Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.” It is perhaps the one line that defines the approach to life of Mr. Rajeev Powell, a distinguished IIPM alumni and currently Regional Head at IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd. CULT was fortunate to be able to interact with Mr. Powell and experience the warmth and positivity he emits. Mr. Powell shared with the magazine his wonderful journey at IIPM and beyond and his most memorable experiences during this time. A person who has been described as ‘More of a Doer and a Thinker’ and ‘A professional with quick wit and sharp humor’ by his colleagues, Mr. Powell shared inspiring insights from his professional life. Mr. Powell has been associated with some of the best companies in the world today namely, MRF, Citibank, Indiabulls, ICICI and IDBI and has created an indelible impression of himself in each of them. We are proud to share with you the great interaction we had with Mr. Powell.
Mr. Rajeev Powell’s corporate journey has been one of great variety and in his own words, ‘An interesting one.’ “I have been working in various industries and have faced various challenges as well,” he shares. The experience of selling everything from holiday packages, to tyres, home loans, personal loans and even demat accounts has allowed him to gain a world of experience. Each company and each industry has given him a new perspective. His approach to challenges at work has been largely driven by the credo of Alexander the Great, “If there is a way I will find it and if there is no way I will make one.” This simple philosophy allowed Mr. Powell to take on every challenge, big or small, and come out trumps in each organization.
He started his career in 2000 as a sales executive, with MRF Tyres and Apollo Tyres. Then in the year 2005, Mr. Powell moved to Citi Financial where he worked as a manager for a year. He then worked as Assistant manager-mortgages for Citi Financial Consumer Finance India Ltd.
Thereafter he moved to Indiabulls Financial services ltd. as a regional sales manager. There he was handling the DSA Channel network for entire Mumbai region for personal loans, home loans and loan against property, for generating business through DSA shops with a team size of 55 members and for generating business through branch network in Central and Harbour line of Mumbai region. He was also involved in Opening of New Branches at strategic locations in Mumbai and Develop new business strategies & Implementation of various branch processes. Organizing various marketing events and sales & promotional activities to create visibility of the product in the market was also a part of his role. He was responsible for generating additional revenue through cross-sell of insurance products across branches, was involved in Coordinating with collection department in resolving non starters and delinquency cases and recruitment and training of FOS. He worked with them for more than a year.
Then he moved to ICICI Securities as Channel Sales Head and was made responsible for new customer acquisitions in Demat and Trading Accounts and generating business through bank branches, open market and channel network. One of his key projects was to acquire and manage HNI clients through active trader service (ATS). He was also responsible for managing the operations department for Mumbai region and handling an operations team of 10 managerial employees. He moved on from ICICI to take up a key position with IDBI Capital Securities.
In his current job at IDBI Capital market services Ltd. as a Regional head, he is managing the operations of the branches of Maharashtra and ensuring Branch Profitability and break-even every month. Additionally he is also managing a team of 100 employees and is directly responsible for managing the productivity of each employee in the region for better performance in professional spheres.
“ALWAYS KEEP YOUR SUCCESS IN YOUR HEART AND NEVER LET IT GO TO YOUR HEAD, BE CONFIDENT ”
One of the things he enjoys about his current organization, is that IDBI is a ‘grounded’ organization. He shares, “While most broking firms in the regional markets, cropped up by the hour and offered discounts to customers, IDBI kept focusing on smaller but niche clientle. This allowed us to generate repeat businesses and great word of mouth. So when these smaller players closed down because of what was clearly an unviable business model, IDBI marched ahead and added numbers by the month.”
His personal style of leadership he believes revolves around making sure he gets a personal connect with everybody around him. His business idol is Warren Buffet and he admires the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ for the same reason. Mr. Powell shares, “Mr. Buffet is quite a simple person. He drives the same old car, owns no cellphone or laptop but still gets his work done. He treats his employees as one and writes only one letter a year to all his employees and shareholders. And Mr. Buffet still manages to run one of the most successful broking firms in financial history.
He believes learning experiences in life and corporate is that if you have a goal just give all that you have to achieve it. Learn to dream big, cause once you dream big then only you will achieve it. The same principle follows with life as well. Learn to give time and affection to your family members, because they are the supporting pillars.
His memories of IIPM are extremely fond and it is evident when he says, “IIPM days were full of fun and learning.”
Mr. Powell confesses, “My spouse has always been my strength in all my ups and downs. My mother and father are the people from whom I seek guidance in every walk of life. In today’s world youngsters do not like to take advice from their parents but they forget that it is because of them that they are in this world. They know much more than them. So the basic mantra is to be confident, believe in yourself and always respect and adore your family members.”
Mr. Powell’s secret to maintaining a great work-life balance is to simply ‘switch-off’ his mobile phone, once he leaves office. He generally avoids official calls once he leaves work and believes in spending quality time with family members. His favorite activity with his loved ones is to catch the latest movie in the theater apart from holidaying. He recently had a great holiday in Dubai with his wife. He also has a sound advice for youngsters. “Be confident and not overconfident”. There is a very thin line of demarcation between the two. Always keep your success in your heart and never let it go to your head. Cause pride would always say “it’s impossible” Experience would always say “it’s risky” Reason would always say “it’s pointless” but the heart would always whisper “just give it a try”
Cult hopes he garners the best laurels in all activities he is involved.
