A reserved person, Rajeev Singh takes his time before making his decisions. But once he has made up his mind about something, he will go all out to achieve his target. This is one trait that is common to most successful CEOs, an ambition that Singh nurtures deep in his heart.

Small origins can't stop a person from striking it big. This is very true in the case of Rajeev Singh. Born into a middle class family in Bhopal, MP, he has traversed the country, courtesy his father's transferable job. When he graduated as an electrical engineer in 1991 from a regional engineering college in Bhopal, he made up his mind that he would move to a big city where he could achieve his dreams and ambitions.

This decision brought him to Mumbai and he joined ESAB Industries. After sometime, Mumbai became his home away from home and he could not think of moving from there to any other city. This is why, when he got the opportunity to join Philips he immediately lapped it up. He completed his MBA from Mumbai while working with Philips.

In 2002 he joined Canon, as the Regional Manager for West. He went on to head the printing business at Canon. By then he decided that New Delhi too offered a lot of scope for growth, especially in the IT peripheral business that he had chosen. This is why he shifted to New Delhi in the year 2003 and joined Samsung in August 2005.

Rajeev Singh, hEAD-Volume Business, Samsung India

Education Electrical engineer from Bhopal and MBA from Mumbai First job ESAB Industries Best-known qualities Integrity, respect for others and willingness to learn Immediate goal To help his channel grow and grow Samsung's revenues along with them Fond of Watching movies, reading fiction and spending time with his family Favorite adage Always take calculated risks and seek chances to make things better

Marching ahead
After having worked for some of the blue chip companies operating in India, Singh believes that the only way forward is to learn. "If you are open to learning,
you can go much beyond your capabilities and actually add value to your self confidence," he said.

Having worked with the reseller community from day one of his career, Singh believes in cultivating the reseller community in a better way. "I always believe that every dealer is different and so I work with them on a personal basis. This way I can take care of their personal strengths and weaknesses accordingly," he added.

He also believes in development of the channel community by way of letting them move up the value chain. "There are people in the channels who always look forward to going beyond just selling the boxes. However, they don't know the road ahead, they don't know how to look for better finance options. So I try to help them in this regard and this way they also respect me," he
explained.

Making friends along the way
Taking a personal interest in his channel partners and peers has helped Singh make a lot of friends in the IT community. Moin Mushtaq, Head-Retail and Enterprise, Motorola, remembers Singh as a very balanced and intense individual. "We used to work together when I was in Canon and we are still very much in touch with each other. We meet up often whenever we find time and discuss various things whether it is on a personal or professional front," he recalls.

Other people in the industry too equate Singh with good decision-making skills and an excellent person to rely upon. Even his competitors have a good word to put in for him, which speaks volumes on the impact he has made on people throughout his career.

Yet another aspect of Singh that is known and appreciated by all is his determination to achieve any target he has set his mind upon. And this is not just true in his professional life. Personally too, Singh has managed to make several life-changing decisions, with his sheer determination.

One good example of this quality is his milestone achievement of losing 15 kgs in 40 days. And he managed to do this without taking any professional help. Instead he relied on a strict diet schedule and working out religiously to achieve this result.

"It was just my personal determination to reduce weight. And I didn't go to any doctor for a crash course on diet. As I am an avid reader, I read a lot about weight reduction and mostly controlled my diet. As a result I was able to reduce 15 kgs in 40 days, which is not an easy task at all," he commented.

An affair to remember
There is a romantic side to Singh, which is seldom noticed by people he interacts with. Very few people are aware of the fact that he married his childhood sweetheart, Anjali. And the cherry on his love story is that he got engaged to her at the nubile age of just 19 years and got married when he was 22 years old. Talk about sticking to commitments!

While at home, Singh unwinds by watching Hindi or English movies, listening to romantic music. He tries to stick to his habit of working out in the gymnasium as often as is possible. He is also an avid reader and loves non-fiction. At present he is reading 'The world is flat' by Thomas L Friedman.

ZIA ASKARI

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