Marketing Manager, South Asia of British Airways, Charles Carneiro is a man of many talents. But it's his way with words that's truly impressive. Hold him down for five minutes on how to deal with life's complexities and we guarantee you'll come away inspired.

While he can explore motivational speaking as his next career, for the moment he's busy giving wings to the marketing strategies of British Airways. Strangely, marketing was lower down on his priority list but after a stint at DDB he realised this was what he was made for.

His tenure at British Airways took off in 2001, perhaps the most challenging time for the aviation industry but his out-of-the-box ideas, inspired by Richard Branson and the desire to excel saw him through the turbulent times. Now four years down the line and many frequent flier miles later, he's happy with where things stand.

Having steered the company through the post September 11 slump, his next challenge is taking on the competition. In an era of discounted tickets and low marketing spends, bringing in the customers regularly is a tough act. Charles believes in keeping it simple, the customer is king, keep him satisfied and half the battle is won.

Flying out of office means taking time off to indulge in his many interests. Given his way with words, scrabble seems like an obvious choice. But this is serious business for him, which is why flying out to international scrabble competitions to play for some pretty big stakes keeps him busy. Throw in a keyboard, a tennis racket and even a chessboard and that's enough proof that he certainly believes there's more to life than just work.

Santosh Padhi is another one who defies being slotted. If you judge a book by the cover, he's not your quintessential ad person. The quiet and reserved man isn't your typical art director. Paddy as he's better known, got a break in advertising, when he was spotted by Mudra Communication's art director Nalesh while he was doing his Fine Arts at JJ School of Arts.

In the last 10 years, Paddy's won high praise and many awards for work on Hitachi, Bajaj Eliminator, Tide and Sanctuary magazine. After four years in Mudra, Paddy moved to Leo Burnett. Two years ago, when the agency went in for creative restructuring, Paddy was picked as one of the nine young guns, who were catapulted to the post of creative directors.

Today at 32, Paddy is also the National Art Director at Leo Burnett. His work for Sanctuary magazine has already won him international acclaim and he is hoping that his work for McDonalds home delivery this year will net some more awards.

Like every other true blue executive, Paddy's cribs that he spends most of his time in his office. But once at home, he relaxes by passing on some of his painting tips to Tiya, his two-year old daughter. Truly, he's a versatile man of many shades.

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