Endorsements

Boston, USA

David Gibbons — Executive Director Massachusetts Convention Center Authority: "I had the pleasure of working with Raghu Kale in Boston when we reflagged the historic Ritz-Carlton as The Taj Boston.

I was the incoming General Manager, and Raghu was the

Corporate VP of Internal Communications.

Corporate takeovers are like battles, they are always complex, but when it is a hotel, there are a million dimensions, and they are all moving at the same time. There is a countdown clock, and the time cannot be changed. The messaging was dynamic — we were taking an iconic Boston institution and re-branding it. The emotional equity of an entire community and their history of 75 years was in the balance. Bringing the Taj name and essence in for a landing was the challenge at hand.

Throughout the hectic last few weeks to turnover, having Raghu at my side was invaluable. No matter how frantic the moment, we always had his crystal clear vision, like a gyroscope, to keep the mission-focused. While we battled the details, he kept the message and our identity solid and succinct.

If I stick with the metaphor of battle and I was the Field Commander, then I must say that Raghu was the battalion chaplain who brought his wisdom, calm and even spirituality, to the field. Stretching the metaphor a still farther — Raghu and I had the opportunity to do some peacetime work. One of the harder tasks in a corporation is to find a solid base and then move forward on a continuum of excellence. We were both change agents. We had a great partnership and together we transitioned the property and the team of employees from the hard-edged, defined Ritz service culture to our softer, sensuous, engaging and empathetic Taj way."

Goa, India

Ajay Kumar — former VP Communications Office of Mr. Ratan N Tata (1998-2012) | Former Executive Editor of Iconic News Papers: "Raghu and I worked together on shaping many of the key internal communication modules of the Chairman of the Tata Group, Mr Ratan Tata, through the key period in which Mr Tata emerged as a global corporate leader. Mr Tata spoke to many geographies and many cultures and his communications recorded how Tata evolved from a brand hugely trusted in India to a multinational brand. It was in that crucible that the full range of Raghu's communication capabilities shone through: how he is not just a master of all the mediums of communications but how his sound grasp of business dynamics enables him to add to the leadership's insights of the key challenges and opportunities facing a company and how its employees can be aligned behind its values, vision, mission and goals.

Communication is key to aligning any company's employees behind its values, vision, mission and goals: that much is intuitive. Not so intuitive is that the communication has to be executed perfectly for it to be effective; that it needs to exploit the full potential of visual and the written medium based on digital technology, paying due obeisance to the very different rules of the different mediums; and that not everybody is the master of both technology and grammar. Even less intuitive is that a good communicator needs not just to have a working knowledge of the realities of the company's business and its stakeholders, particularly the employees, of the company's key strategic challenges and opportunities, of its complexities and the possible disruptive breakers lurking in the mist of the future; a good communicator is one who can add to the leadership's stock of insights on all these crucial aspects.

Raghu is a complete package not only for all the reasons enunciated above but, above all, because he is just genuinely a very, very nice man, with an emotional intelligence quotient to complement and match all his knowledge skills. In addressing any change management challenge, Raghu is indispensable and even in a company's rare periods of equilibrium, he is exceptional with his constant striving for excellence."

New York, USA

Raymnd N Bickson — Principal & CEO, Bickson Hospitality Group | Former CEO&MD, Taj Hotels Group: "Working with Raghu Kalé was a distinct pleasure, who reported directly to me and who I have had the pleasure of calling both a colleague and a trusted friend. For some, the power of conceptual thinking comes naturally; Raghu demonstrated an intuitive sense of the bigger picture, as well as the ability to translate abstract thoughts, proactively thinking in long-term horizons and the desire to experiment and invent new things.

Teamwork across geographies requires a mindset of engaging teams by creating an agenda that can inspire colleagues across 16 countries, five continents, 137 hotels, and four different brands in the Taj Group of Hotels. The secret tool Raghu created to achieve this was a unique rating system that was deployed to strengthen communication practices. The creation of the Taj I-Com matrix tool allowed all internal company departments to follow, identify and benchmark practices. Raghu was able to dig deeper into the organization and determine what propels the Taj Hotels brand from within. He was able to move the needle through crucial aspects of the Taj brand architecture.

Raghu laid the foundation of the quest for business excellence, based on the Malcolm Baldrige model, leading to Taj Hotels Group winning the JRDQV award."

Geneva, New York, USA

Max Henry — Former NextCorps Management team reported to Steve Jobs | former Humming Bird Leadership, EIR @ Cornell serving startup: "Raghu Kalé is one of the top five people I have ever worked with. His communication abilities, technology acumen, leadership abilities are outstanding.

I have known Raghu for many years and have sought his support in guiding startups and big companies. His help has been incredible and valuable to all and highlights his ability to help many people and projects win big quickly. Raghu builds organizational excellence in all he does using his creativity, people & leadership skills.

I'm always amazed by how his kindness and care for all he meets from janitor to Board member wins people over and delivers results. Raghu knows how to execute and is a top performer."

Dubai, UAE

Sunil Sinha — Former Resident Director (MENA), Tata Sons Ltd | Board Member, Baldrige Foundation: "Raghu has enormously helped my geography (the Middle East and North Africa) in crafting strategic communication plan for various stakeholders.

He has helped not just with marketing collateral scripted for the needs of the Tata’s footprint in MENA, but has also been

my thought partner on pertinent issues.

Raghu worked closely with me in providing unique inputs to the Malcolm Baldrige Foundation Board with his insights and more recently for critical deliverables such as ‘Celebrating 30 years of Baldrige’. His association continues to be of value to the Tata’s agenda in the MENA region. In my earlier role as Chief Executive Officer of Tata Quality Management Services, Raghu has shared valuable inputs in shaping the Business Excellence strategy for the Tata group."

Houston, Texas

Kasi Srivivasan — Former Global Head of HR, Tata Global Beverages: "I have worked with Raghu for many years. What Raghu brings to the table is his thought leadership on employee communication aligning with organizational strategy. I remember working with him on the catering business of Taj, collaborating with Singapore airlines, and how culture integration and creating a new identity was essential. Raghu brought out the essence of that strategy live through various communication channels. We also worked closely on the integration of US hotels into the Taj fold.

The task was to integrate three different cultures of three hotels — the Four Seasons hotel in NY, a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston and the Campton Place hotel in San Francisco. Taj had to take over the employees of these hotels and bring in the essence of Tajness and its values and culture. Raghu worked closely with the HR team to bring this essence to live, thereby enabling a smooth transition of cultures.

Raghu will be an asset to any leadership team that can clearly take advantage of his thought leadership."

Mumbai, India

KRS Jamwal — Executive Director, of Tata Indistries: "It has been a pleasure to have Raghu Kalé as a colleague. I believe he has made valuable contributions to the Group, where I have seen him ably support senior leadership teams in driving their vision, especially in the Taj group of Hotels, where we collaborated often.

Raghu has an excellent mix of strategic and systems thinking which helps him develop a deep understanding of the organization’s agenda and the ability to build communication pieces, programs, and frameworks that effectively cascade it down the line.

His approach to building processes and leveraging the latest in technology enabled him to excel in organizations with teams spread across the world. I wish Raghu all the very best for his future endeavors."