‘Be flexible to change directions when opportunity comes’

The road toward achieving life’s goals is not always straight. More often than not, it is marked by long detours, deep potholes, seemingly insurmountable roadblocks and discouraging dead ends.

In the case of Mahendra Gursahani, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank’s Philippine operations, the path he took was long and winding, initially taking him to the world of accounting before finally leading him to his true calling in the field of banking and finance.

Gursahani tells SundayBiz in an e-mail interview that he studied accounting and economics in the university because he thought then that he wanted to be in accountancy. He got his first taste of it when he was 20 years old, working as a trainee accountant in London, and thought he was hooked.

“I earned enough then to keep body and soul together with a little left over for the occasional visit to the pub,” Gursahani recalls. “I became entirely self-sufficient financially from that time.”

He trained and worked hard for five years in London to qualify to be an accountant.

However, as fate would have it, when he did qualify in London with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, he decided that he did not really want to be a Chartered accountant after all.

He wanted to be a banker instead.

“My belief is that at times, you have to go with your current desires and be flexible enough to change directions if the opportunity presents itself. Too much planning for the future can become exhausting and counterproductive,” says Gursahani, who is turning 55 this October.

He went headlong into his new field and picked up as many lessons and advice as he could through the many posts he occupied on his way up the corporate ladder.

It did not take long for his superiors to realize that they had a high flyer in their midst, one with great potential to handle great responsibilities.

Focus and determination to enhance his innate abilities were traits he learned growing up in an upper class family in India.

“My father was on the board of Unilever in India so my upbringing was somewhat privileged. Our life was disciplined, focused and principled, and conversations around the dinner table were around education and the business and political world,” Gursahani says.

“I learnt from an early stage to not just be financially responsible but also to be sensitive to those who have to struggle more. My parents themselves sacrificed tremendously to educate my brother and I through the best schools. Education was a cornerstone of our value system.”

He considers his father one of the many role models who have all helped put him where he is today.

“There is no single mentor, but many along the way whom I have respected and learned from. One must be a keen observer of people and be willing to accept that you can never stop learning,” he says.

“Know your strengths and use them to create advantages for yourself and your company. Surround yourself with people whose strengths might be your weaknesses. This way, you can build fully complementary and contributing teams,” Gursahani adds.

Gursahani adds that in his experience, having an open mind is essential to one’s career as it alerts a person to opportunities for growth that can come up unexpectedly.

“I never consciously planned my career, but I have always had an open mind, knowing only that the broader my experience, the better banker I could be. It is because of this that I have experienced a broad range of roles across multiple geographies,” Gursahani says.

Before coming to the Philippines in June last year, Mahendra was Standard Chartered’s chief financial officer for the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Americas, and based in Dubai.

He was also concurrently senior executive officer for Dubai International Financial Center, overseeing all general management responsibilities.

Before landing in Dubai, he held positions in Sydney, Singapore and London.

“I have never looked at my career as a way up the ladder but rather as an opportunity to become more and more self-aware and to contribute in different ways as one evolves. I have few regrets,” he adds.

Gursahani says that in his career, the biggest lesson he has learned is always “be yourself” and not try to be different just to please other people.

For the Australian national, that is not the way to get ahead.

“Pretending to be something else is way too stressful,” he says.

He offers more words of advice for the executive wanting to also succeed in the corporate world.

“Build teams that can make the environment professional and also fun. Respect others for what they can bring and above all treat people as you would like to be treated. Fair but firm would be the hallmark of a good leader,” Gursahani says.

At this point in his life, Gursahani can actually afford to just retire and enjoy the rest of his life with his family. But retirement is not yet on the horizon as he still wants to move forward professionally and personally, especially in the Philippines, which is considered a major market of the London-based bank.

“I want to continue to contribute to my bank, all the staff members and society, in whatever little way that I can,” Gursahani says, “At the moment, I am entirely focused on seizing the new opportunities that the Philippine economy is presenting to us and positioning our bank to be a partner in the country’s journey to economic success.”

“I want Standard Chartered Bank here in the Philippines to be recognized as an institution that provides great service to our customers, innovative solutions to our clients and gives back to local communities,” Gursahani says.

“Being the first foreign bank to have been established here in 1872, Standard Chartered proudly considers itself a partner of the Filipino in nation-building.”

“I am very optimistic about the Philippines and consider myself privileged to be joining at this time when the country’s future looks very promising,” he says.