Shail Jain

About Shail Jain

I have long held close the belief that human potential can be unlocked to unleash great things. This belief arose during my teen years, when I came across a book by Kahlil Gibran called The Prophet that changed my worldview and spurred intense internal growth. A few years later, I read another book, this one by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore; it, too, led to introspection and personal development. By then I knew: my life\'s mission was to give others what these authors had given me — access to one\'s full potential.My journey brought me from India to the United States at 21, with an elite engineering degree and $7 to my name. It took 300 rejections before I got my first “yes” and started working full time in my industry.As a professional, I looked at, listened to, and read about the world. I came to believe that it is possible to create a wholesome business — one that does good and does well, ultimately serving its employees, customers, and community. That is what I set out to do.It starts with a focus on employees. We spend time identifying our employees’ unique skills, customizing their roles, and providing ongoing training. Doing so leverages their talents and provides them the opportunity to learn and grow to their full potential.Having respected, valued, and fulfilled employees leads to having respected, valued, and fulfilled customers. The result is close, long-term partnerships with customers who we know, and who know us and trust us to work in their best interests — to help them reach their full potential.With customers who do well, we do well. And that provides us with the capacity to contribute to our community, of which we are an integral part.I\'m proud of what we have done at Farragut. With a focus on human potential and our belief in the transformational idea that employee, customer, company, and community interests are aligned, we\'ve built a special business. Time to work on ensuring that it\'s around for generations to come!

Experience

1. CEO

   Farragut Systems, Inc

   Jul 1992 — Present · Raleigh-Durham, NC, US

   As CEO, I play a critical role in four major areas:Robust strategic thinking and planning: While some view strategic planning as rather narrowly focused on business alone, I believe it encompass aspects like culture and leadership as well. And with the longstanding goal of making FARRAGUT a living company lasting 100-years, I am currently working on a Shared Vision for FARRAGUT 2030. With a team of 5 executives and other high-level managers, I\'m spearheading a transparent information-gathering process to obtain a 360-degee view that will inform our employee, customer, and company-focused strategy and tactics for the coming decade.Considered and considerate customer service: I spend a significant amount of my time thinking carefully about what Farragut\'s customers want — and what they may need. I meet with every Farragut customer to get to know them personally. It\'s essential that we understand each customer\'s vision so we can determine how best to help them achieve that vision.High-level leadership coaching and mentoring: I have six direct reports who look to me for advice and guidance when they get \"stuck.\" This provides me with an opportunity to model humble inquiry — to coach and mentor by asking thoughtful questions about problems that may provoke unthought-of answers. Simply put, I don\'t always have the answer. But even when I do, there may be other, better answers. It\'s the collaborative interplay that brings us to the best solutions.Overall financial and operational oversight: While perhaps not the flashiest of my responsibilities, this is nonetheless a major part of every CEO\'s job, including mine.In all that I do, I\'m mindful of what drives me — the desire to see Farragut\'s employees and customers, and the company, itself, reach their full potential. Though we get closer all the time, that goal remains ahead of us. When we finally get there (and I know we will), I believe that I, too, will have reached my full potential.

Education

• Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

  Bachelor of Technology - BTech, Electrical Engineering

• Villanova University

  MS, Computer Science