The Conversation ADITYA PURI

When a rival bank tweets 1 good wishes to the retiring CEO of another bank, you know that person is no ordinary banker. Aditya Puri, 70, who helmed the country’s most valued banking institution, HDFC Bank, for 26 years, retired in end-October and, within days, joined The Carlyle Group. Presenting the Aditya Puri masterclass on leadership, institution-building, and change management.

- SOURAV MAJUMDAR

AN INSTITUTION-BUILDER

It’s been a long and eventful innings for you. What are your initial thoughts as you prepare for life after HDFC Bank?

I am extremely satisfied, and at peace. I built a good institution, got a lot of respect and regard from the length and breadth of the institution, both from people who are still working and those who have left. I have positioned the bank for the future, and got Sashi Jagdishan [Sashidhar Jagdishan, the new MD & CEO] who is ingrained in the bank, as an excellent successor, tying up with him and easing him into the role. So I leave as a very satisfied man, and with a lot of respect—something which is very important—from all the 120,000 people at the bank.

You spoke about building a good institution. There are CEOs, and there are institution-builders. What does it take for a leader to be an institution-builder?

The builder of an institution has to understand what he wants to build. Once he knows that, he has to get the team together that will build that institution. And automatically then, you don’t become a CEO—you become a first among equals, the objective being to build the institution. Then you have to clearly define the parameters within which that institution will be built, i.e., its culture, what business it is going to do, what will it do for society, what kind of place it’s going to be to work in.