Kicking off our Career features, we have Prasad Shastri, a senior executive at Bank of Ireland.

Prasad takes us through his expansive career starting in India and now in the UK. He talks about his proudest moments such as building teams from scratch and developing people on his team. He explains how to build resilience and accepts that setbacks are part of the journey. His main words of advice focus on building resilience – both mental and physical, build and nurture relationships with people, respecting other peoples’ differences and to always choose  roles, teams and organizations that fit with your values.

From India to the UK: A Diverse Career Path

I was originally born and raised in India, living there until early adulthood. After completing a degree in Engineering and then an MBA, I started my career with a role in market research where I conducted large studies for many of the well-known global consumer packaged goods companies.

I stumbled into a Banking when looking for new roles to enhance my career. Banking in India in the 1990s was very attractive and provided an opportunity to have a good lifestyle, so that helped too! My first Banking role was being part of a small seed team to launch a new customer analytics function in Citibank in India. Soon enough the work we undertook received acclaim across the EMEA region in Citibank. In view of our reputation, I was asked to launch the function in Citibank UK, and was sent here on a six-month project in summer 2001.

Being on a project, I had my accommodation paid for and I stayed in Mayfair, with Hyde Park literally across the road. My wife accompanied me too. Living on Park Lane, I thought all of London was like that, and promptly fell in love with the city.  So when I was asked to stay back in UK to run the function, I did not hesitate. And that is when I realized that not all London is like Park Lane. But it was too late and it is a different story! Besides, we loved the diversity and vibrancy of London. Practically every nationality on the planet is represented in London and I never felt out of place in this new country and this new city. There is a certain tolerance in cities for different races, cultures and religions. London does this particularly well. Today, having lived in London for 23 years, I am at home in two cultures and I am lucky to have two ‘homes’: India and UK.

Growing up in multi-cultural, multi-religious India of the 80s was an early lesson on richness of  diversity. The multiplicity of India can be mindboggling to an outsider: there are so many different languages, different cultures and different religions enveloping you. That is a privilege. I am very proficient in three languages: English, Hindi and Marathi which leads me to have a rich inner cultural life. I can read literature and poetry in three languages, watch movies in three languages, and I can listen to diverse multi-lingual music. Being exposed to this diversity meant I was open to different ideas and opinions, something which I have taken throughout my career. I was also raised to be very family orientated. I have large families on both sides (only 1 sibling but 33 first cousins, I counted!) which led me to appreciate the value of people, of teamwork and of working with others. Growing up in India shaped my values and my values are still something I hold dear. I am instinctively a team member and a consensus builder and like to surround myself with people with diverse thinking. In making choices on new teams or new roles to join, I look for shared values and where they align.

Career Highlights and Achievements

Throughout my career, I have had many proud moments. My proudest achievement being the people I have developed. I find it very satisfying to see people in my team performing well and watching them go on to be CEOs, partners and managing directors, and them acknowledging the help I have provided them in their careers. Managing people is a multifaceted job. It is not just being the ‘manager’; it also involves coaching and mentorship and I daresay a bit of pastoral care too. Second aspect I am proud of is that most of the roles I have undertaken in the last 26 years in Banking have been new: either the role or the entire function did not exist before. Building new functions and designing new roles is challenging, often tough, but immensely satisfying. As mentioned above, my very first role in Banking was establishing a new customer analytics function which grew into a large analytics center of excellence in due course. Creating such new teams and functions that last long after I have left gives me immense satisfaction in my career.

Reflections and Advice for Aspiring Professionals

Upon reflection of my career, I wish the fresh-faced young me had known that there will be setbacks. I have not met any individual that hasn’t had a setback. Occasionally, things will be out of your control and setbacks are okay. It’s about learning how to navigate this and having the resilience to face this setback. Knowing this at the very outset would have helped! Setbacks happen to everyone, no career journey is linear.

My main piece of advice for others would be that relationships matter, and people matter. Building soft skills, such as relationship building and storytelling are invaluable for your career. I would argue that soft skills matter more than hard skills as early as five years into your 40-odd-year career. Secondly, people should also not be afraid of ‘others’ that are different. Listening and encouraging differences in opinion can challenge your own line of thinking and in turn, strengthen your own argument.  Thirdly, having respect for other individuals. People are multidimensional and not everyone brings their whole self to work. Therefore, spending time understanding and respecting people at all levels of the company will help your career immensely. Lastly, being curious and being open to learning is vital to your success. An old professor at my university used to say, “you are here not just to learn, but to learn to learn”. Pause to think about it: it is so true. You won’t thrive if you do not learn throughout your life.

Building resilience is also vital, both physically and mentally. There is no getting away from hard work and everyone has to work hard at the beginning to build the foundations of their career. Throughout this, it’s important to not neglect your mental and physical health, and especially your personal relationships. All your hard work must be for something and therefore taking the time to nurture yourself is vital to your success.

Choose roles, teams, managers and organizations that align with your values rather than pursuing short-term goals (money!). You will prosper – truly prosper – better that way.

And lastly, start saving for your pension from Day 1!