Aspirations- A different ball game today
There was a time, not too long ago — till the 1990s — when the Indian pharmaceutical industry took pride in grooming its leaders from within. A Medical Representative could aspire to become a Zonal Manager, a General Manager, even the Managing Director, through sheer dedication, field knowledge, and long-term association with the company. Back then, leadership wasn’t imported — it was grown. Today, that reality has drastically changed. Every leadership position — be it in Marketing, Sales, HR, Production, or Logistics — is filled by lateral hiring from other companies, often those with identical product portfolios. The same faces rotate across companies every couple of years, bringing with them templated strategies, the same customer lists, and unfortunately, very little emotional investment in the teams they inherit. Is it because organizations no longer believe the same shepherd can lead the goats he has nurtured for 25–30 years? Or is it simply cheaper to bring in someone from outs...