At the end of the day you don’t bet on strategy, you bet on people. So caring for and nurturing people needs to be at the center of one’s leadership skills.

SSF: The world is changing rapidly, both socially and in business. Newer words are taking over: Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and now Blockchain. How do you think today’s leaders need to manage this explosion? And, where do you think the next big wave will come from?

Priyan: My understanding of this is limited too. Let me tell you one thing – our individuality is changing in this very connected world. Chances of anonymity are becoming less – both at the individual and at the corporate level. We can’t override that. We can either escape and hide in the jungles or find a way of riding this new wave. It is a wave of transparency. We need to recognize a few things. For instance thanks to digitization, everything will be connected. But this digitization leaves an exhaust of data – bothpersonal and business. This will be the new currency and we will need the skills to manage,

We are still at the early stages of this revolution but we know that exploiting data will be at the center of things to come. The concept of Blockchain and distributed ledger is revolutionary the traceability of every transaction requires transparency and integrity. It eliminates the cost and inefficiency of transacting, thus providing a new platform for applications like crypto currency and many others. We have to be ready to plug-and-play in this new environment. Our processes will need to be simplified and transparent. Our systems will need to be integrated. We will need to play in the global digital supply chain and in some cases our business models may need to change. Either way, we will need to radically cut costs, and find funds to retool for this exciting this new world.

Shared Services Forum brings to close a big void and creates a platform
and voice for this industry which is defining in many ways the
‘India Brand’ in the business world.’

SSF: With so much talk of mechanizing even the most trifle activities, and expecting more of it in the future, do you think there is still room for qualitative skills such as Creativity, Collaboration, Flexibility, Resilience and Empathy to run a business enterprise successfully?

Priyan: I certainly hope so. It’s basic – companies, customers, investors – they are all people. And all the qualitative stuff is really about engaging the people to create and collaborate. We are looking at connecting enterprise-wide processes, end-to-end, and simplifying them. In other words, linking disparate groups around a better, faster, cheaper outcome. With the rapid adoption of new technology, competition will need to focus on their ability and speed of creating, adapting and collaborating to win in the market place. This is why progressive companies are working around traditional functions and creating cross- functional Agile Innovation Teams to get closer to customers and adapt quickly to changing conditions.

SSF: One hears of major business transformations almost daily now – migrations, liquidations, mergers – leading to large scale redundancies, rebadging and the lot, including the easier-said-than-done re-skilling. What advice would you give the modern manager to prepare for it?

SSF: Who, singularly or collectively, inspire(s) you personally? And what traits of theirs do you value the most?

Priyan: Without doubt, my inspiration comes from my family – my parents, and my siblings. I consider myself very fortunate to be born into this family. They model the twin engines of strong faith and discipline. I am so thankful for this and this is what motivates me on my life’s journey.

SSF: How do you see the future of Shared Services Forum?

Priyan: I salute you for taking it upon yourselves to close a big void and create a platform and voice for this critical industry. I know that the SSF team is working round the clock with very little personal gain. The forum will leave its mark on thousands of people engaged in the world of shared services.
I am deeply honored by your recognition and I wish you all the very best.