INTERVIEW: VENKAT BALANTRAPU
By
Vishal Bhidu
Venkat Balantrapu hails from a finance background boasting of a huge experience spanning across the insurance industry where he is currently the COO at IOGA in Mauritius. He wears many hats from being an expert in the insurance sector to a book writer and columnist where in this interview he discusses the shift towards embracing personality development and as a coach, on how he strives to help transform lives. He has also served on the panels of the Kenya Institute Of Bankers, Madras Management Association, India, NSE, Mumbai, Wagons Learning, Pune, and IRA Coaching, among others.
- You have a rich career in the banking and insurance sector spanning from India to Africa and Mauritius. Can you share your journey into the financial services sector, how do you look back at your rich career and the global exposure spanning over 40 years, and on what helps drive profit in the financial services sector?
My professional career kicked off in the mid-1980s in India and armed with a background in the private sector, I forayed into the financial sector as a banker before embarking on a long and fulfilling global career in the general insurance sector.
I have always been open to change and ready to grab every professional and career challenge that came my way. I must say that the credit goes to the sports person me in me when I quit my well-secured public sector job in India during the year 1998 to take up a new and bigger challenge in the African continent just before the start of the millennium. Making the shift by jumping from a monopolised sector in India to a liberalised insurance market in the African continent and adapting swiftly was my first giant leap.
The growth mindset that I imbibed has led to my empowerment while ensuring that I secured both exposure and experience in living and working across jurisdictions such as Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, and Mauritius.
The financial sector, especially insurance in each of the countries I worked is unique in its own respective ways. Everything varies, right from regulations, market practices, and competition, to the insurance needs of the society and market size, among others. The fact about being in the different countries gave me a rich insight and understanding of the financial sector coupled with its significant contribution to economies across nations.
2. You are currently the COO at Indian Ocean General Assurance Limited, Mauritius. How have you witnessed the changes unfurling in the insurance sector from India to Mauritius, owing to the shift in digital and would you say insurance in the financial sector is well equipped to grapple with challenges such as digital, encompassing AI?
The insurance industry in Mauritius is laid on a strong foundation and it’s been growing steadily for a long time. The Indian Ocean General Assurance Limited (IOGA LTD) is a 52-year-old company that has weathered every storm while sailing smoothly and successfully.
This is my second stint across the insurance sector on the island after a gap of almost a decade. The insurance industry has changed remarkably in this time, especially the way it has grown in covering almost every need of the insured. The local insurance sector despite being very small in size as compared to the Indian market has been able to rise well to help meet challenges thrown at it.
Despite an increase in terms of industry players, it still needs to tap a large section of the market to create more awareness of insurance products. The Financial Service Commission (FSC) has successfully ensured that the insurance industry here operates systematically and is well-organized and regulated while ensuring the industry’s significant contributions to the economy. Today, the insurance industry can cater to every segment of the economy by providing complete financial protection.
Yes, the industry is well equipped and has evolved digitally to help ensure giant strides, especially in this AI era with no looking back. The industry has been able to very smartly capitalise on this technological evolvement.
3. What led someone with such a huge experience in the finance sector to dabble into professional and personal transformation in coaching senior corporate executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and students to help them achieve leadership and master skills?
I am a certified High-Performance Coach cum Speaker (Leaders & Professionals), focusing on performance transformation globally, especially in India and various African countries.
Having been involved in L&D and capacity building of colleagues and other industry stakeholders for over a decade, I became more passionate about adding value and making a difference in the lives of people around me to help support their personal and professional transformation.
I moved back to India for almost a decade, upskilling myself and earning enough credentials through innumerable certifications as a trainer and transformational coach while continuing as an insurance trainer, consultant, and executive.
4. Do you think that today’s global leaders are well equipped to deal with changes across the global market and what role transformational leadership can play in helping them to hold steam and weather storms, be it personal and professional?
Today’s leaders are the most equipped to handle every change and challenge occurring in the global market. But what is important is they should realize there can always be Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity in our day-to-day lives. Did we ever expect or anticipate the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic? We have seen how it caught the whole world unaware.
This is the exact reason why inner transformation or change is a must. Sometimes in life, we never know what lies around the corner. It becomes a dire necessity to handle any situation that we often grapple with and is often not in our control. This is where inner transformation helps to direct us towards our productive best, be consistently successful, and become what we want to be in our respective lives, emboldening our dreams.
5. You offer several training courses such as Limitless Insurer, Unstoppable Executives and Future Leader. How did coaching happen in your life and how such courses can help support executives to achieve their goals in the face of several challenges in today’s world?
As mentioned, I have been a sportsperson all along, playing cricket, table tennis, badminton and carrom, among others while writing on international cricket. I had a chance encounter with golf in early 2002 where the game has taught me a lot in life, particularly in addressing life challenges and how we can wriggle out of each one of them successfully. Most importantly, it taught me how we can transform from being ordinary to extraordinary professionally as well as personally in our lives on a regular basis.
Every person is most capable and unique when it comes to talent and skills. But one area where they all need support and guidance is transformation. This is where I add value by helping them, be it corporate executives or students who are our future leaders to understand the self, break their self-imposed limitations to come out with positive beliefs, achieve all their objectives in life, refine their decision-making skills and draw a success blueprint for the rest of their career and life.
6. Can you share with us what Quality Service Awareness Institute, India offers to prospective clients and its broader objectives?
The Quality Service Awareness Institute was set up in India to transform many a life and career. I branched out initially as a trainer where the role of the latter aims to help acquire new skills or help improve on one’s existing skills where the focus is on capacity building by enhancing their skill sets.
The Institute conducts various training and transformational programs, in particular transformational coaching programs including a few certification programs. To enhance the global reach, the programs and certifications are available online and are accessible at a very reasonable and affordable price.
7. You have also written books such as Winsure Your Dream Life”, ‘Prompt Responses’, ‘Stop Pleading, Start Leading’ and co-authored several other books. How did you zero in on the book’s themes and to what extent your rich experience spanning across diverse roles such as an insurance professional, transformational coach, career coach and counselor, and management trainer has helped shape the books?
My first book, “Winsure Your Dream Life” focuses on my journey and how I overcame every obstacle and helped transform my career, enabling me to live my dream life. The second book, “Prompt Responses” contains my very special 100 poems. These poems are all themed on life, inspiring positivity. My third book, “Stop Pleading, Start Leading” is an assortment of my take on life, career, leadership, and transformation, which is offered as a free e-book.
Corporates and individuals keen to achieve professional peak performance or transform their lives can get in touch on my website www.coachvenkat.com and by email at venkat@coachvenkat.com. I also offer free services for corporates across areas such as A complete analysis and report of insurable corporate risks and needs; Leadership/Career/Performance transformation programs; 12 weeks of online programs Online Leadership Mastery & Career Growth Masterclass Series.
