Talent Tales with Sree: The Ambidextrous Leader Who Balanced Present and Future

Arjun Mehta had always been a high-performing leader in the IT services industry, consistently delivering revenue and profitability targets. As the Head of a fast-growing business unit, he had built a reputation for operational excellence, client delivery, and financial discipline. However, as the world moved towards AI-driven automation and outcome-based contracting, he knew that merely meeting short-term goals was not enough.

The Challenge: Walking Two Paths at Once

Arjun faced a dual challenge—on one side, he had to ensure the business met its revenue and margin goals each month to maintain stability and investor confidence. On the other side, he needed to lead a transformation that would make the business competitive for the next decade. Arjun chose a unique path: ambidextrous leadership—excelling in both execution and transfirmation simultaneously.

How He Did It:

1. Operational Rigor with Strategic Adaptation: While he focused on execution, Arjun restructured his leadership team into two groups:
            • A Core Team that focused on delivering existing projects, driving cost efficiency, and improving revenue per employee.
            • A Future Team dedicated to exploring new business models, AI-driven service offerings, and building strategic partnerships
2. Parallel Planning Approach: Arjun built a dual-timeline business model—one that optimized for today while actively investing in tomorrow. His weekly reviews included both immediate financial performance and progress on strategic bets.
3. Talent Strategy for the Now and the Next:
Arjun knew that his existing workforce was excellent at execution but needed new skills for the future. He introduced a Talent Bifurcation Model, where 70% of the workforce remained focused on existing business while 30% were upskilled to digital transformation.
4. Customer-Centric Innovation:
While keeping his biggest customers happy with on-time delivery, he identified lighthouse clients willing to co-invest in future capabilities.

The Outcome: Mastering the Balancing Act
• Arjun’s business exceeded its monthly and quarterly goals for 12 consecutive quarters.
• At the same time, he incubated three new service lines that accounted for 20% of the revenue within two years.
• His people strategy ensured minimal attrition while equipping the team with future-ready skills.

Lessons from Arjun’s Leadership
1. Don’t Choose Between Today and Tomorrow—Master Both.
2. Create Dedicated Teams for Execution and Innovation.
3. Balance Revenue Growth with Future Investments.
4. Make Customers and Employees Part of the Transformation Journey.

Are you an ambidextrous leader? How are you balancing short-term business goals with long-term transformation?