Crossmentors Insights- Our July Newsletter

Hello folks,

Good to catch up again! We have witnessed an eventful July- a trade deal signed with the UK, lay-offs announced by some tech majors like Microsoft and TCS, ChatGPT launched its Agent mode, and the US threatening higher tariffs on India! So, challenges abound!

Let’s start with our newest offering – Masterclasses! At Crossmentors, we believe the most powerful learning comes from those who’ve lived it. Our Masterclass Series is a curated experience led by seasoned CEOs, CXOs, and transformation leaders who’ve navigated growth, disruption, reinvention, and crisis firsthand. These sessions don’t just inform—they transform. Each masterclass blends real-world insight, practical frameworks, and hard-earned wisdom to facilitate strategic clarity and business impact. This is leadership in action!

Importantly, these Masterclasses act as accelerators complementing our high-trust mentorship journeys, designed to provoke reflection, unlock leadership capacity, and create tangible momentum for personal and organizational growth.

Check out all our masterclasses here: Masterclasses | The Crossmentors

Our pick this month is this summary from a round-table of Board directors and senior leaders in India on the various challenges that organisations are facing and some ideas on managing those, where one of our mentors Giridhar Sanjeevi also participated. Of interest, here are the 5 leadership capabilities they feel will be important in future- Adaptive intelligence, moral imagination, calm urgency, purpose anchored boldness and the open-minded quotient Traversing Turbulence: Insights from Indian Boards on Leadership and Governance in a Complex World | Russell Reynolds Associates

Here is an article from Centre for Creative Leadership that talks about coaching and mentoring programmes and some essential features for success Coaching & Mentoring Programs to Develop New Leaders | CCL

Some of our mentors have also shared some wonderful insights, through their blogs on  Insights | The Crossmentors

Pranjal Sharma, economic analyst, author and ex-editor of Bloomberg talks about the challenges in measuring digital capability and articulates an alternative option A New Way to Measure Digital Capability

Giridhar Sanjeevi, Ex CFO of Indian Hotels, shares his perspective on communicating with investors and outlines some good practices as this can be a true gamechanger in these times of change and trust deficit Investor Communication

Srikant Gokhale, ex CEO of Landmark Retail and currently a Prof, and also the curator of our Insights page, looks at the trend of pure play online retailers also embracing physical stores in what he calls as  The Great Retail Reversal

MVN Rao, ex CHRO of L&T Hydrocarbon and Chief Learning Officer L&T muses about the challenges that organisations face in getting the most of action learning in our leadership development programmes Leader Development

Meet our mentors

This newsletter also gives us an opportunity to get you up close with our mentors - understand a bit more about them and what mentoring means to them.

Vivek Kamath has had a stellar career in the healthcare industry having worked in Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, MSD and finally as the MD of Abbott India. He now is a Senior Advisor to a PE firm, and also a passionate mentor. When you ask him about his career, he says it has always been at the intersection of People, P&L and healthcare, and the one thing that he truly values is working with people and developing them.

In his words: ‘As you grow in your career, there are a few occasions where you need to make a quantum shift- for instance becoming a P&L leader for the first time, or becoming a first time CEO. It is in times of these quantum shifts that mentoring makes a big difference – as the mentor has traversed that journey, can bring in the right insights and counsel in a supportive way. I have experienced that in my career- mentors truly help you reach that next level’

Vivek is also a passionate farmer in Maharashtra- and of course there is a strong analogy between farming and developing people. He says ‘All my life I have learnt a lot from people, as much as I have helped develop some of them. To me, people are the heart of any business’  

You can read about all our mentors here: Mentors | The Crossmentors

We would love to chat with you on how our mentoring led leadership development, that is focused on making an impact through real job challenges, can be integrated into your development initiatives.

Do reach to us at connect@thecrossmentors.com if you want to learn more,

With best regards

Team Crossmentors