The Way He Leads PwC Malaysia — Dinner with Sridharan Nair, Managing Partner of PwC Malaysia

Sometimes the most meaningful and inspiring conversations happen over casual meals. The Time Auction Blog is a snippet of our meetings with people who have found passion in their lives and career.

“Be nice and be kind to other people.”

In a world you can be anything, be kind. At Time Auction Kuala Lumpur, we had dinner with Sridharan Nair, Managing Partner of PwC Malaysia. With over 30 years of experience in audit and business advisory, he reminded us to always discover the best in others, which brings out the best in ourselves in return.

Meet Sridharan Nair!

Sridharan Nair is an alumnus of Universiti Malaya and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with a Big 4 firm in London where he specialised in the financial services sector. He now leads an organization of almost 3,000 employees in PwC Malaysia where he strives to create a work culture that people are able to work flexibly without compromising on their performance and quality of work.

Positivity is contagious! ️

“You can either look at a glass as half empty, looking for issues and problems; or you may look at a glass as half full, looking for chances and opportunities.”

Sri shared with us one of the most important qualities in a good leader — positive and optimistic thinking. Emotions and attitudes are contagious, and we have to be mindful that how we could influence our colleagues and work environment. It’s not naive to being positive in a seemingly negative situation is actually not naive, but as reiterated by Sri, and positive leaders could, in fact, uplift everyone’s morale and productivity.

Change our thinking and we could change the world together.

The superpower he’d like to have…

Sri shared with us his favorite superpower that he hoped to gain overnight — the ability to read people’s minds. Being able to connect with people is the core of leadership, which takes him a lot of time to learn.

“I want to be able to read people’s mind which would save me a lot of time!”

In fact, it’s not difficult to see that Sri is a leader who looks out for his colleagues. Under his lead, PwC Malaysia introduced the initiative to implement flexible work arrangements (FWA) to retain key female talents a decade ago. Following its success, more excellent retention strategies are rolled out, thanks to Sri and his team. The Work-Life Plus Programme (WLPP) enables employees to spend their time participating in engaging activities that facilitate personal and professional growth as well as quality time with family.

His ground-breaking initiatives not only win the hearts of his fellow employees who have described him as a “great champion”, but also inspires senior management alike, making FWA available for all, not just working moms at the firm.

A challenge for the day — Be nice and kind ️

When asked about the message he would like us all to take home with, Sri suggested one word — kindness.

“It’s just about being kind and being nice to people.”

Despite his busy professional life, Sri volunteers much of his time as regular speakers, panelists, and moderators at various conferences and forums in Malaysia on topics such as leadership, corporate governance, current economic issues, and human capital. Sri believes in the value of being articulate to share and communicate ideas with others.

Sri reminded us all that no matter where we are standing, we are never too important to be nice to others. Everyone we meet could possibly be fighting a battle we know nothing of. Be kind and be nice as always.

Thank you so much, Sri, for raising 64 volunteer hours and all the volunteers who dedicated their hours for charities such as UNHCR, EPIC Homes, Dignity for Children Kuala Lumpur and more!

Special thanks to Time Auction Kuala Lumpur’s City Sponsor — Fave!