Implementing Indian Culture

Mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik uses his deep domain knowledge and corporate experience to address the topic: Implementing Indian Culture. First, he reveals how changing corporate culture through workshops and training programmes is based on the idea of evangelism and religious conversion, which is alien to caste-based Indian society where aggregation of new ideas is preferred over replacement of old ideas. Then, using mythology as a toolkit, he elaborates what is common and what is different between Indian, Chinese and Western cultures. He argues that China and Japan’s success is not the result of ‘Westernisation’ but by their grounding in home-grown Confucian and Taoist myths. India’s progress needs a similar grounding in ideas that have originated, and continue to thrive, in India, hence the need to appreciate the Indian model of yagna (exchange), which is neither policy based and contractual, as in the West, nor authority based, as in the Far East. However, as it is relationship based, it demands maturity and empathy of the leader who functions as the head of the family business ( karta). It demands the karta’s personal transformation from self-indulgent to self-expansive as he gradually delegates and nurtures talent to create an ecosystem of success ( mangalya). Growth then is not just material (what you have) but also psychological/spiritual (who you are).

Change and Leadership: An Indian Perspective

In this article, Prabhu examines the ‘Indian way of leading and managing change’, particularly contextualising it to the Indian IT Industry. In doing so, he brings together the cultural, sociological and philosophical streams of thought embedded in Indian reality. He asserts that: 1. One, need to examine the contextual importance of understanding ‘Indianness’ and the Indian way of dealing with change. 2. Next, to leverage a style of leadership which draws on a deep understanding of the culture and context that drives Indianness. Prabhu draws on data from a quantitative survey he carried out to examine the perceived importance versus practice of various leadership attributes during times of change in organisations as also research from elsewhere. Prabhu looks at perceived gaps in leadership practice, and ways to address these by leveraging what can be defined as Indianness in leadership and management and offers a construct that seeks to integrate. Now more than ever before, it is all the more imminent that we bring focus to how Indian leaders manage and support in times of change.

Towards a Systemic Approach to Business

Ram’s career has spanned over 40 years, during which he has donned multiple avatars: corporate leader (CEO), business builder, government advisor, angel investor and runaway monk internship. He is presently a systemic leadership coach. In this article, he argues that Indian leaders are schizophrenic. On the one hand, they are torn between the inherited cultural values of harmony and family obligations, and on the other hand, a product of imbibed Western B-School concepts of professional management and profit above all else. This dichotomy leads to hypocrisy and duplicity in Indian business. This is evidenced by treating people as means to an end rather than resources, much talked about, but not practised. Unlike their more forthright Western counterparts, who make no bones about profit making, Indian business leaders pretend to be of service to society and the system; yet acting only for personal gains of wealth and power through manipulation and lack of transparency. Ram shares his experiences on Indianness and the Indian business leaders. He explores where the hypocrisy may possibly emanate from, how this behaviour is at odds with changing generational needs and what are the likely fallouts even while pointing to emerging trends of systemic approach moving from diversity to unity, built on people engagement and collaborative teamwork in leadership. Indian companies and leaders, he argues, have what it takes to be far better and greater than they are now.

Can I be a Global Indian?

In over 30 years as a corporate professional, mostly with multinational organisations, Gangapriya has worked closely with Indian, non-Indian managers and co-workers. These interactions allowed her to dig deeper on what being ‘Indian’ means. In this article, she writes about how working with employees from across the world, in multinational organisations, gives us the advantage to look critically at ourselves, while also having the opportunity to observe and learn from ‘the other’. Based entirely on her observations, experiences and inferences, she focuses on typical aspects of ‘Indian-ness’ that stand out—the abiding regard for hierarchy, the inexplicable relationship with time, how competitive Indians can be and how it drives them, and how Indians contend with conflicts of interest and deal with issues about data privacy and the general unease with compliance. It is her firm belief that with reflection, self-awareness and confidence arising out of knowing oneself, Indians may be better placed to deal with the underlying confusion and anxiety around whether to ‘stand out’ or ‘fit in’ and navigate with ease in a multinational and multicultural environment. For Indians employed in multinational, global organisations, she believes that such experiences provide a valuable opportunity to become better versions of ourselves. Similarly, organisations get to appreciate the differences that Indians bring to the table, while, at the same time, understanding the common characteristics that come with such a diverse workforce. Through this article, she explores what ‘Indian-ness’ means to her and how in this ‘flat’ world, it is imperative and important for us to retain our identity as an ‘Indian’ yet be comfortable in a globalised environment so that we feel connected with the larger team without being lost at an individual level.

Indian Perspective on Personality and Behaviour in Organisations

This article explains the steps followed in developing psychometric personality assessment tests from the Indian psychological/Vedic perspective while also mentioning the psychometric properties of the scales. Its numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals are by itself an acceptance of the validity and reliability of the scale, along with the accreditation obtained from concerned certifying authorities in India. Additionally, its use in multiple academic and research organisations both in India and abroad throws up interesting possibilities using Indian psychological concepts can offer solutions to, being relevant to all peoples of the world today, as they were from times immemorial. The article draws attention to the multiple applications that the five-element theory of personality understanding offers and explores how this can used in organisations to provide for higher retention of employees, better employee engagement and higher cohesiveness and cultural fit amongst teams within organisations, especially when they are integrated in the recruitment processes itself.

Leadership in Crisis: Lessons from India

Society is going through transformation and disruption from time immemorial. Globalisation, liberalisation of the economies and technological disruptions have created unprecedented eventualities in the political, economic, social and industrial domains. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has added enhanced complexities to these domains. The role of leaders, thus, becomes an integral part of addressing these complexities. The authors argue that the leadership role in the business world appears to have transformed from top-down autocratic leadership to inclusive leadership; with each of the stakeholders having critical roles to play. The article summarises the lessons learnt from the Indian texts, scriptures and philosophy that contemporary leaders can consider and possibly adopt. A few examples from the scriptures and texts are discussed, linking to current leadership practices. Further, leaders are encouraged to expand their roles to address well-being, compassion, empathy and trust. To be more effective and impactful, the leaders need to continuously reinvent themselves with changing times and contexts.