LEADERSHIP CENTRE - Key Persons


Dr. Supriya Dhongde

Job Titles:
  • Practice Head - Leadership Development
Dr. Supriya is an assertive individual who worked hard to achieve outstanding accolades in her field. In all her endeavors, she strives to become a better and evolved individual is the apt description of her. She operates with a belief that everyone is unique and has the potential to transform and succeed. Her warm and witty disposition eases others, and they find it easy to strike a chord with her. Her PhD in Psychology, where she worked on four relevant variables - Assertiveness, Emotional Intelligence, Self-esteem, and Psychological Well-being, brings sound knowledge of human behavior to her. Working on these four dimensions has also helped her extensively to understand how individuals can be facilitated and coached for success. Dr. Supriya is ACC from the International Coach Federation (ICF) and has conducted multiple coaching sessions across hierarchies. Her clinical background as a psychologist helps her to be an effective coach. She is an avid listener and through her powerful questions invites coachees to take a deep dive to reflect on core issues. Her other certifications in this field are 16 pf and Virtual Assessment Center (VAC) from PSI UK Global.

Mr. Balaji Chandrakumar

Job Titles:
  • Practice Head - Leadership Development
Balaji Chandrakumar is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of diverse work experience in Sales & Marketing, HR Consulting, and HR leadership positions. With a strong background in HR, Balaji has been at the forefront of HR leadership in India and across South East Asia for renowned companies such as Etisalat in India and Goodhope Asia Holdings, a Singapore Incorporated company in the food industry. His extensive experience in these roles has enabled him to effectively facilitate business objectives through people initiatives, whether it be in start-up environments, ramp-up scenarios, or business optimisation settings. Throughout his HR career, Balaji has played a leadership role in various areas of HR, including organisation design, leadership hiring, development & succession management, change management, and the establishment of policies, procedures, automation, and shared services. Moreover, during his consulting days, he had the opportunity to collaborate with India's top-notch companies, supporting their people and performance initiatives. His expertise and insights have helped drive successful outcomes and foster a culture of excellence within these organisations. His journey in HR training and consulting began with NIS Sparta Ltd, where he received certifications in multiple programs and led the regional business team in the South India. Prior to that, he gained valuable experience in regional Sales and Marketing roles at Sandvik Asia Ltd. Balaji Chandrakumar holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, a Master's degree in HR, and a Postgraduate degree in Management. Additionally, he has achieved the esteemed designation of Chartered Fellow of CIPD.

Mr. K. Ramkumar - Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director
  • Managing Director
  • Founder of Kautilya
Mr. K. Ramkumar is the founder of Kautilya Leadership Centre, an organisation dedicated to building world class thoug ht and practise in the domain of Leadership Consulting, Research and Development. Kautilya Leadership Centre rejects the exclusively style and skill based approach to understanding and developing leaders. It has its proprietary model on Leadership Development which believes that Leadership is a personal resource which we all have. It is by making individuals aware of their leadership resources and the enablement or limitations it places on their leadership abilities, we can develop leadership abilities. This is a personalised model. Mr. K. Ramkumar retired as the Executive Director on the Board of ICICI Bank. He was on the Boards of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and ICICI Ventures. Prior to his retirement he was the President of ICICI Foundation, ICICI Groups CSR arm.

Mr. R. Muralidharan

Job Titles:
  • Practice Head - Leadership Development
Muralidharan (Murali) has over 33 years of experience in the Banking Financial Services and Insurance Sector. Over the last decade, he has held CEO/COO / Top Leadership positions across institutions such as ICICI Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and L&T Financial Services. His long tenures have been with the country's largest Public and Private Sector Banks - State Bank of India (9 years) and ICICI Bank (13 years). His wide experience spans Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Branch and Digital Channels, Strategy, Technology, Operations and Transformational Projects in Customer Experience some of which were industry-first initiatives. At ICICI Bank, he was a part of the team that set up the Bank in 1994 and went on to become General Manager - Global Operations Group. His transformational work in Dhanlaxmi Bank where he was the President and Chief Operating Officer won him The Asian Banker Award in 2012. He retired as the Group Head at L&T Financial Services (the Financial Services arm of the Engineering Giant Larsen & Toubro) where he led the Operations, Technology, Credit Mid office and Corporate Social Responsibility across the entire spectrum of Infrastructure and Project Finance, Retail Lending and Rural Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management and Insurance businesses. Murali was the member of the Group Executive Council, the Apex Body of the group. Through his career, Murali has been a part of Strategic and Leadership committees and has held Board Positions in the business and not for profit organizations. He was also the Vice-Chair of Customer Service Excellent Foundation. Murali has been a regular speaker in industry fora and facilitated sessions in leading institutions such as NIBM, TMTC and the like. Across the institutions he has served, Murali has actively been engaged in building and facilitating capability development, leadership development and functional training. Murali also has worked extensively with talent council of large organizations.

Mr. V. Swaminathan

Job Titles:
  • Practice Head - Leadership Development
Swaminathan (Swami) has over 31 years of experience in the Banking & Financial Services domain & the office Automation Industry. The last 26 years of his career has been in Senior Leadership roles across various business divisions of the financial services conglomerate - KOTAK.

Ms. Aparna Nair

Job Titles:
  • Practice Head - Leadership Development
Aparna, one of the founding members of Leadership Centre brings in two decades of experience. Since the inception of Leadership Centre in 2016 she has created value for client organisations through consulting in areas of organisation development, culture, talent management and performance management initiatives. She brings in value for individuals and institutions through her facilitation of leadership programs for young, middle and senior level executives. She has contributed to the institution learning through design and developing content from first principles. Aparna draws from her previous stints to generate value from being a first-generation entrepreneur who has successfully worked with reputed names across industries and from roles essayed in large institutions. She is an accredited trainer from SMR, Malaysia, a qualified user of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator with extensive experience of the OPQ (Occupational Profiling Questionnaire developed by Saville and Holdsworth Ltd.) and application of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to businesses. Her understanding of business comes from the hands-on exposure she has had in field sales, team management, credit operations, project management and branch operations. She has worked in areas of learning and development, performance management, human resource planning and instructional design for e-learning as well. Aparna has held key responsibilities in establishments like ICICI Bank and the erstwhile Blue Dart-FedEx prior to starting her consulting practice where she engaged with organisations like Godrej & Boyce, National Collateral Management Services Ltd. (NCML), ICICI Prudential, Citi WAI, Wealth Advisors (I) Pvt. Ltd., WNS, I-mint (erstwhile) and Thyssen Krupp. At Leadership Centre some of the major industries she worked with include pharma, banking, insurance and financial services, retail, electronic payments, auto, etc. The client list includes industry leaders in the respective industries groups. Aparna is an MBA in Marketing and has graduated in Commerce.

Sue Kazor

Job Titles:
  • Master
  • Trainer