THE AIRBENDERS

Corporate India's leaders have once again proven the adage right: cometh the hour, cometh the CEO.

- BY V. KESHAVDEV

“EXECUTIVES ARE NOT paid for doing things they like to do. They are paid for getting the right things done—most of all in their specific task, the making of effective decisions.” Management guru Peter Drucker mentioned this in his 1967 classic, The Effective Executive. Six decades on, this profound insight continues to be relevant, especially in an increasingly unpredictable world punctuated by geopolitical skirmishes, led by the world's biggest and most advanced economy.

While disruptions have for long been the only constant for businesses, closer home the challenges for India Inc., thriving in a largely domestic-oriented economy, have been manifold in recent years—right from disruptive to transformational.

Against this backdrop, Fortune India's list of India's Best CEOs is an apt portrayal of how leaders, be it professionals or promoter-owners, have been guiding their businesses through a chaotic landscape. The methodology, created in association with knowledge partner EY, dwells on three parameters: net sales, profit after tax, and total shareholder return. Each measure was assigned a weightage of 33.33%. (Details on page 210.)

The findings were then presented to a jury comprising an eclectic mix of corporate experience and investing acumen. Chaired by Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the panellists comprised: K.V.S. Manian, MD & CEO, Federal Bank; Zia Mody, co-founder & managing partner, AZB & Partners; Prashant Jain, founder & chief investment officer, 3P Investment Managers; Devina Mehra, founder, chairperson & MD, First Global, and Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors LLP.

While the deliberations were intense, the outcome was consensual: the CEOs who made the cut continue to be among the best in the business.