 Introduction

 Shikha Sharma was appointed as the managing director and chief

executive officer of Axis Bank in June 2009. Sharma’s appointment came
at a time UTI Bank was named Axis Bank, and the board of directors felt
that the bank should be more aggressive in pursuing business. The bank
had a legacy issue and high exposure in corporate loans. Sharma’s job
was to fortify the retail lending practice at Axis Bank and she did that.
 Early Life and Education
 Daughter of an officer in the Indian Army, Shikha was born on 19
November 1958. As her father was an army man, the Sharma family
travelled all over the country and Shikha attended seven schools in as
many cities before finishing her schooling from Loreto Convent in Delhi.
[
 She went on to do BA (Honours) in Economics from the Lady Shri Ram
College for Women (LSR) in Delhi and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. She
also holds a post-graduate diploma in Software Technology from the
National Centre for Software Technology in Mumbai.
 Achievements
 Since Sharma's appointment as MD & CEO of Axis Bank in 2009, the
bank's stock has gained over 90%. After one and half year of her
appointment as MD & CEO Axis Bank acquired Enam Securities. The
bank's compounded annual net profit growth rate was above 20 per cent
in the three years ending 2014-15. The bank's net non-performing asset
ratio was 1.34 per cent as of March 2015, much lower than the 4.4 per
cent for the banking sector as a whole. Net profit in 2015-16 rose 18.3 per
cent to Rs 7,358 crore, operating profit was up 24 per cent at Rs 3,582
crore, while net interest income grew 19 per cent to Rs 14,224 crore.
Advances grew 22 per cent and deposits were up 15 per cent during the
year, both higher than the industry. The share of low-cost current account
savings account (CASA) deposits remained stable at 45 per cent, a high
ratio.[9] The Bank continued its international expansion during the year
and opened a Representative Office in Dhaka.
 Under Sharma's leadership, Axis Bank has received many awards
notably, "Bank of the Year in India" for 2014 from The Banker
magazine, Financial Times. A "Certificate of Recognition for excellence
in Corporate Governance" from the Institute of Company Secretaries of
India (ICSI), for 2015. It was ranked the "Most Trusted Private Sector
Bank" for the second year in a row - 'Most Trusted Brand Survey',
conducted by Brand Equity, Economic Times. Axis Bank was ranked
"No 1 company to work for in the BFSI sector" in the "Best Companies
 to Work for" survey by Business Today in 2013. Harvard Business
Review published a case study on "Managing Change at Axis Bank" in
2013.

 Confidence, high energy and risk-taking ability score high among the
qualities that Shikha looks for a leader and those were the parameters she
used.

 Perception
Candidate Take
- “It was a great experience meeting a person of that stature. She made me feel
really comfortable. I asked her about how one can keep oneself motivated even
during a rough patch and she told me how she had been through the same and
how to deal with it. That was my biggest takeaway.”

- “The interview was interesting. We spoke more on what came next rather than
what I have done so far and the importance of having clarity on why we are
doing what we are doing. I had applied to ETYL because of the fourth round,
and the half hour I spent with Shikha was great.

 Shikha Sharma: Qualities that

made her what she is today
 She is conservative in some aspects still she is dynamic in a lot other
aspects. Let us see the leadership skills that made her what she is today. 
 Willing to take risks: The leader in her has always been ready to take
new risks in life as well as in her business decisions. She spearheaded the
business of ICICI Prudential which ventured into the Indian market after
the market liberalization in 2000 for the insurance sector. Again in 2009,
she decided to take the plunge out of her comfort zone in ICICI Bank.
 Willingness to learn: According to her own admission, she is always
willing to learn and she does not have any ego when it comes to learning
new things from others. This attitude has helped her learn new things
wherever she has gone starting from her joining the ICICI Bank in
1980 as a management trainee.
 Work-life balance: It has been a milestone of her life since she married
her batch mate at IIM-A in 1982 and she always makes it a point to come
 back to her family at the end of the day. She takes care of her kids – a son
and a daughter – as any other mother will do. One example is that she
decided to learn classical music by her own when she wanted her children
to learn the same.
 Entrepreneurial Skills: The entrepreneur in her has always made it a
point to support new businesses and also build new businesses. Her
colleagues have always wondered about this quality of hers despite being
at the helm of the third largest private sector of the country after ICICI
Bank and HDFC Bank.
 A Focused woman: Shikha Sharma is a focused woman with a mission
as she says that she tries to understand the nuances of something but once
she decides something, she goes on despite all the problems. It is this
focus that has made her wait for all the hurdles that she faced while
acquiring Enam Securities.
 Business Acumen: The daughter of the army officer has been always a
lady with the business acumen required to start and sustain a business.
She has made all the right decisions starting from expanding the reach of
the bank after taking its charge in 2009.
 One of the Highest Paid Bank CEOs in India: Shikha Sharma, in the
past financial year received a 28 per cent hike in her remuneration to Rs
5.50 crore a year.
Shikha Sharma: Awards for the Lady.

 The hard-nosed businesswoman has won many accolades in her

illustrious career with both ICICI as well as Axis Bank. The contributions
have been recognized many times during her career.
 She has received the Banker of the Year award in 2014-15 by Business
Standard
 In 2013, she received the India’s Best Woman CEO by Business
Today.
 She has been a member of the RBI’s Technical Advisory Committee as
well as the Financial inclusion committee and also the Financial
Services committee on low-income households.
 Shikha Sharma is the chairperson of the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) National Committee on banking for the year 2015-16.
 Under her governance, the bank has received the best bank in corporate
governance by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India in 2015.
 Many say that Shikha Sharma left ICICI because she lost the top job to
Mrs Chanda Kochchar but she says that she wanted to go out of her
comfort zone and try something new even after three decades of her
career in the financial sector. This is the attitude that has made her one of
the role models of the Indian financial sector as well as for the young and
aspiring women who want to make it big in life. She has done it despite
 hailing from a middle class background and many others can also do the
same.

 Challenges
 Even though Shikha has faced many hurdles in ICICI too, but she
considers Axis Bank to be as her toughest stint in her 34-year old career,
that to for quite a few reasons!
 To begin with; given the conditions she was handed over in, the
challenges were more personal because, Shikha had never before been a
part of a commercial banking organization.
 Although she had spent close to three decades with the ICICI group
performing various roles which included everything from setting up its
investment banking wing to running consumer lending and personal
services divisions and not forgetting its insurance company too but she
had never been a part-of or handled commercial banking solely.
 So before anything else; primarily Shikha had to understand the key
things that made Axis Bank function and at the same time understanding
the theoretical structure of how all parts of the banking business
connected to each other, was very important too.
 Then once that was figured; the second part of the struggle was that, Axis
Bank back then in Fiscal Year 2009 had a very strong track record with a
balance sheet size of INR 1.47 lakh crore and net profits of around INR
1,815 crore, and a five-year compound yearly profit growth rate of
45.51%. Hence, what needs to be fixed or introduced had to be figured
too!
 Now Axis Bank did have some basic similarities with ICICI Prudential
Life, but unlike ICICI, there was absolutely no one to guide her or even
show her the path during her most crucial, initial days. And on a broader
scale things were very different too; one for example being that, ICICI
Prudential was a joint venture, and Axis Bank was a publicly listed
company. It was like being handed over a flying aircraft, mid-air!
 What helped her most in settling quickly was the fact that; India was
recovering well from the financial crisis of 2008, thus making her job far
more easier and also that Axis was very apolitical which made it easy to
deal with people who were straightforward and respectful too!
 Female Leader Positive Traits
(Gender Wise)
 In a male dominated financial world, Shikha has successfully carved a
place for herself. She is that kind of person who has climbed every ladder
of success with just her hardwork and intelligence, overcoming all the
hurdles and challenges that have come in her path, without the hand of
any godfather being on her head.
 Reaching to the position she is now, she has become a role model for
many such women who aspire to be leaders of the world to come!