Mr. Venkat Iyer
Director Business Technology,
Pfizer Limited

This Director has an infectious enthusiasm, not to mention, his sparkling smile. A zest for making things happen, Venkat Iyer’s dynamism reflects in the team he leads and in the challenges that rest on his ‘agile’ shoulders.

In this special series titled ‘The One Thing’, CIOL attempts to discover and unravel the many facets of Venkat Iyer’s challenging and inspiring portfolio as a CIO, a Decision Maker and an IT Leader.

Q: What is the one thing that you draw your strength to achieve your goals?
A: There got to be a better way to do this...

Q: What is the one facet of leadership that has truly inspired you?
A: Trust your team to deliver...

Q: What is the one thing that you would advise to upcoming and aspiring CIOs?
A: Keep your ears open and listen to the business issues from where you will get your challenges to solve.

Q: Who is the one leader that you have admired?
A: A simple man with a simple mantra brought the most powerful country on their knees. In the time when there was no mobile, no e-mail, no TV, could still communicate so well with 300 million people. Mahatma Gandhi....

Q: What is the one major challenge you face as a CIO?
A: Keeping the team motivated when there are not many new projects but only maintenance jobs is a huge challenge

Q: What is the one successful practice you deploy to motivate your teams?
A: Believe in them to make it successful. CIOs role is to remove the hurdles for the team to progress.

Q: What is the one thing you do to manage stress?
A: Be a drop of water on a lotus leaf...Work life balance is very important. Daily Yoga keeps me agile and happy. Don't worry, be happy...

Q: What is the one thing that decision makers and leaders must avoid as a rule?
A: In the current times, never shove your decisions below. You will never get the support. You will have to build consensus and mould them to see your way. Projects success and failures are mainly due to this.

Q: Name one HR best practice that can aid in people retention?
A: Outsource 70-80% of the mundane jobs, for the rest 20%, trust your team 100% and make sure that the team feels that they are indispensible.

Q: What is the one great opportunity you see in these tough times of global recession?
A: In a multinational company, you can easily convince your global bosses to move more work to India.