From telecom trenches to corner offices: The Airtel warriors taking over India Inc.

“The experienced soldier,” Sun Tzu wrote in his Art of War, is highly effective because “once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.”

That is largely due to the benefit of tactical expertise acquired in the trenches. Like clockwork, the muscle memory kicks in, the adrenalin surges, and decisions are quick, pragmatic and taken with a killer instinct.

This is why corporate war veterans are so highly regarded. They’ve been there and done that. In high-competition, high-growth sectors where one misstep can end it all, they make excellent strategists.