IPN Spotlight: Alim Hirani (General Manager/Managing Director at Hilti India)
Alim Hirani has been General Manager / Managing Director of Hilti India since October 2015. He is responsible for the strategy and long term development of the Hilti organization in India. He began his career with Hilti in 2004 in the United States and he has held various diversified roles in sales, finance, strategic marketing and general management. Alim has lived in Houston, Dallas, Tulsa and in San Francisco where he was Divisional Head for Northern California, Oregon, Washington & Alaska.
In 2015, he was appointed as General Manager / MD for Hilti India and relocated to New Delhi for this role. He has always been instrumental in developing and implementing strategy in alignment with Hilti’s mid- and long-term goals. Alim has majorly contributed towards steering the business results through the execution of strategic initiatives while fostering the development of organizational talent. He holds a Bachelor in Finance/Marketing and an executive MBA from the University of Houston.
What skills have helped you in your career?
Empathetic leadership, passion for people, relentless pursuit to deliver results, listening more talking less, being curious and being patient yet persistent.
What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Don’t get dishearten by failures. Failing is learning and it is part of the development process. Take every moment positively and don’t be to hard on yourself when things don’t go right. If you are not making mistakes, you are making the biggest mistake.
What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
1) Read – I travel alot and as a result find time to read a lot in the air. I recently read Hit Refresh, by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. It’s an authentic masterpiece about the importance to stop what we’re doing, rethink, re-energize, & recalibrate
2) Social media platforms – I believe social media if utilized correctly can be a huge learning platform to continuously learn and develop
3) External stimuli – once a year I make it a point to engage in an external conference or executive education to gain different perspectives and stay relevant. The world is changing at such rapid speed and it’s important to try and keep up. It’s very easy to get blinders on and begin to see the world from your viewpoint
4) Mentorship – Leadership can sometimes be a very lonely job and it’s important to have someone to give you feedback and that you can reflect with from time to time
What is next for you in your career?
I have had a very simple policy of not worrying about what is next. I believe in focusing on doing the role you are in, doing it well, developing people and delivering results. As long as I am personally growing, having fun and having the opportunity to have an impact and difference in people’s lives, I am happy doing what I do. When the time is right and if I am ready, the organization will give me a new challenge.
What advice would you offer to others?
1) Set your own benchmark on what success looks like – don’t let others define your personal journey
2) Have a mentor and be a mentor – I truly believe that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want
3) Don’t forget to give back – when you give back (in any form) and are a contributing member of civil society, I believe you always receive much more than you give
4) Discipline and focus are underrated and boring, however, they are cornerstones for success
Krish Dhanam said it best – “Plan w/attitude, prepare w/ aptitude, participate w/ servitude, receive w/ gratitude, & that should be enough to separate you from the multitudes.”
Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Building high performing teams
• Career advice
• Sales leadership
• Job placement
• Strategic Marketing
Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Alim Hirani
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