Talent builder

Inside his fifth-floor office in Hyderabad's HiTec City, Hari Kumar is busy trying a putt. No, this avid golfer is not playing at work. "I am normally putting or drawing on the white board whenever I am thinking," says Kumar, who oversees the operations of four businesses of Deloitte US in India.

Though Kumar hails from Kerala, he did his schooling and graduation in the US. "I have a US passport," he says. In his 14 years of consulting, Kumar has been an entrepreneur for five years, owning a specialised management consulting firm, eWaken, which he later sold to join Deloitte US.

He says his biggest goal is to develop local Indian leadership and to help turn his "wonderful" managers into leaders. "When you focus on building leaders from within you not only avoid the need to bring in lateral hires but can also raise employee morale and cut down attrition," he says. Where does Kumar see himself in five to 10 years from now: "Some day, I want to head a large publicly-traded company."

Hari Kumar, 37, Partner & MD ,Deloitte US in India

• EDUCATION: Chemical engineer and MBA.
• EXPERIENCE: 14 years; consulting and leadership experience with around five years as an entrepreneur.
• 'AHA' MOMENT: His five-year-old company, eWaken, being named by Oracle Corp as its 'partner of the year' in 2002.
• TOUGHEST CHALLENGE: Initial years as an entrepreneur. In particular, meeting paycheck deadlines.
• MANAGEMENT STYLE: Empowered delegation. Does not micro-manage.