Founder & MD of Suburban Diagnostics, Dr. Sanjay Arora, is a known leader and icon in the diagnostics and healthcare industry. Graduated from Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital and with a special interest in Cytopathology, Dr. Sanjay Arora trained from the esteemed Tata Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital, USA. Dr. Arora’s humble demeanor and humility have led him to be a constant student of leadership who is learning to better himself every day.
Over 27 years ago, his brainchild, Suburban Diagnostics, was founded to realize his dream of delivering world-class diagnostic services to the people of Mumbai, which has now forayed into being one of the most trusted and renowned names for precise testing in the Indian diagnostics industry.
Since Suburban Diagnostics’ inception, Dr. Arora has expanded on his dream of offering cutting-edge diagnostic services and has ensured adherence to stringent process and global pathology standards.
Dr. Arora was recently honored as the Influential Leader of New India 2021 by Teammarksmen in association with CNN News 18, held in Mumbai on the 20th of August, 2021 for his exceptional leadership, especially when the pandemic presented several operational and financial challenges.
While receiving accolades for his work, he credited his success to his team, who stood as front line warriors in the country’s fight against the virus. Furthermore, he thanks every patron for maintaining their trust in him even in the pandemic’s critical times.
With over two decades of experience, Dr. Sanjay Arora is a change maker, philanthropist, and knowledge bank for aspiring leaders. We bring you some lessons he learnt first-hand through his journey:
- Build a team that is better than you: You can’t do everything yourself. It is crucial to build a team that is empowered and where you can delegate. People with diverse backgrounds and qualities will always find ways to challenge your thinking. While delegating and empowering, inspect what you expect. Set the right expectations with the team and keep a check to ensure they succeed.
- You will not grow in your comfort zone: If you are good at something, it tends to become your cocoon since you are your best while doing it. Other things, which you might not be so good at, tend to make you uncomfortable. To grow, you need to embrace that discomfort because that is where the areas for growth are.
- Have backup plans: While planning, we focus on making the grounds so mighty that everything we build on it will stay strong and standing. We tend to ignore the possibility of things going wrong. It is a sign of excellent leadership skills to be prepared for contingencies. Backup plans ensure that things don’t stop working in any eventuality.
- Dream Big: Everything needs a dream, an inspiration. Find that! Then there is a series of perspiration (hard work), dedication (commitment and perseverance – there will be challenges, but one can’t give up), innovation (how to work smart and not just work hard), celebration (have fun and enjoy what you do!) – and back to inspiration. This is a continuous cycle of evolution.
- Relationships matter: One of the most impactful lessons; building relationships with contemporaries, customers and audience, investors and partners, and your employees and team; they are the reason behind growth and success. Continue to invest in these relationships and build a sense of purpose amongst yourselves. You may build many long-lasting friendships from them.
- Flexing your emotional intelligence: This will help you foster a culture of open communication, enable you to understand the motivations and worries of your team, and breed trusting relationships that will help your organization reach its strategic business goals. We always speak about EQ, but it is a skill we need to practice and display at all times constantly.
