#1 D. Sriram – China may not be as different as you think
D. Sriram has spent 18 years in advertising and media agencies in India, China and the Asia Pacific Region. He is no stranger to executive roles, in fact, at different points in his career, Sriram was APAC CEO for Starcom Mediavest Group and China CEO for Aegis Media Group. For the past 3 years he has been a consultant and entrepreneur advising professional service companies on market entry to China. And in the process, one of those companies asked him to step up and lead their China operations. So now he is currently the China CEO of IMD. Besides work he enjoys an active lifestyle, absolutely loves music and occasionally performs in Shanghai bars.
Come without preconceptions about Chinese people and Chinese culture.
Show Notes
How he got to China
Sriram was looking for more challenge and opportunity. His first stop in Asia was Hong Kong but after spending 4-5 days in the Mainland each week for work, he became enamored with the country. A new opportunity presented itself shortly thereafter.
Typical day
Depending on air pollution, he tries to get a run in first thing. His office is open and he spends a lot of time catching up with his Chinese-speaking staff. Tune in to find out how this CEO manages to leave his laptop at work Monday to Thursday and not answer work calls after 5:30 PM!
Failure moment
He quit a job in an international agency located in China with a working style and business/cultural assumptions that he disagreed with. Was he right to do so after all? Tune in to find out.
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
As a foreigner in China, with no guanxi in a new industry, Sriram built his current company to now hold 70% share in his particular market. Score!
How’s your Mandarin?
Sriram reads, writes and speaks Mandarin and feels like it helps him both in business, but more importantly and from a personal perspective; that being said, he’s not sure you need it to be a successful business leader.
How to connect
Wechat: search for SriramN200KM
