CHENNAI: With nearly 30 years in the corner office of truck and bus major, Ramaswami Seshasayee is one of Motown’s veteran voices. His life and career are lessons in how leadership is all about “curiosity and willingness to learn”.

A chartered accountant, he is one of the very few non-engineers globally to be made honorary member of the Society of Automobile Engineers. From automobileto banking companies, IT majors to hospitals and educational institutions, his career as a CEO proves it is possible to multi-task one’s way to the very top.

Today, he has stepped back from the corporate world and is more involved in social institutions and creative pursuits. “I have no executive responsibilities, which gives me time and freedom to explore myself,” he says. “As vice-chairman of Hinduja group, I am only involved in a few select areas, at a strategic level. ” Outside this, hehas restricted his engagement with the corporate sector to membership on the board of only two listed companies -Asian Paints in India and Quaker Houghton in the US. That aside, he mentors a few technology companies. “These help me learn and stay in touch with the absolutely fascinating developments in technology and corporate worlds,” he says.

Beyond the world of profit-andloss, Seshasayee is currently at the helm of three eminent institutions in health care -the CancerInstitute in Chennai, the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, and Scarf, a globally renowned institution in mental health. He is also involved with educational and research institutions such as Krea University, IFMR and Madhi Foundation, besides NDSO, a federation ofmore than 1,700 NGOs in Tamil Nadu.

“My current focus is to support the development of the next generation of leaders in most of these institutions,” he says.

“The nation requires both a flourishing corporate sector and a vibrant social sector, the former to generate the wealth, and the latter to supplement the government’s efforts in distributive justice,” he says. “Both the corporate world and the social sector have to learn from each other. Corporates will do well to imbibe the spirit of well-run social organisations, which is to put the interest of society ahead of personal interests and, in turn, social sector organisations need to learn from the corporate sector the importance of accountability, productivity, processes and speed,” he says.

It’s an enormous ask and just as demanding as his role in India Inc. “I am discovering each dayhow much more needs to be done and how little time is ahead of me,” he says.

If that sounds like a full plate, Seshasayee has managed to add a literary side dish to it. A writer of short stories and novels, he is now busy researching for his next book, which will have a historical background. “We all observe life, interact with the world, and form our views. I am only conveying my observations on societal issues through the medium of fiction because I find it cathartic,” he says.

Unlike many of his contemporary CEOs, though, Seshasayee is not into penning books on busi-ness and management. “My experience in the corporate world taught me the importance of action,” he says. “My experience with social issues is teaching me the importance of reflection. ” It is this reflection that he is channelling into his writing.

“We all have views -be it on politics, religion, or any other social issue -and I have found it more sobering to channelise my distress and anger through fiction. ” And although his short stories in Tamil and debut novel in English have received acclaim, he is under no illusion that his writing will make “any big impact on the literary scene”.

Courtesy: TOI