Leadership insights from the top: exploring leadership through the narratives of CEOs in India

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>– The purpose of this paper is to highlight the corporate and non-corporate leadership practices in India, the effect of culture on such practices and how these drive management philosophies.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>– Semi-structured interviews were conducted with CEOs from India. A key finding was that Indian leadership shares some aspects of global leadership traits, but factors such as culture and religion are significant influences on their leadership style and philosophy.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>– The findings are helpful to both practitioners and policy makers seeking to understand the leadership style of Indian CEOs.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>– Many qualities of a good leader, as defined by Indian CEOs were derived from the Hindu mythology (<jats:italic>Bhagvad Gita</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Mahabharata</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Ramayana</jats:italic>and the four<jats:italic>Vedas</jats:italic>).</jats:p></jats:sec>