Life is a continuous journey towards improvement,” believes Alok Shankar. “Growing up, my aim, like that of most children, was to pursue a professional course and for me, it was engineering. After graduating, I decided to study management. Once in the thick of a working career, the overriding ambition was to excel and give my 100 per cent to every task and to never stop learning. That journey still continues.”
Shankar has recently taken over as hub head of Uninor’s Bihar and Jharkhand operations, and is responsible for the company’s overall performance in this region, including strategy, profit and loss, and driving business growth. He welcomes the challenges associated with his new portfolio. He says, “The key challenge before me is to differentiate the brand in the very crowded telecom space. It is vital to be relevant to our target subscribers and to create a preferred brand.”
To achieve this, he is banking on his more than 15 years of work experience, including international experience in the field of sales and distribution. He has worked in multiple markets such as the Far East, the Middle East and India.
“My experience includes managing profit centres with overall responsibility for sales, operations, finance, IT and HR. I have worked in start-ups and high-growth markets with dynamically changing market conditions,” he says.
Shankar recounts his time in the Middle East as his most memorable experience. Reminiscing, he says, “I have spent a lot of time in the Middle East. Of the many assignments that are dear to me, one was helping set up the first organised retail chain dedicated to selling mobile handsets in Dubai. This retail chain then expanded to the entire Middle East.”
Apart from prior experience, he relies on a participative management style to meet his work challenges. “I believe in an inclusive style of management for day-to-day tasks,” he says. “Besides, I am a people’s person. Among my strengths, I count my ability to lead, inspire and motivate people to deliver their best.”
Going forward, he believes that voice will continue to be a key growth driver in the sector. “However,” he adds, “data and valueadded services will increase, driven by subscribers’ need for information, knowledge and entertainment.”
Shankar keeps himself busy outside the boardroom too. In his spare time, he enjoys sports. “I play most racquet sports including tennis, badminton, table tennis and squash. I follow almost all sports religiously. I am also a keen aero-modeller and enjoy building aircraft models,” he says.
