Making Professional Life More Personal

Can you tell us a little about your background?

Father, husband, son, brother, friend, lecturer, CEO, and a proud Sri Lankan. I started as a radio journalist doing a socio-political show as well as news reading and news reporting. While studying combined mathematics in high school at Royal College Colombo, my ambitions were to one day become an aeronautical engineer and a pilot. But, upon realizing that these career choices would not allow a family-oriented lifestyle, I shifted my focus towards the media industry.

During school, I was recognized as a champion debater and public speaker, magazine editor, and chairman of the drama society. Even though the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, my entrance into the media industry was quite accidental. During that time, it was hard to imagine that it would become my full-time career. I began my journey as a radio journalist in 2001, and for the past 13 years, I have been privileged to be a part of Sri Lanka's largest and most diversified privately held conglomerate—The Capital Maharaja Organization—which also owns Sri Lanka's number one media network MTV & MBC.

I started as an executive producer and host of Good Morning Sri Lanka. Moving forward, I was given the opportunity to hold key positions in sales and marketing in addition to events and activations. I was also involved with digital media as well as heading radio stations and TV channels. I spent three years in India managing a radio station and a media web portal and looking after the overall operations of the Noble Broadcasting Corporation.

My experiences and the support of my family have made me who I am today. I am especially thankful for the support given to me from family, friends, teachers, colleagues, clients, my mentor, and especially the chairman of the Capital Maharaja Organization, Mr. Rajamahendran, for his inspiring and relentless leadership.

What are your overall thoughts about the program?

If you want to be a better leader, attend PLD. I received my first MBA from Victoria University Australia over a decade ago. MBA's are generally designed for students with 2 to 3 years of working experience. However, the PLD is the most innovative executive MBA equivalent for executives with 10 to 15 years of experience. PLD also deals with cross-functional aspects of leadership, which I believe is quite essential in the modern corporate sphere.

We all converse eagerly about change—in our organizations, in our society, and in the world—but if you're a leader, it's very important to become the change and to lead by example. PLD teaches that we need to be the instrument of change, and becoming that instrument is about having not only a vision and knowing the strategy, but also about having the courage to lead. In the classroom, we learned from case studies—more than 80 across various industries—that dove deep into organizations to understand the workings of the entire company. Even though it is impractical to tread on the same scenarios as such organizations, we were able to deduce the most suitable plan of action for critical phases.

More importantly, the faculty consisted of dynamic personalities. They were not only academics, but also consultants from renowned organizations across the world. In addition, participants were given the opportunity to be both teachers as well as students. By playing both roles, we had the opportunity to challenge and be challenged by more than 150 top executives from nearly 50 countries, representing different ethnicities, different languages, and diverse industries. As a result, we had the opportunity to mutually educate each other. While the program spans a little more than a year including Module 5, where participants receive alumni status, it is the start of a lifelong journey that involves learning, building a network, and helping each other.

What did you think about the program's format?

The program format helped me have a broader understanding of the global marketplace. I emerged from PLD with confidence in leadership, cross-functional skills, and strategic insights to drive meaningful change, innovation, and growth.

The faculty and the administration team were outstanding and exceptionally supportive. We learned about organization, culture, innovation and leadership from the faculty chair, Professor Michael Tushman. The congruence model he taught encouraged us to dive deep and understand the root causes of problems and the importance of aligning people, process, structure, and culture. Professor Gunner Trumbull's lectures on major economies such as Germany, France, the U.S., China, and Korea were outstanding. We examined Nigeria's transformation and Singapore's mid-life crisis. We had the privilege to research while receiving expert analysis on how these global forces grew and about making critical decisions at the opportune time. I also had the opportunity to learn about leadership and corporate accountability from Professor Rohit Despandé. His concept of "3 lenses" was an impactful mindset and catalyst for personality shift. The power of negotiation and influence by Professor Kathleen McGinn was simply impeccable. Accounting and financial reporting by Professor Eugene Soltes focused on corporate misconduct and fraud and how organizations design cultures and compliance systems to confront such challenges. Strategy, microeconomics, and game theory by Professor Yao was likewise enlightening. Additionally, we learned about core marketing, consumer decision-making, pricing, adoption of innovations, aligning sales and strategy, and brand building from marketing guru Professor John Gourville. We were delighted to have Professor Gary Pisano teach us about international competitiveness, corporate growth strategies, and organization innovation. In fact, we were privileged to be his last batch of PLD students. PLD was an amazing experience because of its cross-functional course format. Even the way the HBX session was structured was simply amazing. The world is changing, and so is the way we teach and learn.

Did you find value in the level of interaction with faculty and other participants?

Definitely. The PLD program was not just about learning—it was about sharing and being present. As we went through the cases, my personal leadership coach guided me towards identifying my errors and realizing the course of action required. After Module 1, there was a survey that required feedback on us from 40 different individuals from our own network of peers, clients, subordinates, and senior management. When I arrived back on campus for Module 2, I received the gathered feedback about myself. It's unusual to have access to this type of critical feedback, and it was extremely useful in helping me realize my strengths and weaknesses. It was much more than just a performance appraisal, which we usually go through at work. With the help of my personal coach and my living group, I was able to identify and work on areas that needed improvement. My living group consisted of seven talented people from different countries and different cultures all working together on cases. We also took part in a daylong training session about leadership and being present. The experience was truly transformational.

What is it like to host Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

It's a life changing game. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire revolves around knowledge and people, and it was a great experience. As the host, I needed to do a lot of research and in the process I learned a lot. The show follows the same format all over the world, but in Sri Lanka, we also took time to focus on participants' unique backgrounds and stories, and in the process we were able to change many lives. For example, there was a student who wanted to earn a bachelor's degree but did not have the means to facilitate the course fee. He participated in the show with his share of dreams, and he got an opportunity to make his dreams come true. It's a game, but it's also educational. The contestants had the opportunity to educate themselves, and it gave me the opportunity to create a difference in someone’s life.

The best story from over 200 of your shows?

There were so many, but I recall one particularly emotional episode! One participant, who was a schoolteacher, told us about one of his students who lost his writing hand while was working at the teacher's farm. It was right after high school, and during the time the student was waiting for his university entrance results. Ultimately, this student gained admission to the university and was on the verge of starting his higher education. The teacher told the audience that while he didn’t have the resources to send this student to college, this program was a great opportunity to extend support. We were all cheering for him to win, but it’s a game and has to be fair for everyone. Fortunately, he won 500,000 Sri Lankan Rupees and decided to walk away with that rather than compete for the grand prize of one million. He was so emotional that he was in tears.

If you weren't planning to get into media, what drew you to that field?

Passion. The reason I decided to sink my roots into the media industry was because it provided me with a great platform to connect with and help people. In Sri Lanka, we had almost three decades of civil war that ruined so many lives. I wanted to find ways to help people through various projects. The media industry provided me with the right tools and a platform to reach those who are in need of a voice. That's what I love to do—make a difference. When I look back at Harvard, I see an institution that educates leaders who make a difference in the world. And I believe that resonates with my ideologies. I believe in being the change. I want to take what I learned at HBS back to Sri Lanka and lead change in business, in society, and eventually within the country.

Has PLD helped you advance your career back at your company?

PLD helped me change the way I look at things. When I applied to PLD, I was the director of business development at MTV & MBC Networks. Upon starting Module 1, I was appointed as the CEO for one of our independent start-ups. Now, as a graduate of HBS, I am heading two subsidiaries of the group as CEO. PLD gave me the courage to lead, create opportunities, and challenge circumstances.

Tell us your involvement with Harvard Tamil Chair?

As an Ambassador of the Harvard Tamil Chair, I am extremely proud to be a part of this venture to establish the Tamil sangam professorship at Harvard University. The Tamil language is one of the oldest written traditions in all of Asia and boasts a rich body of literary work dating back 2,500 years. Tamil has been accorded with a prestigious recognition as one of the seven classic languages (Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, Hebrew, Persian, Tamil, and Chinese) and is one of the very few that had survived all the way through to the modern world. Currently, Tamil is the 20th most commonly spoken language by over 100 Million people around the world, with vibrant literature for over 2,000 years. This initiative will expand to world-class teaching and research at Harvard.

Is there anything else you want to say to someone who’s considering the program?

If you want to be an instrument of change, begin with your family and then expand to your society, your organization, and your country. This program will teach you the fundamentals to becoming an instrument of change. A leader needs to understand organizational architecture, culture, strategy, micro- and macroeconomics, accounts, and financial reporting, the power of influence and negotiation, innovation, decision-making, marketing, and more—and the PLD successfully covers them all.

The program provides a personal leadership coach to help you understand your strengths and weaknesses. In addition, you will get the opportunity to work with colleagues and your living group, and these individuals will also serve as your advisors. HBS is a world where everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. When you are surrounded and challenged by 150 top executives hailing from different industries around the world, you have no choice but to become a better leader. As Professor Tushman said, the world needs more leaders… Now, we all have a responsibility to be the leaders who make a difference in the world!