Top 6 most inspiring corporate leaders in India

Effective and well-trained corporate leadership is paramount to meeting the goals aimed at promising a company’s success. Leaders are instrumental in formulating and communicating new strategic directions as well as motivating the rest of the staff to gear up their efforts towards meeting organisational goals. Top corporate leaders in India ensure that employees are committed to the success of the organisation. They raise and maintain the morale of employees by making them understand the vital role they play in the organisation.

Be it sports, entrepreneurship, or science, India has produced some of the best leaders known to excel in every sphere of life. A country known for immense business opportunities, it can boast of some of the most noteworthy corporate leaders. These top corporate leaders in India such as Ratan Tata, Sanjiv Bajaj, Adi Godrej, and the likes have brought fame to our country by bringing about both economic as well as social change. They are the leaders who touch both the internal and external stakeholders within the industry and beyond.

The common trait that these famous corporate leaders share is that they are visionaries. Whether they inherited the business or built it from scratch, these company leaders knew exactly where they wanted to see their company and grew it by leaps and bounds, making unprecedented accomplishments. The corporate leaders in India have made some remarkable contributions to the industry as a whole, becoming an inspiration for so many young aspirants. Here are a few such top corporate leaders in India:

Sanjiv Bajaj

A name to look up to in the financial services space, Sanjiv Bajaj, is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv.  He had the vision to make Bajaj Finance stand out from the rest of his competition, eventually leading Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to become the second most profitable insurance company in the country. Prior to this, he had gained vast exposure across multiple roles in legal, international business, and finance at Bajaj Auto before moving onto Bajaj Finserv. This famous financial leader is a strong believer in the power of digitisation which he deems necessary to facilitate business growth and enhance customer experience. Some of Sanjiv Bajaj’s awards include Financial Express’s ‘Banker of the Year’, Economic Times’ ‘Business Leader of the Year’, and Asian Centre’s ‘Leadership’s Award for Corporate Governance’, amongst many others. A humanitarian at heart, Sanjiv Bajaj promised Rs. 100 crores for the cause of the recent pandemic via the Bajaj Group.

Ratan Tata

A born leader, Ratan Tata spent over two decades taking the Tata Group to where it is today. He is popular for his contributions to his business as well as the entire industry. He has received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan (2008) and Padma Bhushan (2010) for his noteworthy industry and trade contribution. One of the most visionary and inspiring leaders in the corporate world, Ratan Tata has always held a special place in people’s hearts– right from introducing the ‘peoples’ car’ – Tata Nano, to making significant global acquisitions during his reign to personally visiting the families of the 80 Taj employees killed during the 26/11 attacks. A great decision-maker, a man of integrity, and someone who believes in lifelong learning, Ratan Tata is truly an inspiration.

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej is the Chairman of the celebrated Godrej Group. He played a great role in taking the company places and making it successful when the Indian economy was still a closed one. A philanthropist and visionary company leader, Adi Godrej has successfully upgraded the management structures of the company. This comprehensive conglomerate has made its mark across varied sectors such as furniture, FMCG, real estate, consumer goods, appliances, security, industrial engineering, and more. Not only is he a brilliant industrialist, but also chairs multiple Indian trade body associations. Adi Godrej has received multiple prestigious awards such as the ‘Padma Bhushan’, ‘AIF leadership in philanthropy award,’ ‘Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards’, ‘Rajiv Gandhi Award’, ‘Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year’, and many more accolades.

Azim Premji

In the industry, he is regarded as the Czar of Indian IT. Another inspiring leader popularly known for his humanitarian initiatives as well as revolutionising the tech industry, Azim Premji is the Chairman of Wipro. A strategic investor and philanthropist, Azim Premji had led Wipro to heights only due to the excellent culture introduced and pushed by him in the organisation. This is the prime reason he has achieved operational wisdom and brilliance over the past 40 years. His recent accolade was the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, for his intelligence and role in developing the Indian IT industry. An inspiration to the young techies out there, Azim Premji expanded Wipro and established it as an IT powerhouse in over 58 countries. One of India’s most generous corporate leaders, he is the sole Indian to have pledged 25% of his assets to charity.

Lakshmi Mittal

Lakshmi Mittal is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal, which is a leading steel producer globally. Known to have the Midas touch, Lakshmi Mittal has turned many steel companies going through losses into profitable ventures across the world. He started this in 1989 when he acquired two state-owned steel companies – Trinidad and Tobago. Ever since, there has been no stopping him. His recent acquisition was the loss-making and bankrupt Essar Steel of the Ruia family. This steel magnate also has a great interest in sports and won everyone’s hearts when he set up the Mittal Champions Trust to finance promising Indian athletes. He has a 20% stake in the English Football League Championship side Queens Park Rangers. He is the recipient of various prestigious awards some of which include the Padma Vibhushan and the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mukesh Ambani

The man who needs no introduction, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries is the wealthiest person in India. Most of his wealth comes from the oil & gas as well as the petrochemicals businesses built by his father. Even though Dhirubhai Ambani had accomplished so much that generations after would have survived without lifting a finger, Mukesh Ambani followed his father’s footsteps. This visionary only wanted to live up to his father’s legacy and take the Reliance industries to the next level. He forayed into consumer-facing businesses such as retail and telecom and today has become a name to reckon with in those fields.

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