Watch: Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma talks about 3 life-changing choices

Shikha Sharma is the MD and CEO of Axis Bank. Sharma, who is serving her fourth term, has decided to shorten her tenure by more than two years. Sharma’s decision came after the country’s apex bank the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) questioned the bank’s performance and its deteriorating asset quality. Under Sharma’s tenure, Axis Bank – the country’s third largest private lender – reported its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising from 0.96 per cent in March 2009 to 5.28 per cent in December 2017. Axis Bank has also been pulled up twice by the central bank for under-reporting bad loans for financial years 2016 and 2017.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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It’s not everyday that you hear from a bank CEO on how to shape your life.

Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD of Axis Bank, country’s third largest private bank, told graduating students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to wisely make three important choices including that of a life partner that will shape their lives.

Sharma was addressing the graduation class of 2017. In the convocation speech, Sharma vouched that the privileged education at IIM-A would be a formidable tool-kit. But as the students are poised to enter the real world tomorrow, success as a professional will depend on the choices one makes during the course of one's life, she said.

Quoting the fictional principal character from the famous children’s book Harry Potter by author JK Rowling, Sharma said, it’s our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.

Talking about the first important choice, Sharma said that as students step into the real world, they must answer an unasked question: “Do you want to choose the path well known or unchartered waters, unmapped territories?”

As for Sharma, more often than not, she chose the road less travelled and it has indeed made all the difference.

Life Partner Choice

Sharma, who passed out from the same prestigious institution 37 years ago, got nostalgic remembering the taste of bun-omelets she had during her stint, as she addressed the students of her alma mater from the podium on the other side.

She pointed out that the clichéd choice of a life partner with similar core values will be the single-most important choice to make. According to her, much of the joy derived from the journey of life does hark back to who you choose to share your journey with.

Sharma has married her IIM-A batch-mate Sanjaya Sharma, Former CEO of Tata Interactive Systems.

Addressing the third moral dilemma, Sharma said as one moves ahead in life, there will be a choice between taking a practical decision and doing the right thing.

“Every time you take the harder, more principled path, you add one more brick to the foundation of your character. Every time you compromise on your beliefs, you give yourself the licence to do it again. Your choices define you and society, so choose wisely,” she added.

Sharma highlighted this as she spoke of the trendy managerial “VUCA” concept -- volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

She said that we live in a world where the rate of change is constantly increasing; the effectiveness of our response strategy is increasingly uncertain; the number of variables at play is ever higher.

And how do you survive in such a VUCA world? “With learning agility. Keep learning…Growth begins where your comfort zone ends”, she said in her concluding remarks saying that the learning curve has always been her key driver.