I had the privilege of working closely with Suman at both Hindustan Lever and PepsiCo. More than that though, I had the privilege of learning and training at a very special school. The Suman School of Management. And this is my humble tribute. To the man. The legend. The institution.
I still recall my first meeting with Suman. His reputation preceded him. We had heard stories of how tough a boss he was, demanding, a hard task master, prone to bouts of anger, not afraid to show his displeasure. But it’s amazing. All it took was one meeting with Suman. And at the end of it I was convinced that all those stories I had heard about Suman were, well, true.
Suman was a Salesman at Heart
Suman was a salesman at heart. He enjoyed his market visits - meeting salespeople, retailers and customers. And he would be upset if he saw any sloppiness in execution, or anything less than perfection. And after every Suman market visit, regional managers would privately exchange messages to check on the number of casualties. In fact, there was a strong correlation in those days between airline punctuality and manager attrition in PepsiCo. Every time a flight was delayed, Suman would want to do a surprise market visit. And bang!
Just as war veterans show off the bullet marks on their body, most sales people who worked with Suman will have a few bruises to show. Mine from Mehsana still hurts. But here's the deal. Suman genuinely believed that our execution in the market place was key to our winning the war. He believed the team had what it takes to win. And he believed that his job was to stretch the team, push them harder, empower them, help them discover their own capabilities. Traits that many of us went on to use to great effect. At PepsiCo. And beyond.
He Taught Us to Lead From the Front
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