What can we learn from India’s CEOs?

There is no doubting the economic potential of India. But can its leaders deliver on the country’s promise? What can leaders around the world learn from India’s best? And how can organizations apply this knowledge when managing Indian operations or developing Indian managers? A Hay Group/Bharat Petroleum study examined this issue in depth and uncovered many valuable insights, key ones among them were:

to succeed in India, international executives have to view the business landscape from an Indian perspective, leverage Indian leaders’ strengths and recognize specific areas for development


outstanding Indian CEOs’ strengths lie in the areas of socially responsible business acumen, team leadership, inner strength and the ability to manage a complex web of external stakeholders


the ‘interpersonal understanding’ of Indian CEOs – the ability to ‘tune in’ to others – requires some development.

Designed to determine what it takes to be a successful CEO in India, the 18-month Hay Group/Bharat Petroleum study began in August 2002 and centered on in-depth interviews with 30 outstanding Indian CEOs, covering accounts of recent critical business situations. It compared Indian public and private-sector CEOs with each other and with a sample of leaders from top European, American and Asia Pacific leaders in Hay Group’s databases.

Our findings showed that the best Indian leaders execute effectively by using a particular set of competencies that suit the Indian business environment. They show a striking, single-minded focus on growth in relation to India, as well as to their own companies. This reflects their unusually strong concern for their nation, which leads them to concentrate on business activities that either benefit the population – in particular the poor and disadvantaged – or enhance India’s global status.

Leveraging the skills of Indian leaders
As leadership is a major component of success for companies doing business in India, understanding how to take advantage of the strengths – and deal with some of the issues – of Indian leaders is crucial. Here are four key steps to success:

* understand the ‘Indian way’ and make sure expatriate CEOs are skilled at stakeholder management
* recognize the importance of national altruism to Indian leaders – projects that do not include this may not motivate them
* play to the strengths of Indian leaders by focusing on growth and innovation
* recognize how the thinking of Indian leaders differs and address their areas for development.

Indian leaders have a powerful, unique skill set that if understood and used correctly, can set a solid foundation for success.

Outstanding Indian CEOs’ key strengths are in three areas:

Socially responsible business excellence – which manifests itself in business acumen and hard decision-making skills. This is particularly effective in startup and turnaround situations. Compared with international CEOs, Indian leaders are particularly strong in their entrepreneurial drive and ‘adaptive thinking’.

Energizing the team – the study showed Indian leaders to have an unusually consistent and logical pattern of leadership throughout the change process, presenting change agendas in a straightforward manner.

Managing the environment – faced with a complex web of bureaucracy that exceeds anything reported by other international leaders, Indian CEOs are particular adept at coping with multiple stakeholder groups effectively.

Areas for development
The drag of bureaucracy -- not one of those questioned in our international or Chinese samples had anything to say about difficulties with government and regulators. In contrast, 50 per cent of participants in the India study, without prompting, told detailed stories of their problems. Individuals and organizations can only do so much to address this issue; however the Indian government is taking note.

Interpersonal understanding – Indian leaders excel in analytic and strategic thinking, reflecting the nation’s emphasis on developing intelligence and innovation. But this skill is often matched by shortcomings in ‘tuning in’ to others. Interpersonal understanding is seen as a foundational competency for the contemporary business leader and is consistently displayed in 75 per cent of behavioural interviews with ‘outstanding’ CEOs worldwide. Yet only 12 per cent of outstanding Indian business leaders demonstrated such an ability to ‘tune in’, highlighting an area in which there is clear room for improvement.



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