Arjun RaoChief Strategy Officer · Essays & perspective

Field notes / Arjun Rao

Chief Strategy Officer · India · Global perspective

Dispatch 01 / India · Global perspective

Strategy2 min read

The portfolio question beyond each business plan

An enterprise can approve individually persuasive business plans without creating a coherent portfolio.

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Portrait of Arjun Rao
Arjun RaoIndia · Global perspective
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Open to Board appointments · Advisory roles · Speaking invitations

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The work behind the notes.

Explore the career →

  1. 2020 — Present

    Chief Strategy Officer

    Aldermoor Group

  2. 2016 — 2020

    Vice President, Corporate Strategy

    Fairhaven Holdings

  3. 2010 — 2017

    Partner

    Ashworth & Lyle Strategy Advisers

  4. 2005 — 2010

    Corporate Development Manager

    Meridian Consolidated

The journal

Further reading.

  1. 02

    Portfolio2 min read

    Scenarios should reveal a decision

    A set of future narratives is useful when it changes how a leadership team acts today.

  2. 03

    Scenarios2 min read

    Resource allocation is where strategy becomes visible

    Priorities that do not change budgets, leadership attention or capability investment may remain statements of intent.

A leadership conviction

Strategy should make a consequential choice clearer. I examine assumptions, alternatives and capability demands, then help the organisation connect its chosen direction with capital, ownership and a disciplined plan to learn.

Portfolio reshaped
₹6,200 Cr
Exits, entries and partnerships
New growth businesses
4
Incubated to independent scale
Strategic partnerships
15
Across three continents
Strategy horizon
2030
Approved by the board, funded and tracked

Beyond the page

The record behind the perspective.

Recognition

  • Strategy Leader of the YearCapital & Governance Quarterly · 2024
  • Deal of the Year — PartnershipThe Corporate Development Awards · 2022

In conversation

  • “Making the portfolio choices most boards postpone”Capital & Governance Quarterly · 2025
  • “Scenarios the board can actually use”The Boardroom Review · 2024
  • “Episode 115 — Strategy is a choice, not a deck”The Leadership Ledger podcast · 2023

Formation

  • MBA, Strategy & FinanceWestbrook School of Management · 2004
  • M.Phil, EconomicsKingsgate University · 2003
Turned our strategy from an annual document into a set of decisions we actually made.
Olivia GrantChair, Meridian Consolidated
The full record ↗

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Write to Arjun Contact page

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