Industry leaders reflect on leadership in times of chaos, disruption and volatility

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Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital; Praveen Someshwar, MD and CEO, USL & Member, Global Diageo Executive Committee; Shailendra Katyal, MD, Lenovo India P Ltd, and Site Leader, Lenovo Group, R. Ganesan, seasoned corporate leader, in conversation with L.V. Navaneeth, CEO, The Hindu Group. at The Hindu Huddle, in Bengaluru on June 5, 2026. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

At the 45-minute session titled ‘The Architecture of Leadership: Designing blueprints for a volatile world’ was moderated by L.V. Navaneeth, CEO of The Hindu Group. The panellists including R. Ganesan Senior Vice President, L&T; Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital; Praveen Someshwar, MD & CEO, USL and Member, Global Diageo Executive Committee; and Shailendra Katyal, MD, Lenovo India, shared their experiences on how they reflected the leadership in times

Opening the discussion, Mr. Ganesan emphasised the value of a structured approach: “I activate what I call ‘pause, reflect, and then act. It’s a regression of wisdom acquired over time, and it works,” he addressed.

Ms. Sharma added that listening to stakeholders is critical.“Dashboards and analytics are abundant, but leaders must hear the noise of the industry. What keeps CXOs awake at night is understanding that noise,” she observed.

Speaking at the session, Mr. Katyal stressed clarity and focus. “Chaos is always the short term raising its hand. You must drown out the noise but keep an eye on the North Star. Fewer, bigger, better decisions matter most,” he said and also warned against middle management bottlenecks. “Create pilots, fail fast, and explain the ‘why’ to the frontlines. Radical simplification and clear communication are essential,” he remarked.

Mr. Katyal also cited Lenovo’s supply chain challenges stating that “tariffs change daily. Memory shortages doubled laptop prices. We had to prioritize commercial over consumer markets. There’s no perfect solution.”

Mr Ganesan recalled the COVID‑19 crisis stating that L&T mobilised more than 120,000 skill