Shanavaz K. E: Implementing Simple Yet Effective Leadership Strategies Across His Decisions To Lead His Firm
Shanavaz K. E
Joint MD
PeeKay Steel Castings(P) Ltd, the flagship company of the PeeKay Group, produces and supplies steel castings to major industry players such as GE, Cameron, Alstom, BHEL, Flow serve, and Emerson, to name a few. The firm was created in 1991 and has a $50 million annual revenue. As theJoint Director of the company, Shanavaz is presently in charge of leading it towards the next phase of growth.Here is the snippet from his recent interaction with CEO Insights.
What inspired you to venture into the oil and gas segment, and what drives you today as an industry leader?
PeeKay Steel Castings is a family-owned business, and I am the third-generation entrepreneur to manage it. Currently, my primary purpose in accepting this role is to change the business from a metal-centric organization to one that is engineering-driven. We also intended to deliver a long-term advantage to all stakeholders for this reason. Moreover, as suggested by our name, PeeKay Steel Castings is a steel production company, but
then again, as the company's objective is to add value, we decided to expand into the oil and gas business. This expansion decision was determinedly taken by the Board of Directors of PeeKay in the mid-1990s when the oil and gas industry was seeing its most rapid growth.
What are the major challenges you have encountered in your journey so far? How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
Putting together the appropriate team has been the most challenging aspect of my leadership journey.Individuals with the knowledge that is in demand would be ideal, but it might be difficult to find the right oil and gas industry experts with the required expertise.To solve this issue, we organized a series of internal training sessions for our existing workforce, during which we educated them on the important competencies.As an example, we made sure to educate our potential employees on the significance of data security and how to properly manage the company's intellectual property(IP). As an outcome of this initiative, we always have the required expertise on-site.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life? What is your success mantra?
Professional productivity requires a clean mindset and a healthy body, which is something I believe in. I devote an hour a day to selfcare activities like meditation and prayer because I feel that building a healthy and spiritually connected outlook is crucial for navigating life's difficulties. Apart from that, as members of an entrepreneurial family, we are tremendously committed to work and organization, but we make sure that work does not interfere with family time on the weekends. Because spending time with our loved ones, particularly our children, may give us
PeeKay has a solid business base in the energy, oil, and gas sector and has grown successfully in the previous two decades
What are the major challenges you have encountered in your journey so far? How did you overcome them and what did you learn from them?
Putting together the appropriate team has been the most challenging aspect of my leadership journey.Individuals with the knowledge that is in demand would be ideal, but it might be difficult to find the right oil and gas industry experts with the required expertise.To solve this issue, we organized a series of internal training sessions for our existing workforce, during which we educated them on the important competencies.As an example, we made sure to educate our potential employees on the significance of data security and how to properly manage the company's intellectual property(IP). As an outcome of this initiative, we always have the required expertise on-site.
How do you maintain the perfect balance between your personal and professional life? What is your success mantra?
Professional productivity requires a clean mindset and a healthy body, which is something I believe in. I devote an hour a day to selfcare activities like meditation and prayer because I feel that building a healthy and spiritually connected outlook is crucial for navigating life's difficulties. Apart from that, as members of an entrepreneurial family, we are tremendously committed to work and organization, but we make sure that work does not interfere with family time on the weekends. Because spending time with our loved ones, particularly our children, may give us
the motivation we need to return to work. This is how I achieve a satisfactory work-life balance.
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate, and what are the opportunities that you foresee?
People are presently gravitating more towards digitization because of global climate change concerns and the limited availability of renewable resources. And all operational approaches are being altered fromtraditional to technologically enhanced and automated. We keep up with the latest advances by using cutting-edge technology and innovative products that assist protect the environment. We are always looking for new methods to implement our plans in light of the rapidly changing market landscape.In the light of your strong experience as a new-age leader, what advice would you give to the budding industry leaders?
In my view, we should always have a larger objective in mind, and that purpose should always be crystal clear. It is also essential that your objectives align with those of your organization and that you enjoy the process of obtaining them. And as an entrepreneur, you must be aware of everything that is going on in your company and always come up with new strategies to take it ahead. When all of the company's objectives are achieved, a successful entrepreneur will experience a sense of achievement. Finally, I would encourage you to make an effort to appreciate whatever you're doing.
Shanavaz K.E, Joint MD, PeeKay Steel Castings
Shanavaz completed his Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology and later, MBA in Global Finances and Operation Management from Birmingham City University. After his graduation, Shanavaz joined his family business PeeKay Steel Castings in 1998, and he is currently serving as the Joint MD of the company
Going forward, what are the changes in market behavior that you anticipate, and what are the opportunities that you foresee?
People are presently gravitating more towards digitization because of global climate change concerns and the limited availability of renewable resources. And all operational approaches are being altered fromtraditional to technologically enhanced and automated. We keep up with the latest advances by using cutting-edge technology and innovative products that assist protect the environment. We are always looking for new methods to implement our plans in light of the rapidly changing market landscape.In the light of your strong experience as a new-age leader, what advice would you give to the budding industry leaders?
In my view, we should always have a larger objective in mind, and that purpose should always be crystal clear. It is also essential that your objectives align with those of your organization and that you enjoy the process of obtaining them. And as an entrepreneur, you must be aware of everything that is going on in your company and always come up with new strategies to take it ahead. When all of the company's objectives are achieved, a successful entrepreneur will experience a sense of achievement. Finally, I would encourage you to make an effort to appreciate whatever you're doing.
Shanavaz K.E, Joint MD, PeeKay Steel Castings
Shanavaz completed his Mechanical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology and later, MBA in Global Finances and Operation Management from Birmingham City University. After his graduation, Shanavaz joined his family business PeeKay Steel Castings in 1998, and he is currently serving as the Joint MD of the company