When corporate excellence becomes the norm, supremacy is defined - not just in numbers and strategies - but in subtleties. Standout performance on revenue, profits and shareholder returns is the baseline of the annual ranking of India's Best CEOs 2016. But what they do beyond that is the litmus test of their and their companies' character and resilience.
So, whether it is Sunil Duggal's tightrope walk running the family-owned Dabur professionally or C.P. Gurnani's people management skills in buying and integrating numerous companies into Tech Mahindra or Venu Srinivasan cranking the innovation machinery at TVS Motors, the bar just got higher and higher in this year's ranking.
As much as Indo Count's Anil Jain's life after corporate debt restructuring will leave you captivated, equally Rajnikant Shroff's potion for successful global acquisitions at United Phosphorus will absorb your imagination.
Why did the eminent jury (see page 100) stick its neck out in picking Irfan Razack of Prestige Estates, belonging to the much maligned real estate sector? Or, for that matter, what tilted the scales in favour of Gautam Adani of Adani Ports? And, in a first, how did brothers Sudhir and Samir Mehta of Torrent Power and Torrent Pharma make it to the podium? This package promises to satiate every bit of your managerial curiosity about running such successful enterprises. Read on.