Sardana has always maintained that it is important to keep both the means and the end in view while striving towards one's goal; that the use of appropriate means is as important as achieving final success.
"I strongly believe in the importance of maintaining an ethical conduct at the workplace. I do not have much respect for people with dual personalities, who like to put on an act. I believe in working, and working hard. And if things do not go the right way, I don't hesitate in calling a spade a spade," he says.
Sardana's penchant for discipline shows in other ways too. In his attitude to work for instance. He makes sure that no file stays on his desk for more than 24 hours. If he senses that a meeting could be unfruitful, he does his best to avoid it as he would rather use that time constructively. He also likes to keep benchmarks high. "I believe in not just meeting targets, but in overshooting them," he says.
This indeed has been the case. During the five years that he worked with North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), he successfully led the start-up power distribution utility on a high growth path. He was instrumental in establishing benchmarks for the company – a job that came quite naturally to him. He introduced innovative means to stop power pilferage and bribery in Delhi, and towards that end, had to fight to change the mindsets of both consumers and staff.
The results showed: NDPL achieved a significant reduction in aggregate technical and commercial losses. This won the company the national award (silver) from the prime minister for meritorious performance for two consecutive years (2004-06).
What has been the inspiration for his resolute commitment to high standards and good business ethics?
He says he has been greatly inspired by the stalwarts he worked with at NTPC, BSES and Tata. From them, he learnt that passion for work, aggressive team play, shouldering responsibility and a go-getter attitude in the face of obstacles are key to gaining victory.
Sardana attributes most of his beliefs to the training he received at an impressionable age. An alumnus of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi, he went on to study engineering at the Delhi College of Engineering. He later obtained a postgraduate degree in cost accountancy and a postgraduate diploma in business management. He also completed a management programme from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Sardana joined NTPC as a trainee engineer and soon rose to become a senior manager. In 1994, he moved to BSES where he became vice-president and head of corporate business development and the EPC business group. In 2002, he moved to Tata Power Company/NDPL, where he led the company's business development as its chief executive officer and later as its managing director. He joined TTSL in August 2007 as managing director.
Sardana explains his criteria in moving to a new organisation. "Three things have guided me to shift jobs. One, I have aspired to be part of organisations that strongly believe in doing ethical business and achieving corporate success without compromising on values and standards of transparency. Two, to work with a company that uses its success in business to touch communities at large, to make a visible difference to the common man. And three, to be with a team that enjoys transformation and change."
A crucial aspect of any job, Sardana observes, is whether or not it offers enough opportunities to learn. "The moment the learning tapers off, I have wanted to leave. That's why I kept changing departments at NTPC, just to learn new things."
As a leader of a rapidly expanding service provider, Sardana observes that though India is witnessing explosive subscriber and revenue growth – with the government's targeted subscriber base of 250 million by the year 2008 having been already achieved – India can still be termed as being at a nascent stage of telecom development. There is a lot more scope, which when tapped, will take India to a leadership position in the telecom space.
"In my belief, competition is healthy and necessary and will, in itself, be a solution to all kinds of problems like regulatory bottlenecks," he notes.
At the same time, he appreciates the progressive policy moves initiated by the government. These include universal access service licence norms and the calling party pays regime, as also the recent announcements for dual technology use and the introduction of number portability.
Taking stock of the sector, he says, "In spite of rapid growth, operators have thin profit margins, and these are forcing them to look beyond voice-based services. Be it landline or mobile telephony, non-voicebased value-added services (VAS) are being banked upon as key enablers to activate the falling revenue lines of operators," he explains.
Going forward, he expects VAS, 3G technology and mobile internet to drive telecom growth in the country.
As for TTSL, he feels that the hallmark of the company is its customer orientation. "This fact has been proven by our being recognised in various industry surveys as an operator who has achieved increasing customer satisfaction over the years," he says.
A clear road map is vital to be able to overcome regulatory bottlenecks, he believes. An important role for Sardana at TTSL is that of a change manager. Bringing about transformation is not an easy job; he has to be on guard to not show any impatience when faced with mediocrity or status quo responses. At the same time, he has to continue to devise innovative ways to encourage development and growth.
To get there though, he has to be constantly on his toes. He reaches his office at 9.15 a.m., spends some time planning and allocating the major assignments of the day. From 11 a.m. to 7 in the evening, he runs a series of meetings to assess progress on all pending matters and any follow-up action required. Some remaining paperwork and checking of emails received often hold him back after office hours. Coming back home at 9.30 or 10 at night, he continues to finish up work way past midnight.
But his family takes his involvement in his work very spiritedly. He makes up for his absence by spending time with the family on the weekend. His wife Kavita and he enjoy dining out on weekends. Other than this, considering that spare time is a huge luxury, he says all he can find time for is reading.
Looking back at the past one year at TTSL, Sardana says he has been left with "lots of memories – some fond and some not so fond". His target now is the successful completion of a 900-day plan launched by TTSL. "The objective is that by March 2010, we position TTSL among the most trusted and valued telecom companies in India."
The methodology is to tap markets that promise a significant share in mobile telephony. The emphasis will be on data products, rural telephony and fixed wireless solutions. Reducing the cost per minute to match competitors and having a comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation are also on the agenda.
Sardana says that he is pleased with the progress made so far in TTSL. "It is encouraging to note that our gross subscriber additions have been consistently crossing the 1 million per month mark, and our market share in some key geographies has been constantly moving up," he says.
Providing affordable and dependable telecom services to the people and setting benchmark standards in terms of delivery and customer satisfaction, he reiterates, are elements of the business that drive TTSL. Finally, for Sardana, leading an ethical business and giving back to society remain personal sources of satisfaction. 