NAME: NAINA LAL KIDWAI AGE: 49 DESIGNATION: CEO GROUP: HSBC India

She was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School way back in 1982. Eighteen years later, she was ranked third by Fortune in its first ever listing of Asia's top women executives, and in 2003, made it to Business Today's list of 25 most powerful businesswomen in India. Last month, Naina Lal Kidwai became the first woman to head the Indian operations of a foreign bank when she was appointed CEO of the Indian arm of HSBC Bank, once again justifying her unofficial billing as the first lady of the Indian banking. "We need to be passionate and driven to achieve any goal we choose," she has been quoted as saying. "And your career depends on how much you enjoy work." By that yardstick, it will be fair to say that this Economics (Honours) graduate from Delhi University (Harvard came later) is enjoying herself to the hilt. Kidwai, who, incidentally, is industrialist L.M. Thapar's niece, started her career in 1977 with Price Waterhouse & Company; her first designation: trainee. Thereafter, following further studies at Harvard, she joined ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1982, handling retail and investment banking. The turning point came when she moved to Morgan Stanley in 1994 as Vice Chairman and was instrumental in putting together its highly successful joint venture with JM Financials. In 2002, Kidwai joined HSBC Securities & Capital Markets as Executive Vice Chairman & Managing Director, and two years later, was elevated to Deputy CEO of banking operations. Has she ever had problems holding her own in the male-dominated world of investment banking? "I have never faced any gender discrimination," she said in a recent interview, adding, however, that being a woman in a top job means living under a magnifying glass all the time. The problem that she has faced is youth. In a society where hierarchy is deeply entrenched and age is equated with wisdom and authority, she has sometimes found it difficult to give orders to older people.

Her management philosophy is fairly simple, if slightly elaborate. Management, she feels, is the sum total of team building, integrity, fairness, equity, risk taking, focus and style. She will need all of these attributes to succeed in her new job.