We salute Ashwani for his heartfelt commitment to lifting others and his vision for transformative leadership.
Pragati Leadership, renowned for its strategic leadership development programs, leadership coaching services, and being one of the top leadership training companies in India, is committed to shaping inspiring leaders and successful organizations. To celebrate and recognize exceptional leadership qualities across industries, Pragati Leadership instituted The Inspiring and Successful Leadership Awards. In September 2024, the third edition of these awards honored leaders who exemplify creativity, innovation, and impactful leadership, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.
One of the exceptional leaders felicitated this year is Mr. Ashwani Keswani, the Executive Director (Asia Pacific) at Oetiker Group. The jury chose to award him for his “strategic leadership in driving business growth, innovation, and excellence while creating a positive social impact”. Mr. Ashwani Keswani is currently the Executive Director (Asia Pacific) at Oetiker Group where he manages the India business, including product manufacturing, and oversees sales in the ASEAN region. He has over 37 years of manufacturing industry experience including leadership roles at prestigious firms like Bharat Forge, Whirlpool, Godrej & Boyce, and Mahindra & Mahindra.
As Mr Keswani was traveling and could not attend the awards ceremony in person, he sent a video recorded acceptance speech. In this message, Mr. Keswani confessed that this was his first award and hence his first acceptance speech. He joked that writing (and recording) a from-the-heart acceptance speech was a tough task – because ChatGPT still did not have the “dil se” version from India!
Gratitude and Humility: Acknowledging Teamwork and Support
He noted, “with immense gratitude and humility”, that he felt truly honored to be recognized alongside so many remarkable individuals with inspirational dedication and vision. Thanking Pragati Leadership and the awards committee for selecting him, he mused that the award reflected not just his efforts but also testified to the collaboration and support from those around him. He acknowledged that his colleagues’ and teammates’ unwavering commitment and passion had fueled every achievement of which he too was a part.
Defining Leadership: Lifting Others and Leading by Example
Leadership, for Mr. Keswani, is not about one person, but about lifting others and creating an environment wherein everyone can thrive. In line with this, he expressed his gratitude to everyone who had challenged him, supported him, and believed in their shared vision. Reflecting upon true leadership, he recalled it has many facets and a single definition could not fit them all. In his view, leadership is not about hiding behind strategy documents and running the game with KPIs. Nor is it about marching ahead and expecting others to follow you like sheep. Instead, his idea of leadership involves “rolling up your sleeves and working shoulder-to-shoulder with your colleagues”. It is about inspiring teams to accomplish extraordinary things and being available to them at all times. And when things do not turn out as planned, leadership is about taking it on the chin.
The Power of Dreams: From INR 100 Crore to a New Vision
Mr. Keswani also noted that leadership involved a little bit of dreaming. He had dreamt about achieving milestones that would have a positive impact on his team – with whom he shared his visions of growth and expansion – and his business. On a lighter note, he elaborated that most of these ideas and dreams “come to me in the shower”. Talking about his journey with Oetiker, he had dreamt in 2010 of achieving INR 100 crore in turnover, selling 100 million clamps, by 2020. When he took charge of Asia Pacific as Chief Commercial Officer, he aimed for clocking USD 100 million turnover by 2024. Now, he dreams about Oetiker India touching INR 200 crore in turnover and is confident that his teams have turned and can turn these dreams into reality.
Aligning Values: The Mojo of Sustainability and CSR
Over the years, Mr. Keswani realized that his values, personally, aligned perfectly with the values of the company he worked for. This alignment, he emphasized, creates “the mojo” and allows seeking sustainability and CSR in addition to success. It enables contributing to the environment, social causes, and governance. On the sustainability front, Oetiker Worldwide pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2030 while Oetiker India targets 100% reliability on renewable energy – from solar generation – by 2026. Their mission on social causes revolves around the girl child in rural areas, especially in the tribal villages of Maharashtra’s Raigad district. They are providing various amenities, including vending machines for sanitary pads, to ensure that girls in tribal villages attend school every day and find a healthy environment there.
Global Impact: Oetiker India’s Contribution to the World
He observed that while Oetiker India is a small entity within the Oetiker group, it has a huge global impact as talent from India is posted abroad for projects – a fact that he took pride in as an Indian. Mr. Keswani concluded by mentioning how he was truly grateful for – and inspired to keep pushing forward by – “this incredible honor” – the ISLA award.
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