Name: Saurav Kataria

Title: Head of Strategy Execution

Organisation: Airservices Australia

Experienced, entrepreneurial and known leader with a successful track record and interest in:

1. Corporate Strategy Development & Execution (Building teams and Influencing senior executive stakeholders)

2. Business & Digital Transformations

3. Customer Experience & Innovation

4. Strategic Partnerships & Commercial/Business Development

5. Growth, New Markets, Merger & Acquisition (M&A) Strategy and Planning

Passionate about achieving ambitious outcomes with the resources available. Saurav's professional experience comes from senior leadership positions within Aviation, Financial Services, Consulting, Global Engineering Companies and in the Australian Army Reserves.

Saurav is passionate about social responsibility, is currently serving as an UAV Engineering & Logistics Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserves and a sessional academic at the QUT Business School and IT & Engineering School. Saurav has advised (as Member of the Board and an Independent Advisor) several boards (NFP and Profit Oriented), to help define their growth strategy, financial sustainability and develop an implementation roadmap.

Australian Security Clearances & Industry experience: Aviation, Superannuation, Wealth Management, Insurance, Banking, Energy (Generation, Transmission, Distribution & Retail), Utilities, Oil & Gas, Defence, Resources & Government (Federal & State).

Industry Recognitions:

1. World of Drones Conference Speaker (Regulations & Safety Aspects - Innovations & Disruptions)

2. Real Estate & Property Development REAL TECH Speaker (Innovations & Digital Trends)

3. QUT - Engineering & Business Faculty Speaker

4. CANSO - Innovation & Use of AI in Aviation and Air Traffic Management (ATM)

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Saurav's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Balancing between people’s needs, wants, desires and aspirations with business interests.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

Personal experiences across my service as a Defence Officer, Team member, and other aspects of life, led to understanding / balancing the responsibilities of a leader. I have always wanted to make a big impact, and I believe I can do more good if I am leading a larger group of people across the globe.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

Personal time

Work

Exercise

Family time

Sleep

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

Make sure to make time for yourself !

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

N/A - Personally I get more from directly speaking to people and learning from experiences

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Plan and the stay on course. Growth and career are not a straight line graph !

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

There is no single strategy or story that will motivate everyone.

Learn to understand your team members, peers and seniors, then adapt accordingly.