From trainee to Padma Bhushan to forced leave: The rise and fall of Chanda Kochhar
When ICICI chief executive Chanda Kochhar got Padma Bhushan 2011, she or anyone else won't have imagined the reversal she would face just seven years later. After nearly four months of backing her at the bank amidst a flurry of charges, the board has sent Kochhar on leave till the completion of an independent probe into allegations of favouritism and impropriety against her.
Kochhar has had a dream career. In 1984, when she joined ICICI as a management trainee, no one would have imagined she would become MD & CEO 25 years later. From a trainee to the CEO & MD to Padma Bhushan to the stain of corruption, Kochhar's rise as well as fall seem incredible.
Ironically, the banker who earned a name as an expert at handling crises has failed to steer out of the storm she herself faces now. Many won't have found reassuring her silence and the board's decision to let her carry on at the company while a criminal investigation had begun against her. Only after facing a lot of criticism and more allegations against Kochhar, the board has decided to start an independent probe and distance her from the company, something many think should have happened months ago.
But Kochhar has handled professional crises with ease and deftness. According to a TOI report, as the bank’s retail head, Kochhar was part of the team that had to deal with a run on the bank in 2003 that began in Gujarat following rumours of liquidity crisis. After taking charge as joint managing director during the global financial crisis, she had to again battle a near-run on the bank caused by rumours.
When in 2009 she took charge of the bank at the age of 48, becoming the youngest CEO to do so, a large chunk of the senior management exited. Kochhar was unruffled and drew up a post-crisis strategy, with the focus on 4Cs (Cost, Credit, Current and savings account, and Capital). The clearly articulated strategy was a success and the bank was again on a high growth path. A career ICICI banker, Kochhar had played a major role in building the bank’s retail business. More recently, she has demonstrated how quick decisions can help in effective resolution of bad loans, although ICICI was in the same boat as public-sector lenders when it came to non-performing assets.
Kochhar's skill of time management has seen her through difficulties. According to the TOI report, insiders say that one of the reasons why she has been able to carry on even in difficult circumstances was that she always maintained a tight schedule, budgeting even the time during her car ride for telephonic engagements. Time management was an art that she had mastered when her children were growing up, ensuring that she managed to leave office around 6pm even as she continued to work out of her car. The family-first approach has continued even after she became CEO, squeezing in a lunch meeting with her husband or working out of the ICICI Securities office at Backbay in south Mumbai, a few hundred meters from her home, when a family member was unwell.
Ironically, in the present crisis, many would say Kochhar faltered on timing. Had Kochhar gone on leave and a probe been ordered right when the allegations hit the headlines, the company would have faced less criticism.