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April 2013

Management lesson from politicians: CEOs should use EAs as change agents

By Tarunkumar Singhal, Raman Jokhakar, Chartered Accountants
Reading Time 1 mins
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When Reliance Industries came calling to pick two executive assistants (EAs) for its chief, Mukesh Ambani, IIM graduates, unsurprisingly, responded with gusto.

This means two things. First, RIL’s talent hunt for two EAs perhaps indicates that large Indian companies are now more or less sold on the idea of a smart fellow shadowing the boss.

The Tatas were among the pioneers in India Inc in appointing EAs. Other majors took longer to take to the idea. And it is only recently that the EA’s role has changed from making the boss look smart – at an industry chamber conference, for example – to being the boss’s strategy-sounding board. A really talented EA can get fast-tracked real fast. The list of CEOs who started their careers as EAs is set to get longer.

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