As of 2024, India emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world, with projected growth at 7% in 2024 and 6.5% in 2025.1 According to Deloitte, industry leaders have high confidence in India’s continued robust growth. Market indicators—such as strong growth in manufacturing, strong exports in services and high-value manufacturing, rural economy rebound, and robust bank balance sheets and credit growth—signal that India is poised for continued upward movement, potentially outpacing the rest of the world.2
With this economic growth comes change. For example, with a growing middle-income class, there lies a shift toward higher spending in luxury and premium goods and services; additionally, rural spending is catching up with urban counterparts.3 These changing spending preferences create new business opportunities for organizations at home and abroad. In an emergent, aggressive, continuously evolving market like India, the characteristics of leaders who emerge to develop India’s startups, chair their boards, and lead organizations remain a critical topic.
In September 2024, Krista Pederson, managing director of Asia Pacific, and Ryne Sherman, PhD, chief science officer, visited ThreeFish Consulting, an authorized distributor of Hogan Assessments in India. Hogan and ThreeFish partnered to sponsor SHRM cocktail dinner events and breakfast round table events in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi. This trip provided the opportunity to discuss leadership trends in Hogan assessment data from Indian leaders. Our benchmark of Indian leaders includes more than 5,000 executives spanning industries and locations across the country.
Read on to discover more about leaders in India today: their values, approaches to life and work, and potential hindrances to their success and the success of the organizations they lead.
What Do Indian Leaders Want?
The Hogan Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) reveals that Indian executives are motivated by a variety of factors. Compared to Hogan’s global benchmark of executives, Indian executives score two to 15 percentile points higher on every MVPI scale. Across the board, Indian leaders value diverse work contexts and ways of making decisions. When looking at Indian leaders’ data, the Recognition, Power, and Altruistic scales emerge as key motivators.
Recognition concerns an interest in fame, publicity, and being seen. These leaders may prefer to work in organizations and roles that offer high-visibility projects, public acknowledgement, and opportunities for self-display. Those who score high on the Power scale reveal a strong desire for influence and authority. These leaders may prefer working in and creating organizational cultures that are results-oriented, aggressive, and competitive. Compared to the global executive benchmark, Indian leaders score 15 percentile points higher on Recognition and nine percentile points higher on Power.
Although Power and Recognition make up two thirds of the MVPI status cluster, indicating strong interest in a high social and professional position, the third highest motivator for Indian leaders is Altruistic, or a focus on helping others. Those who score high on Altruistic enjoy supporting others, coaching, and helping their organizations and society. These executives may enjoy and feel responsibility for the development and well-being of their teams and organizations.
Additionally, Indian executives also score 11 percentile points higher than the global benchmark on Science. This suggests a preference toward analytical problem-solving and data-based decision-making.
According to Pradnya Parasher, PhD, CEO of ThreeFish Consulting, most Indian leaders desire recognition and display brand consciousness. When it comes to employment, multinational brands, leading Indian companies, and emerging Indian brands are more attractive. Recognition programs that encompass all employees and not just sales functions are often implemented by employers to motivate teams and employees. At senior levels, networking at industry conferences and industry professional organizations are likely to appeal to high Recognition Indian leaders. However, when it comes to their team, Indian leaders should share the spotlight with team members. They should also remember that not everyone wants recognition, so it’s important to diversify and tailor ways to motivate employees.
Current political and leadership environment in India appears to be aligned with the motivator of Power. Enterprise Indian businesses display global ambition through their expansion and acquisitions of overseas businesses.
The value of Altruistic may emerge from societal norms of looking after the community; it also emerges within the world of business within two major areas. First, India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility mandatory. As of 2014, Indian businesses hitting certain net worth or net profit metrics are required to spend 2% of average net profits on corporate social responsibility, emphasizing areas such as education, poverty, and gender equality.4 Recently, corporate leaders who have benefited from the India growth story and generated personal wealth are also getting involved in philanthropy. Second, social entrepreneurship and sustainability are also on the rise within India. When it comes to areas of development, Indian leaders have opportunities to allow their value of Altruistic to show up even more.
Regarding the Science scale, both India’s government and education system have traditionally emphasized STEM subjects. This priority bolstered the development and proliferation of IT and ITES businesses in the country in the last four decades. For example, Infosys, founded in 1981, is one of India’s earliest home-grown tech companies. Additionally, this value has supported the robust indigenous automobile manufacturing sector. Recently, green energy and sustainability have emerged as focuses in India. The priority given to areas of science and technology is again seen in the passing of the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme to promote electric vehicles within the country.5
With these dual governmental and educational emphases on science, business leaders may value Science as an area they believe they should be prioritizing, therefore demonstrating an unconscious bias toward data and technology. This bias could have originated during leaders’ education, when they may have heard that the only viable path to career success is in STEM subjects. Leaders in India should pause to consider the why of their STEM pursuits and consciously place a renewed value on arts, music, social sciences, and humanities, which have been undervalued in India’s recent history.
Finally, looking at motivators in combination provides a unique snapshot. Unified Payments Interface (UPI), an instant payment system, typifies a successful deep-tech financial innovation that India has produced. Run as an open-source API and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, the system is free to all of its 300 million monthly active users, promotes financial inclusion, and makes India the global leader in instant payments.6 This exemplifies the values of Altruistic and Science coming together in service of the nation.
How Will Leaders in India Get What They Want?
The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) assesses how individuals relate to others when they are at their best. Indian leaders score moderately high on Inquisitive. Compared to the global benchmark of executives, they score 10 percentile points higher on this scale. Those who score high on Inquisitive tend to think imaginatively and strategically with a focus on the big picture. They are likely to be innovative problem solvers and continuous learners. However, they may struggle to implement their ideas or become easily bored.
Compared to leaders across the world, Indian executives may have the reputation of being open-minded and strategic. In an evolving, emergent market, Indian leaders’ curiosity and strategic thinking positions them to stay ahead of changes and to pursue innovative solutions to achieve organizational success. This has played out not only within India but also across the world, with a growing list of leaders of Indian origin rising to the top of large global organizations, such as Leena Nair, CEO at Chanel; Jayshree Ullal, CEO at Arista Networks; Sundar Pichai, CEO at Google; and Satya Nadella, CEO at Microsoft.
According to Parasher, Indian leaders’ high Inquisitive bears out in being curious, creative, and embracing new technologies. In combination with the MVPI Science scale, Indian leaders successfully set strategic goals and disrupt industries and organizations—even disrupting themselves. Indian leaders can suffer from a short-term focus. Large gaps may also exist when it comes to execution and implementation—and that’s the reason many projects start with great fanfare but may not ever be completed.
Additionally, Indian leaders score moderately low on Adjustment—four percentile points lower than the global benchmark. These leaders likely act with urgency, show openness to coaching and feedback, and respond to market or organizational pressures with vigilance. However, they may be overly concerned about mistakes and struggle to manage stressors. In an aggressive market like India, organizational leaders likely leverage their keen alertness to respond to changing market conditions; however, always staying alert to change could be a stressor to leaders’ mental health and well-being over time. In addition to the impact on the leaders themselves, a state of high alert could also impact the way the leaders relate to their teams and colleagues. A leader with a higher propensity to demonstrate behaviors of displaced stress and misplaced anger is often challenging to work with.
As an area of development, leaders could focus more time, effort, and energy on planful execution. To best support long-term strategies, they should consider how to better execute smaller strategies here and now. What will differentiate effective Indian leaders is the ability to go beyond idea generation and creativity to excellence in strategy implementation and execution.
Finally, a lower score on Adjustment brings a sense of urgency and responsiveness. However, there may be a bias toward reaction instead of planned consideration before action and may affect the leaders’ ability to prioritize effectively. A heightened sense of urgency for the immediate can result in the leader treating everything as equally pressing. This may create a work environment in which the team feels overwhelmed by the responsibility to complete multiple tasks of seemingly equal importance within a short time. Indian leaders should strategically prioritize importanttasks over immediatetasks and communicate clear direction to their teams.
What Will Get in Indian Leaders’ Way?
The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) identifies overused strengths that may impede career success if not managed effectively. Indian executives’ highest scoring derailers include Mischievous, Bold, Excitable, and Diligent—all of which score above the global benchmark.
Mischievous is the highest scoring derailer of Indian leaders. Those who are high Mischievous tend to be perceived as charming, daring, and interested in testing limits. At best, these leaders come across as bright, exciting, and strategic. However, under stress and pressure, they may act impulsively or manipulatively, take ill-advised risks, and seem unconcerned with their impact on others. If managed properly, this high-risk, high-reward mentality could be leveraged as a strength within the Indian market context.
Next, Indian leaders score high on Bold. Those who are high Bold may be perceived as confident, aggressive, competitive, and self-promoting. At best, they drive forward with their confidence and vision, but they tend to overestimate their own talents and blame others when things go wrong.
Indian leaders score high on Excitable. Those who are high Excitable can come across as intense and energetic; however, under stress and pressure, they can be overly critical, easily irritated, and prone to emotional outbursts. They may be difficult for others to work with because they may come across as moody and hard to please. They are also likely to create high-stress conditions in the workplace for their team members, impacting team well-being.
Indian leaders also score high on Diligent. Those who are high Diligent may be perceived as perfectionistic, meticulous, and having extremely high standards for themselves and others. At best, they are organized and detail-oriented, but under stress and pressure, these leaders may be overly critical, seem inflexible, and micromanage others. They are also likely to become demanding and unreasonable.
One other noteworthy observation includes the scale of Dutiful: Indian executives score seven percentile points below the global benchmark and reveal no risk toward this derailer. At best, these leaders are likely perceived as independent, self-reliant, and willing to tolerate ambiguity, which should position them well for interacting in their market context. However, to executives in other regions, particularly other parts of Asia Pacific, these leaders may come across as tough-minded, overly willing to challenge authority, and unwilling to defer to others’ ideas even to get a business deal done.
Based on Parasher’s perspective, Indian leaders’ tendency toward high Mischievous and high Bold reveal an ambition, audaciousness, and tolerance for risk that can be adaptive, especially in the Indian market. However, she challenges Indian leaders to consider whether they are acting inclusively and bringing their colleagues and team members along with their ideas. Leaders may expect others to follow them due to their charm, confidence, and entitlement; however, they may be surprised when they do not receive the followership they expect. This links to the observation of low Dutiful, or the tendency to be self-reliant and willing to challenge authority. To earn followership, Indian leaders need to consider the opinions, feelings, and thoughts of others.
Finally, leaders who are high Excitable show a passion and energy in their focal projects and goals. However, their followers may become frustrated with their lack of follow-through or emotional volatility, despite a general acceptance of showing emotions in India. With constant adaptation to fluctuating circumstances in the market, tasks are often completed at the last minute and not fully thought through. This tendency adds another layer to the shortfalls in execution and intense pressure in the workplace.
What Can We Learn from Indian Leaders’ Personality Data?
Leadership trends in India offer us important insights into preferred leadership behaviors in the Indian market. High scores on MVPI Power, Recognition, and Altruistic reveal an orientation focused on status while constantly considering others. Meanwhile, the higher emphasis on Science shows the importance of evidence-based decisions over intuition or tradition.
The combination of higher HPI Inquisitive and lower Adjustment within the Indian market context reveals an orientation toward innovation and strategic thinking while remaining alert, responsive, and open to market feedback. However, when it comes to stressful or complacent times, Indian executives may be willing to tolerate too much risk and charge forward too quickly by acting impulsively (high Mischievous), acting entitled and arrogant (high Bold), being perfectionistic (high Diligent), being unwilling to accommodate others’ perspectives (low Dutiful), or even acting volatile and without direction (high Excitable).
According to Parasher, Hogan HPI and MVPI scores are aligned with macroeconomic trends in India: idealistic, big-picture thinking, high aspirations, audacious goals, and seeking recognition. However, these positive facets could lead to derailment if Indian leaders are audacious without being grounded. A focus on planning, executing, following through, and bringing others along remains critical to high performance in the market.
By analyzing personality trends within market conditions, we gain a detailed understanding of what Indian leaders seek, how they achieve it, and the obstacles they may face. By aligning leadership strategies with these insights, both Indian and global organizations can develop thoughtful and effective leadership practices in India.
This article was written by Nicole Dickie, MA, senior consultant, Asia Pacific, and Krista Pederson, MA, managing director, Asia Pacific, at Hogan Assessments.
References
- International Monetary Fund. (2024). World Economic Outlook Update: The Global Economy in a Sticky Spot. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2024/07/16/world-economic-outlook-update-july-2024
- Deloitte. (2024). Union Budget 2024: Fueling India’s Transformation. https://www2.deloitte.com/in/en/pages/tax/articles/union-budget-2024_fiscal-year-2024-25.html
- Majumdar, R. (2024, April 26). India Economic Outlook, April 2024. Deloitte. https://www2.deloitte.com/in/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/india-economic-outlook-april-2024.html
- Cyrill, M. (2024, September 27). Corporate Social Responsibility in India. India Briefing. https://www.india-briefing.com/news/corporate-social-responsibility-india-5511.html/
- PM India. (2024, September 11). Cabinet approves PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme with an outlay of Rs.10,900 crore over a period of two years [Press release]. https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/cabinet-approves-pm-electric-drive-revolution-in-innovative-vehicle-enhancement-pm-e-drive-scheme-with-an-outlay-of-rs-10900-crore-over-a-period-of-two-years/
- Ebanx. (2024). Unified Payments Interface (UPI): the instant payment that reshaped India’s financial landscape. https://www.ebanx.com/en/resources/payments-explained/unified-payments-interface-upi/