Nikhil Sharma
Nikhil Sharma, US Head of Digital Wealth Management shares how professional volleyball has shaped his approach to teamwork and leadership, and reflects on how trust, creativity, and family as cornerstones of his Capco career.
“If someone asks me ‘How do you build teams?,’ I say that volleyball is what taught me,” says Nikhil. “The sport taught me resilience, how to not succumb under pressure, the value of relationships and how to trust each other.” Those lessons – learned while captain of the volleyball team at Indore’s Institute of Professional Studies Academy (IPS Academy) in India – have remained a touchstone through Nikhil’s 15-year career in financial services and inform his work.
It was during an early crunch qualifying volleyball match that Nikhil experienced perhaps his most significant moment of clarity. Representing his college at a national tournament, his team were taking on the defending champions – only to be beaten in the first of their three games.
“I took one of the more junior players aside and asked him: ‘What happened?” recalls Nikhil. “He replied: “Nikhil, if you make a mistake, no one would say anything to you. But if I make a mistake, everyone would jump on me.” That was a big lesson for me. I told him: “Just play your game. I’ve got your back.” The team went on to advance to the semi-finals and ultimately take a bronze medal.
“If someone asks me ‘How do you build teams?,’ I say that volleyball is what taught me,” says Nikhil. “The sport taught me resilience, how to not succumb under pressure, the value of relationships and how to trust each other.” Those lessons – learned while captain of the volleyball team at Indore’s Institute of Professional Studies Academy (IPS Academy) in India – have remained a touchstone through Nikhil’s 15-year career in financial services and inform his work.
It was during an early crunch qualifying volleyball match that Nikhil experienced perhaps his most significant moment of clarity. Representing his college at a national tournament, his team were taking on the defending champions – only to be beaten in the first of their three games.
“I took one of the more junior players aside and asked him: ‘What happened?” recalls Nikhil. “He replied: “Nikhil, if you make a mistake, no one would say anything to you. But if I make a mistake, everyone would jump on me.” That was a big lesson for me. I told him: “Just play your game. I’ve got your back.” The team went on to advance to the semi-finals and ultimately take a bronze medal.
This imperative to trust in talent has opened new avenues of opportunity in Nikhil’s own career at Capco. “Being asked to run our Digital Wealth business as a new offering was something that I took a lot of pride in,” he says. “I feel empowered to pave my own path – if I want to accelerate my career, I can try new things.
That has allowed Nikhil to ensure Capco is optimally positioned to help our clients realize their short and long-term strategies and transformations. “We have established a fully-fledged digital wealth offering and have created sophisticated solutions for clients and advisors within that space,” he says. “We adhere to the ‘prototype fast, fail fast, learn fast, move forward’ mentality. That is vital if you want to do really groundbreaking work and push new boundaries. Simplifying complexity sits at the heart of the Digital Wealth team’s work. For example, Nikhil worked on an innovative project helping a US bank create a digital strategy to encourage its customers to establish advisory relationships with its wealth department. “We assessed what it would take for the client to build a platform,” he says, “and identified which elements we required to create a comprehensive business case and roadmap for the bank.
Family is a key priority for Nikhil, both personally and professionally: “One of the key things that keeps me at Capco is the people – we are more like a family. Outside of work, my seven-year-old son and my four-year-old daughter keep me busy. Just spending time with them is really close to my heart, though honestly it can sometimes tire me and my wife out! And volleyball also still has a central place in his life. “I still get on the court regularly, and my current team recently won a tournament,” Nikhil says. He pauses a moment to reflect, before adding: “We have been playing quite well – though perhaps not at the level that I would like.” The pursuit of excellence continues.
That has allowed Nikhil to ensure Capco is optimally positioned to help our clients realize their short and long-term strategies and transformations. “We have established a fully-fledged digital wealth offering and have created sophisticated solutions for clients and advisors within that space,” he says. “We adhere to the ‘prototype fast, fail fast, learn fast, move forward’ mentality. That is vital if you want to do really groundbreaking work and push new boundaries. Simplifying complexity sits at the heart of the Digital Wealth team’s work. For example, Nikhil worked on an innovative project helping a US bank create a digital strategy to encourage its customers to establish advisory relationships with its wealth department. “We assessed what it would take for the client to build a platform,” he says, “and identified which elements we required to create a comprehensive business case and roadmap for the bank.
Family is a key priority for Nikhil, both personally and professionally: “One of the key things that keeps me at Capco is the people – we are more like a family. Outside of work, my seven-year-old son and my four-year-old daughter keep me busy. Just spending time with them is really close to my heart, though honestly it can sometimes tire me and my wife out! And volleyball also still has a central place in his life. “I still get on the court regularly, and my current team recently won a tournament,” Nikhil says. He pauses a moment to reflect, before adding: “We have been playing quite well – though perhaps not at the level that I would like.” The pursuit of excellence continues.
