A work enthusiast and a person with the zeal to achieve more in life; that is Sashank Vemparala, Program Manager at American Express Banking Corporation. He completed his MBA from Indian Institute of Planning and Management in 2006.
His corporate journey began much before he started his graduation. Sashank was a happy-go-lucky teen, extravagant in nature, who started enjoying life after finishing schooling from Chennai. His usual day comprised going out for parties and having a nice time with friends. However, this lifestyle didn’t last for long and he decided to do the opposite instead of spending money – earn money. With this thought he started engaging himself in sales promotion activities, such as selling coffee sachets. A passionate approach to do well in life helped him start his events company, which was called Head Start Marketing Solutions. This entrepreneurial venture he was involved with dealt into manpower supply, lead generation for insurance companies, promotional activities, etc.
A successful marketing journey early in life helped him decide that he would make a career in marketing by doing an MBA. To add this factor to his portfolio and polish his marketing skill sets, Sashank joined IIPM in 2004. During the two years he spent at IIPM, he was involved in a lot of marketing and promotion activities for Planman. This experience helped him join ICMR, a division of Planman. Here, he was given a free hand to test his marketing skills. Soon Sashank got an opportunity to work for American Express and he did not hesitate to take this decision. He, in the earlier stages, was into credit card sales. This role slowly graduated to a frontline sales role, then into Insurance, and at present Product Development and General Management for insurance. This profile also requires Sashank to handle an outsourced telemarketing call center.
Sashank has adopted a leadership style which he terms “inspirational” as he believes in empowering and equipping the employees with all the skills sets, for them to synchronize their approach in order to achieve the desired growth levels. After all, the success of a leader can only be judged by observing the speed at which growth is achieved. His previous bosses have been more than just mentors to him.
Sashank believes in empowering and equipping employees with the skills sets to achieve the desired growth
When asked to name a few, he replied that the list is a long one, which goes back to his IIPM days. There are certain qualities which differentiate the better from the best that is in the market. These can be termed as an individual’s competitive advantage. Well, Sashank certainly has such qualities which keep him ahead of his contemporaries. In the middle of the conversation, he jokes about being Baba Sashank and imparts the gyan of success. The most important factor is that an individual should have patience in order to listen, and especially in professional forums. If one possesses the right listening skills, its does add a lot of depth in the way an individual responds to various situations. Secondly, since he has a managerial role Sashank feels that an individual should be able to understand what people expect and how one should live up to these expectations. Lastly, it is actually the approach that is adopted which sets aside an achiever from the rest of the pack. He feels that at the initial stages in one’s career, proper homework needs to be done. A fresher who is starting his or her career should choose a career by choice and not by chance, and this is only possible if he or she spends a lot of quality time researching about organizations and talking to the right people. His wife Srividya, an engineer, also works for American Express in the Technologies division. They try to spend spare time together by reading. Mr. Sashank Vemparala wraps up this rendezvous by saying that one should try to explore as many opportunities which are thrown at an individual from the organization and making the best of it.
