CEO Insights Magazine

Starting from some of the phenomenal leaders of our country including the founder of the IT mammoth Infosys, Narayan Murthy Chairman & CEO of the leading tech conglomerate IBM, Arvind Krishna Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnav IIT Kanpur holds a long list of established alumni who have burgeoned the reputed institution's excellence. Joining this list of stalwarts as one of the significant alumni of IIT Kanpur, Vimal Katiyar(Co-founder and Coach, The Bento Coach) has carved his reputation as one of the efficacious trailblazers of the country in leadership coaching. An operations leader with expertise in managing large manufacturing plants across multiple locations, backed with strong strategic planning,execution & performance improvement skills, Vimal also holds the privilege of assisting Dr Abdul Kalam in Project Agni during his tenure at DRDO. Equipped with more than 30 years of experience in the FMCG and Chemicals domain having worked with Perfetti Van Melle, PepsiCo, and ICI India Fertilizers, Vimal gradually discovered his passion to coach people and help them achieve their dreams as well as reach their true potential. At present, Vimal along with his team supports his clients in their journey to self-awareness and challenges them to take personal responsibility with the help of his innovative platform ­ The Bento Coach.

Below is an excerpt of Vimal Katiyar's interview with CEO Insights.

What motivated you to venture into the coaching and leadership domain?
Amidst my prolifically successful professional career where I was success fully dealing with people I

realized that managing the resources is one of the biggest needs to effectively lead an organization. Simultaneously learning from my experience and the knowledge garnered while interacting with various people, I started realizing that engaging with people and helping them to evolve and achieve the best version of themselves is my true passion. I discovered that most people continue to perform below their potentials and I was confident that with much needed patience and little investment, I can help them evolve into better professionals. I was certain that a high performing team can be built when you identify individuals and get the most out of them by engaging with them through a combination of say mentoring and coaching.

How are you implementing the learnings and experience acquired from IIT Kanpur across your current role?
If I can recall those days, the campus of IIT Kanpur always had a positive vibe and the environment was optimistic as well as full of energy. I am sure, this positivity is one of the major reasons behind the institution's success as one of the leading IITs of the country. The same optimistic attitude got absorbed in my soul and I am quite grateful for that. Apart from that, IIT Kanpur fueled my hunger to perform better, the ability to become better and the capability to compete profusely.So, I would say that at IIT Kanpur, my standards were set at a very high level, with almost no place for mediocrity. Inspiring me at a personal level, the traits inculcated in me through my institution have developed a passion within me to keep improving every day.

Define The Bento Coach as an organization. What are some of the company's greatest strengths and unique propositionsthat it offers to clients?
After envisaging that corporate leadership coaching is still at a primitive stage in India, we came forward with the unique idea of

establishing The Bento Coach to ensure structured coaching to organizations as well as individuals. We wanted to change the concept that coaching is exclusively for the top executives of the organization since we believe that in order to excel in the present market scenario, coaching is needed for every single individual. Our motto is 'Making Coaching Convenient'which means that a person at any level within the organization or even an individual, should be able to afford coaching with respect to time as well as money.

Following different pedagogies for our diverse set of clients, we offer unique solutions to all of our customers rather than just sticking to one single tool. Taking an unconventional route, we have brought the novel and innovative tools of the industry integrated with the principles of coaching. Equipped with able mentors and coaches who stand distin guished across the industry owing to their exceptional expertise, we are positioned much ahead of our competitors.

Going forward, what are the goals you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
I have a wish to integrate functional and leadership competence across my firm. In my last 30 years I've found that a lot of focus is either on soft skills or functional skills, but the required integration does not happen. Having competence concerning functional skills does not guarantee good performance and hence, the integration of coaching and consulting can make that happen. This is what I want for my organization. We want to provide solutions and services which addvalue to the organization. Implementing my knowledge of operations and apt people development skills, I want to help our company grow exponentially.

Vimal Katiyar, Co-Founder & Coach, The Bento Coach
Vimal's senior leadership roles in Operations & Manufacturing give him a unique outlook as a Coach. In his long and distinguished career, a major insight was that to achieve desired results doing things differently is critical tough decisions are needed, and one cannot satisfy everyone. His active listening skills as a coach help him understand people better and learn from their perspective.