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Winning laurels

Sunil Robert from the twin cities is one of the two Indians to bag the `business Oscars'

PHOTO: K.GAJENDRAN

Young Turk.

For every Sun Tzu who is a hit with corporate honchos with his gyan on war like strategy for the business realm, there is an Indian who is executing it ruthlessly in the global corporate arena. Apart from heading offices they are going on to receive recognition.

This year and for the first time two Indians win the Stevie Award popularly known as business Oscars. Apart from the fact that these statuettes are crafted by the same organisation that makes the Oscars, these executive excellence awards are much sought after in the US by the corporate world.

Rajesh Hukku, i-flex Solutions, bags the best chairman award while Sunil Robert, director corporate communication, i-flex, from the twin cities brings home The Stevie in the Best Corporate Communicator category.

For a pro who has worked with AIR as an RJ, with Encyclopaedia Britannica--he covered the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, and went on to be a part of the corporate world, the award sure validates his vision— that of transforming the information provider role into a passionate brand evangelist one.

"My career with i-flex started when it was a closely held mid sized firm. The mandate given to me was to make it public," says Sunil, now managing multifarious roles— from selling banking software in Europe to taking up corporate social responsibility drives in Asia.

"Indian managers are on par with those who go to best of business schools. They are equally competent, diligent and demonstrate success," he says. He adds, "it is an exacting role. Sometimes you are working 24 hours, for instance, when you are talking to Indian businesses. It offers me an opportunity to spend quality time with family, building work life balance without compromising. I have been changing countries so often, a price my family is paying. The learning curve for my wife starts when we move to a new country. My son loves travelling as well," he says.

Plans ahead, "to write a best seller. I am proud of the fact that I built my skills in Hyderabad. We achieve a lot of things with a chalta hai attitude.

The city has produced talented people, I am happy to emulate them. The spirit to embrace everyone coming your way is so Hyderabadi," he says as he now sits on The Stevie, this time to choose the winners for next year.

SYEDA FARIDA

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