ICICI Bank, founded way back in 1955, has grown phenomenally in the last decade. In the context of the organization witnessing a leadership change, this article analyzes the issues that the new management will have to grapple with.

For 13 years, under the aggressive leadership of KV Kamath, ICICI bank has grown from retail banking to commercial banking, from life insurance to general insurance and from investment banking to venture capital. Today, ICICI is India's second largest bank, standing only next to State Bank of India. After constructing the empire, Kamath retired as the bank's CEO on April 30, 2009, giving way to the younger generation to take the charge.

With the responsibility of carrying the legacy, Chanda Kochhar took over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI bank on May 1, 2009. Kochhar, who is considered as the architect for the success of the bank's retail business, has taken the top position in the bank at a time when the going is not all that great, both for the bank and for the markets and economy in general. She will also take up the office as the non-executive chairperson of ICICI Life Insurance, ICICI General Insurance, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company (ICICI AMC), ICICI Securities, ICICI Bank, UK PLC and ICICI Bank, Canada. Change in the bank's leadership, especially during the volatile financial environment, has grabbed the attention of everyone. The global environment was so vulnerable that, at one point of time, the bank's management and the Indian Finance Ministry had to assure the public that all was well with the bank.

Kochhar had joined the erstwhile ICICI as a Management Trainee in 1984 and has grown thereon through the ranks by handling multidimensional assignments and heading all the major functions in the bank at various levels. She was sent to ICICI Bank as part of the core team to set up the operations to enter commercial banking in 1993. With her proficiency, she was active in setting up and scaling the retail business for ICICI Bank. She took over as the Executive Director of the bank's retail business in April 2001 when this segment was at a budding stage. Within a span of just five years, ICICI emerged as the largest retail bank in India, and much of this success can be attributed to Kochhar's strategic thinking and skills to convert challenges into opportunities. ICICI went on to win the "Best Retail Bank in India" award for five consecutive years from 2001 to 2005. In 2008, she was in Fortune's and Business Today's List of `Most Powerful Women in Business.'

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