“The Obstacle Is Indeed The Way” – Mr. Vinay Gupta, Global Finance Director, Group CIO, Deutsche Bank


As part of the Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Amritsar, I invited Mr. Vinay Gupta – Global Finance Director, Group CIO, Deutsche Bank to be one of the panelists for our annual Finance Conclave – Pariprekshya. In our initial conversations, he shared, “conclave and all is fine, but Tarun I really want to do something for the students, I want to guide them to make a wise career decision, can we have a casual interaction session before the conclave where I can be of some help to these young aspirational minds, please see if it’s possible, you don’t get a chance to mentor future leaders of the country every day.”
Though in the past 20 months I have invited and interacted with dozens of senior industry professionals-mostly CxO’s, his commitment to mentor the student fraternity was remarkable. It was then I decided that someday I’ll definitely catch up with him again to know more about him on a personal level and to discover what makes him so humble even after achieving so many laurels in his professional career.
Vinay started his journey in Deutsche Bank as a Project Lead for MI/ Finance Tools implementation and undertook various challenging roles in India and UK to finally become one of the senior-most executives. Reflecting on his 12-year long journey in Deutsche Bank, Vinay says “The beauty of Deutsche Bank is: there are always more green pastures to walk on, you will always find new challenging opportunities, not only in terms of career but also in terms of learning and development.” “In fact, in the last 12 years I did not feel the need to update my CV”, he said jokingly. Before Deutsche Bank, Vinay also worked in companies like GE Capital, Tata Steel, and JP Morgan. “I always love to work for a place which is very open in its culture and is backed up by its strong values. Where talent is nurtured to contribute not only to the success of the individuals but also to the success of the organization.”, he added.
Referring to the paralogism that only MBAs from top B-Schools make it to the higher most positions in the industry, Vinay says, “ It is not important where you have done your education from, yes many times it helps you to get an interview letter but the kind of thoughts you bring in, the kind of values you have as a person and your risk taking ability makes the difference in the workplace”. Moreover, he says, “What I look for in a candidate in my team is the assertiveness and the zeal to contribute. Functional skills can be taught easily but the difference will always be the soft skills one possesses, the kind of positive attitude one has, and the growth mindset which is quintessential in anyone’s career”.
There is a widely accepted belief that consistency and gradual improvement is the key to do well in life and to achieve mastery in any profession, however, I believe that there is always this ‘one big incident’ from our past, or from our education that shapes our personalities and the way we look at things. Responding to that, Vinay says, “If I were to recall one such incident from my time, it will be when I failed the Costing exam in a professional qualification I was pursuing. Instead of repenting over it or thinking of how this happened, I decided to enroll myself for the CA examination in order to push myself harder. Later, I got an all India rank in the CA examination.” Further, he adds, “This particular incident changed the way I look at failure and has shaped my career more than anything. I figured that the obstacle is indeed the way and that every disaster brings us an opportunity.”
But sometimes having an opportunity is not enough, we need someone to look up to in order to capitalize on that opportunity and to make the most of it. For Vinay, that was Anil Kumble. “The kind of demeanor he has and the challenging journey he had which helped him become one of the world’s best spin bowlers and later the captain of the Indian cricket team is nothing less than inspiring. His undisguised thought process and his approach of taking each game at a time offer a lot to learn from.”
Vinay also shared that apart from his office work, his passion is to help young leaders by interacting with them which in turn also helps him to do well in his mainline career. He says, “I believe, the other person is always superior to you in some way irrespective of his designation. There is always something to learn from students.” His final words to all those who are reading this before starting their management career are “always look for new opportunities, keep stretching yourself, never settle, and above all – appreciate failure”
From the interaction I had with Vinay, I have personally drawn three learnings-
First, staying humble and helping others has a greater impact than one’s designation. Second, having a good education is not bad, but certainly not enough, it’s the great interpersonal skills and empathy for others that matter most in one’s professional life. And third, if you don’t fail, you certainly can’t succeed. The trick is to always move forward.
What were your learnings? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below 😊
For me , the greatest learning was staying humble and keep pushing yourself to achieve whatever you aspire to. Very engaging article though.
Thanks Madhu.
Really interesting.
Failure indeed is a great learning experience in most cases: personal & professional.
Thanks, Saloni.
Reading and deriving actionable insights from articles has always been my cup of tea, and this article certainly lived up to my expectations. Great Work.
I am glad Ashish that the article lived up to your expectations 🙂
Nice piece Tarun.
Thanks, Omkar 🙂
Very well written Tarun. I really appreciate the thoughts shared. Certainly, failure is just a step in a ladder to success.
Thanks, Shubhra, Really appreciate your feedback 🙂
Great insights. Success is indeed hidden in the small steps rather than the big decisions
Absolutely right, Gaurav.
Very well written
Thanks, Medhavi 🙂
Beautifully written 🙂 Success begins the moment you start embracing failures.
Thanks, Mathew. Glad you liked it.
No matter the dichotomy between being ambitious and humble, the latter helps one go a long way. Well written Tarun!
Thanks, Abhijit. Really appreciate you for taking your time out and sharing your feedback 🙂
Well said. We must persist and challenge ourselves to do better every day.
Right. Thanks, Vaibhav ,
After reading this i can say that being humble and always focuss to stand up inspite of so many obstacles is the most important thing …
I am glad the article helped you reaching there 🙂
An inspiring read…very aptly described the realities and paved the right direction to pursue for budding and aspiring enthusiasts like us…the one and the most important learning or take away from his talk is that everything depends upon our attitude and mindset which is then driven by our inner consciousness/awareness about ourselves. The one who works over it, irrespective of the institute he comes from…will definitely do wonders. Thanks tarun for posting this talk for us…
Thanks, Agum for sharing your learnings and feedback. Really means a lot coming from you 🙂
That one incident in our lives, is indeed the turning point which shapes our future. Excellent work.
Thanks, Apoorv.
Well written Tarun ,there always a trade off in the path of success
Indeed.
Action indeed speaks louder than words. Nicely put.
Right, Sanyam.
Great read. Really inspiring
Thanks, Sarth.
Great Article Tarun. It is indeed a great talent you have to filter out the most relevant and exciting stuff from the lot.
Thank you, Mayank.
Excellent piece of work.
Well done Tarun
Thanks, Shubham.
Every aspect is almost covered. Beautiful piece of work.
I am glad you liked it Akshay.
Very well written Tarun, Indeed “Success is not final; neither failure is final”, Its all about courage to always look for new opportunities that counts, as Vinay sir has mentioned.
Courage indeed keeps you going. Thanks for sharing your feedback Rohit.
Very well written
Thanks, Vikram.
Great food for thought!!
We fall to pick ourselves up.
We absolutely do. Thanks, Tanveer.
Good work tarun nicely articulated!!
Thanks, Rahul.
True !!
😀 thank you, Aman.
The article is so engaging and brings up the unknown side of learning and growing to many of us.
Thank you, Sandeep.
Excellent read. Inspiring. 🙂
Thanks , Shreyasi 🙂
Indeed a great article.
Thanks, Sanchit.
Really nice thoughts penned down by you Tarun. Vinay is such an inspiring person for all the young aspirational leaders of tomorrow.
Damn right, he is. Thanks, Prateek.
“Keep Stretching,never settle and appreciate faliures” a perfect combo for success and a reminder that our best is yet to come.Well said and Very well written Tarun..!!
One of my favorite lines as well Sawan. Thanks 🙂
An inspiring read.
Thanks, Ankit.
Very well written!!
Thanks, Subhodeep.
A well written piece.It rightfully captures the essence of insights and learnings of guest lectures in our college.
As an IIC member, I am glad Jitu you can relate it with the Guest Lectures in IIM Amritsar. 🙂
Nicely put
Thank you, Arvind.
A very interesting read Tarun. The approach to life, success and failure is definitely deterministic of the personalities we transform into. Also, Mr Vinay is truly an inspiration for all the aspiring and ambitious leaders of tomorrow.
Thanks, Sanju. Vinay is indeed one of the thought leaders of our time.
Very nice Article Tarun !
Thanks, Ravi
Keep working and make your failures the pillars for your ultimate success!
True.
Nice insights Tarun
Thanks, Rohan.
Great piece indeed. Vinay is such a gem of a person.
Thank you, Vipin. I know right.
A very good article describing myself and also bringing a very good message out. Thanks Tarun
Thank you so much, sir, for sharing your feedback here. Means a lot coming from you.
A lovely piece indeed Tarun. Reminds me of our tuition teacher.
Thanks, Dinesh. Yes, I know you are referring to Dua Sir 🙂
“if you don’t fail, you certainly can’t succeed. The trick is to always move forward.” For me this was the key learning.
I am glad John this article was helpful for you 🙂
Very well written buddy..n learning for me “it’s the great interpersonal skills and empathy for others that matter most” 🙂
Great Anurag. We all can learn and grow from the professional success of Mr. Vinay.
Great insights and yeah one should appreciate their failures and keep up the positive attitude all your way.
Thanks, Pradeep.
Great Insights.. keep sharing such thoughts.
Will surely do. Thanks, Vibhor.
Very well written Tarun. Indeed we can learn from anyone and everyone and achieve success with consistency and persistence.
Agreed.
Wonderful reading Tarun !
Upgrading and updating yourself is the key to success.
Thanks, Adesh ,
Even I believe, resilience is the strongest of virtues one can possess because it can coexists only with lot of other positive virtues.
When I hear stories of how people bounced back at a particular situation in their life. It shows how optimistic, strong willed and deterministic they are.
Beautifully summed up article Tarun. Way to go!
Well said Dhanushan. And thank you so much 🙂
This reminds of my favorite quote that keeps me going, it ain’t about how hard you hit, its about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
oh wow! Indeed a great quote Komal.
That was one captivating read. I learnt that everyone has something to learn from everyone yet should know how to pragmatically approach with that. Though it would be nice to have someone to look up to.
I am glad the article was a fruitful read for you Pooja. Really appreciate you sharing your feedback here 🙂
Really an inspiring read Tarun.
Thanks Indrani 🙂
My learning – “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Thanks for sharing those inspirational words brother.
Well done bro, Vinay’s humbleness is worth admiring.
From one Tarun to another, thanks 🙂
Great Sir..It was great working under a leader like you in the initial stage of my career. You are a true inspiration and a great mentor.
Great read!!!
I am glad you liked the article Palak. Vinay sir is indeed an inspiration.
Well done Tarun! This article wonderfully reflects the learnings we gathered from the insightful session by Mr. Vinay Gupta.
Vivek, yes even during the conclave he shared some of these inspiring words. And later, I was fortunate enough to conduct an interview with him to understand his thought process and his journey.
Very well framed and written, Tarun. Always a pleasure to read.
Thanks, Rahul.
Very Well Penned Tarun! The article contains sound and practical advice.
Vinay has been an inspiring leader. He is one-of-a-kind Boss!!
Thank you, Poonam. I am glad there were some takeaways for you 🙂
Very well said. Failures can be turned into opportunities with our courage and determination.
Thank you, Shweta 🙂
Nicely put!
Thanks, Chandru.
Interesting piece of work,well articulated covering all aspects of the lecture!!
Thank you, Sushant.
Very good Tarun
Thanks, Savyasachi 🙂
Insightful thoughts being shared by Vinay during the session. It was good to know your views on the financial industry and about building a professional career in general.
Nice piece Tarun. It is great to work with you in the same team for our institute.
Same here, Chetan.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Quite informative. Good one Tarun.
Thank you, Panchsheel.
Well written, Tarun
Thanks, Vishal for sharing your feedback.
A well written and informative article.
Thank you, Siraj.
Great article Tarun. And I too think that Failure is not the opposite of success but it is a part of success. We shouldn’t get disappointed by failure rather we should be motivated by it.
Thank you, Siwan. And yes failure is indeed a part of success.
Absolutely enthralled, Tarun. The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.
Thanks, Ayan for sharing such inspirational words.
Great Work Tarun. Beautifully written. Keep it going
Thanks, Priyanka.
It’s simple, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”. Apt for this article.
Thanks, Dusa.
Thank you Tarun for beautifully summing up the session and sharing these valuable insights.
Saikat, yes even during the session he shared some of these inspiring words. And later, I was fortunate enough to conduct an interview with him to understand his thought process and his journey.
I really like the way you’ve written this article. Great readIndeed, staying humble always helps personally and professionally. Great read. Keep writing such inspiring articles, I get so much of positivity and motivation from these kind of articles. Kudos.
Thanks, Punit. I am glad that the article was able to inspire you.
Great work, Tarun. Good to see you writing such inspirational tales.
Thanks, Lakshit.
Vinay failed an exam and then topped the CA examination. That gave me goosebumps. Amazing Vinay, you showed us anything is possible.
Yes, it really does. Thanks, Rishi.
Very well written Tarun. In fact, I can relate this article with my life as the motivation to achieve something came to me only when I faced back to back failures and the joy of an achievement after failures was unparalleled for me.
Secondly, the empathy for others does work because behind every professional (however his reputation may be), there’s a human being first and we must look for that human being in any kind of relationship with others. Keep up this good work, dude 🙂
Thank you, Manoj. I am glad that the article was relatable for you 🙂
Very well written tarun
Thank you, Sandesh.