The fairytale journey of an entrepreneur

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The fairytale journey of an entrepreneur

Sajan Pillai, CEO of UST Global, unveils the incredible and colorful journey of an organization literally from scratch…

Prasad Ramasubramanian

Monday, September 08, 2008

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CHENNAI,INDIA: One of the great American authors and motivational speakers John Maxwell had once said, "A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position."
Sajan Pillai, Chief Executive,UST Global

Sajan Pillai, Chief Executive,UST Global

True, but how many leaders actually epitomize this adage and drive home the message that it is passion that takes an entity from one position to another? Very few. Sajan Pillai, Chief Executive of UST Global, ranks one amongst them.

As we enter a suburban hotel in Chennai, the venue for the interaction, Sajan breaks the ice by quipping, "As a youngster even I wanted to be a journalist and had this concept of customized media in my mind."

That sets the tone for the interaction with the chief catalyst who started things from the scratch and from a modest team of 14 over nine years ago. Today, UST Global is a 5000 + team offering optimal solutions for IT and BPO efficiency across the industries.

Our interaction picks up steam when he elucidates on the essential elements put in place when the company was in its formative years.

"We figured out that in order to build a company that would last and stand the test of time you need to have a few elements in place. It wasn't about making one customer or two customers."

"From day one, we wanted to build the greatest company in the arena, which meant that whatever we did was long term, sustainable. The first and the foremost thing was to have the right value system in the company - what are we doing and why are we doing it," he adds.

The second focus for his entity was to develop a model wherein it was maintained - less customers, more attention.

"It was extraordinary to have that discipline and when you are starting, you want to get anything and everything that you can. And that's human instinct. We always focused on carefully selecting a customer relationship and investing in that relationship right upfront," Sajan Pillai points out.

"In an eon where companies are looking at transactional profit and loss, UST Global's investments in each of its customers and sticking with them for long periods of time comes as a breath of fresh air."

Another important facet in the growth course of UST Global is the importance given to people practices. According to Pillai, identifying and grooming talent, creating bench strength, empowering individuals has always been the key areas of interest.

After this was put in place, the tough job of convincing customers to come on board would have given sleepless nights to any entrepreneur but not to Pillai who enthuses, "It never really mattered that we were a new company or a smaller company… and the customers realized that our company had the passion and our employees had the intensity."

We question him on the temptation of taking the inorganic route and his reply is honest:

"Its very tempting to go the inorganic route but we are not looking at one or two year relationship and if you aim at building the best company not in India but in the world, you have to see to it that the entity fits your culture."

The discussion moves onto the unique program started by UST Global coined as 'Colors of UST Global', an initiative close to his heart. "Each and every employee would represent a color. For example, if Rose is your color, then it denotes the community - you could be a vice president or a fresher - for the Rose Function."

The team comes with its goals and manages its initiatives, he says. "It's an extraordinary initiative and going on for six years. It's voluntary and gives a sense of being in the company and this is above and beyond your day job."

We are tempted to quiz him on his leadership mantra. Sajan Pillai avers: You need to lead by example, and I have always trusted people unconditionally."

Having been brought up in India, pretty much of Pillai's work life had been in the United States where he got chance to closely observe the global outlook of big companies.

"Building business is our art, it's our devotion. Art of leadership is greater than an individual and you have to constantly learn," he quips.

A constant traveler across different geographies and time zones, Pillai, however, manages his work life balance. He admits to having quite a few hobbies from music to outdoors and is quite excited with a program in Kerala to re-invigorate Swathi Thirunal music.

He has been instrumental in creating a school that would offer free classical music education to everyone.

Yes, he is a happy family man, a hardcore entrepreneur and above all a socially responsible human being who brings about perfect balance among whatever he does.

©CyberMedia News

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adb said on 11/12/2008 3:27:54 AM:
This is all bull shit. Sajan did not start UST. It was Steve Ross and GA Menon of Comcraft Group. Sajan just wiggled his way while most of the funding came on Menons credibility. Once the business went into orbit, Sajan started pulling strings to control - there was no other leader to do that. If thats the case, why did UST have to settle Steve $7.5 million in Jan 2008 ?

to adb

nandhini said on 9/19/2008 9:19:40 AM:
Really inspiring and motivating.

to nandhini

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