On the 22nd of July, Hyderabad campus of the Indian School of Business (ISB) was abuzz with excitement! One of its prodigal sons was visiting the campus!

Kedar Lele, Vice President (Modern Trade, e-Commerce and Institutional Business) at Hindustan Unilever Limited and an ISB alumnus of the PGP Class of 2004 was there to interact with Current PGP Class of 2016.

Apart from heading the Modern Trade and Institutional Business, Kedar Lele leads the e-Commerce initiative for the organisation and also drives the CD Center-of-Excellence and other strategic thrusts for HUL.

At ISB, Kedar topped the Marketing stream and was also on the Dean’s list. The session began at 6.30pm in the stately Khemkha auditorium. Lele was impressed at the enormous turnout and the enthusiasm of the students. He took the gathering on an armchair tour of his career path, sharing his work experiences and learnings.

“Always think bigger,” advised Lele to the students emphasising that they should expect promotions only when they had outgrown the shoes they were in. He urged them to make the most of their year at ISB, have realistic expectations towards transformation and work hard towards their goals. It was an interesting and often hilarious talk session, with the eager students hanging on to every word. At the end of the session, they were equally charged up to pepper Lele with questions on topics ranging from the latest digital marketing trends to the role of intuition, and he answered them all with his sardonic yet thought-provoking wit.

In all, it was a great experience, and whetted the appetite of the students for the many more to come. Immense thanks to the ISB team who made the event possible, and a big shout out to the Alumni Relations Committee for making the event a seamless success!