Under R. Seshasayee, truck maker Ashok Leyland became efficient — but forgot how to grow. Today, a new breed of young leaders is helping him put together a survival strategy
Name: R. Seshasayee
Age: 61
Designation: Managing Director, Ashok Leyland
Number of years in the Company: 33
Attributes: Careful, believes in gradual change and focus
Achievements: Cost Cutting, reducing flab and salvaging Ashok Leyland from the economic slowdown in the late nineties
Quotable Quote: "First you have to ensure that you build your strengths to defend."
The Unlearning
At 43, Dasari is the youngest member on the board of Ashok Leyland. In 2005, he was handpicked by Hinduja scion Dheeraj Hinduja, 39, the co-chairman who had joined the board in 2003. Dasari was meant to bring in fresh thinking into the company, a role he executed with flourish in his last assignment as the joint managing director at Cummins India. One of his former colleagues at Cummins describes him as a ‘very people oriented, open minded and entrepreneurial sort of a guy.’ It shows.
(This story appears in the 06 November, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)