Lowe is great at retaining its people: Piyush Pandey

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, O&M India and South Asia

Claim to fame

Famous for his iconic work on brands like Fevicol, Asian Paints and Cadbury, Pandey is equally well known for being mentor to some of the industry's brightest minds and leaders

The lesson

Piyush Pandey's name is always on the list of people who have been most influential in shaping the Indian advertising industry. Not just from the perspective of helping build some of the country's biggest brands but also from the lens of cultivating a culture and nurturing the advertising business's greatest asset: talent. It's no wonder then that Pandey considers a company - be it in the ad business or not - that can keep its best people happy and not inclined to defect to other pastures, an admirable competitor. "The biggest lessons to learn are from companies who have held on to their people. Lowe is great at keeping its key people. Not that we (Ogilvy) have a problem with that. But one must know what they do to keep them."

He's also learnt a great deal from the Tata Group's Ratan Tata, for the way he handled succession planning in one of India's biggest conglomerates and led the seamless transfer to the next generation of leaders. (This statement comes with another disclaimer, considering the industry's and journalists' penchant for speculating on his retirement schedule. Pandey, however, is not ready yet.) "But," he tells us, "these issues are important."

(As told to Delshad Irani)