Alumni Profile: Naren K. Gursahaney of Tyco Engineered Products & Services
Today: As President of Tyco Engineered Products & Services (TEPS), Naren has responsibility for a $7.0B segment of Tyco International Ltd., that includes five divisions: Flow Control, Electrical & Metal Products, Fire & Building Products, Infrastructure Services, and Thermal Control. Naren is also President of the Flow Control division, a $2.5B global leader in the manufacture, sale and service of industrial valves and controls. In his previous position at Tyco, Naren served as senior vice president of operational excellence for the company.
Naren K. Gursahaney
At Booz Allen and Before: Naren spent nearly four years based in the firm’s Cleveland office, leaving in 1993 as a Senior Associate. Prior to joining Tyco in 2003, he spent ten years with General Electric, where in his final role he served as President and CEO of GE Medical Systems-Asia. During his career at GE, Naren held senior leadership positions in services, marketing and information management within the Medical Systems and Power Systems divisions. Naren has also worked as an engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corp. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia, Darden School, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University.
Did your experience at Booz Allen serve as a foundation to your current position? While I can’t draw a direct line between what I did at Booz Allen and my current responsibilities, I can say with certainty that my experience at the firm clearly provided a great foundation for me. It’s hard to beat the analytical rigor and the discipline of data-driven analysis and the incredible work ethic you learn in the Booz Allen environment; it prepares you for a lot of the challenges you face in the business world.
Since Booz Allen, I have been fortunate to work for two great companies, spending 10 years at GE and the last 3½ with Tyco. In both companies I’ve been put into new situations, industries and businesses. While I didn’t have the knowledge and experience of many of the people I worked with, who grew up in these industries, I have been able to draw on the analytical frameworks and tools I picked up at Booz Allen to help me assimilate data to support key decisions we had to make.
One of the big changes in the business world over the last several years has been the adoption of quality and improvement tools like Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing. The analytical background you get at Booz Allen positions you very well with companies that have adopted these tools and methodologies.
What specific skills did you learn at Booz Allen? I learned how to analyze situations and develop hypotheses. And most importantly, I learned how to prove or disprove those hypotheses with data. That basic approach applies anywhere.
I’m an MBA looking at opportunities. Would you recommend that I consider Booz Allen? I’m asked that question all the time—and I always strongly recommend Booz Allen. At the same time, I counsel people to “know what you’re getting into” should you decide to join.
Go in with an understanding of why you’re there, and do so with your eyes wide open. You’re going to work with some incredibly talented people, so go in with the expectation that you’ll learn from them.
Go in with the expectation that clients will expect to see you. That means you’ll travel and you’ll work hard. The work ethic you learn at Booz Allen will prepare you for the rest of your career.
Are there any favorite Booz Allen moments or experiences that stand out? What jumps out is the breadth and the exposure I got to a lot of different companies—each with a set of different challenges and issues, and a different corporate culture. At Booz Allen, I was part of a couple of strategic sourcing assignments and a couple of others that involved supply-chain management. I worked with a law firm on asbestos litigation in an engagement where on the surface, you wouldn’t think there would be any operational opportunities, but there clearly were.
What I acquired at Booz Allen was exposure to a lot of different functional areas and industries. That goes to the root of something I always tell people who are considering a consulting career: I believe consulting gives you three or four years of experience for every year you spend in the field. That was certainly my case at Booz Allen.
Any advice for people just launching their careers with the firm? First and foremost, differentiate yourself by working harder than anyone else around you. There’s no silver bullet. You have to work hard to get rewarded and progress in your career.
When assigned to an engagement, always be sure to look around for other opportunities within that client. You make a name for yourself by selling a follow-on piece of work or an adjacent engagement while you’re there. I was always proud about maintaining high billability at Booz Allen; it was an indication that I was contributing.
Be sure to network. In my four years at Booz Allen, I got to know partners in the different offices. In the end, you’re tasked on assignments because you’re available, but more importantly because people know you and want your contributions. Just as in corporate environment, you need to sell yourself everyday.
profile posted September 20, 2006
