Head boy becomes CEO

P&G's new corner office occupant will steer the firm through a difficult period

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

SHAILESH JEJURIKAR, Procter & Gamble's incoming president & CEO, learnt important lessons in leadership as head boy of his school in Hyderabad in the early 1980s. Giving a patient ear to classmates and teachers as a senior prefect, leading by example rather than rules, and devoting time to both study and play (he was an avid cricketer as well as a bright student) were key takeaways that Jejurikar would apply later in life.

As the IIM-Lucknow alumnus gears up to lead a 187-year-old American company—the first Asian and Indian to do so—he will need to draw upon his varied learnings. Jejurikar, whose worldview has been shaped by degrees in liberal economics and management, is also among the few chief executives in America Inc, whose education has been entirely in India. His success, say industry executives, has been achieved by dint of hard work, curiosity and passion as he worked his way up the corporate ladder over 36 years in P&G. "When you unlock an insight with curiosity, the power to drive limitless growth is huge," he said in a P&G Alumni Podcast in 2023.