A ‘Jugaad’ Quest in Mumbai: bold leadership strategies to navigate a changing world
Written by Melanie Jamieson, Co-CEO, Leaders’ Quest
Mumbai, India’s vibrant hub of commerce and culture, provided the ideal setting for an immersive leadership program that brought together senior leaders from a global tech firm. The objective: to equip participants with tools to navigate disruption, challenge ingrained mindsets, and embrace jugaad—India’s celebrated art of resourceful innovation. Rooted in cultural ingenuity, jugaad reflects a mindset of creative problem-solving and adaptability, often using limited resources to overcome challenges and deliver impactful results. Over three transformative days, participants explored the forces driving India’s rapid growth and evolving challenges, uncovering insights to address their company’s pressing business needs.
Learning through inspirational leaders and stories
Participants connected with trailblazing Indian leaders whose journeys exemplified resilience, purpose, and high-impact leadership.
Ashok Vaswani: purposeful leadership at Kotak Mahindra
After nearly a year as CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks, Ashok Vaswani shared his vision for a cultural transformation aimed at shifting the organization from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach. This strategic pivot aligns with India’s broader transition to a consumer-driven economy. Vaswani outlined key opportunities and challenges shaping this journey:
- Harnessing economic growth and evolving consumer demand: He highlighted how the bank is serving the aspirations of India’s expanding middle class, a crucial engine of the country’s economic progress.
- Navigating risks and embracing adaptability: Ashok reflected on the rapid rise of fintech disruptions, emphasizing the importance of agility for thriving in an era of technological and market change.
- Simplifying complexity through jugaad thinking: He stressed the value of breaking down complex challenges into actionable steps, fostering innovation and clarity. “True innovation begins when you challenge the fundamental assumptions holding you back.”
Ashok’s reflections offered a compelling blueprint for navigating transformation, underscoring the need to remain purpose-led, customer-focused, and innovative in an increasingly dynamic ecosystem.
Jaipur Rugs: love and creativity in business
NK Chaudhary, founder of Jaipur Rugs, and his son, Yogesh Chaudhary, shared their journey of transforming a modest $60 startup into a $135 million enterprise. Their story demonstrated how purpose-driven leadership can empower marginalized communities while fostering creativity and innovation.
Key lessons included:
- Harnessing informal economies: Jaipur Rugs highlighted the potential of leveraging India’s vast informal workforce—over 80% of total employment—to achieve scalable success and positive impact. Participants reflected on how to empower diverse talent pools within their organizations.
- Encouraging grassroots creativity: By granting artisans freedom to innovate, Jaipur Rugs demonstrated how businesses can inspire resilience and creativity, even in resource-constrained environments.
- Taking purposeful risks: Their bold ventures into retail and artisanal collections proved how aligning risks with core values can yield successful outcomes.
One participant reflected: “Jaipur Rugs taught us that business isn’t just about commerce—it’s a force for empowerment and creativity.”
CORO India: resilience and grassroots leadership
A visit to CORO India provided an emotionally charged glimpse into grassroots leadership. As a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering marginalized communities, CORO works to foster leadership, address systemic inequalities, and drive social change at the grassroots level. Participants met fellows who had overcome systemic inequalities to become empowered change-makers, addressing issues such as caste discrimination, domestic violence, and urban sanitation.
Some of the insights included:
- Balancing inequalities in a rapidly changing landscape: CORO illuminated the impacts of urbanization and wealth disparities on marginalized communities and the importance of grassroots leadership in bridging these gaps.
- Harnessing community strength: CORO’s collective-action model demonstrated the power of community in solving systemic challenges, offering lessons in fostering resilience in businesses facing large-scale disruptions.
- Resilience in action: Witnessing individuals’ journeys to becoming leaders served as a powerful reminder of human potential, even in adversity.
Participants left inspired: “These women show how resilience, supported by community and confidence, can transform society one person at a time.”
Jugaad experiments
A highlight of the Quest was the jugaad business challenges participants brought from their organizations. These real-world challenges became a platform for applying program insights. Peer groups collaborated to design resource-light, high-impact solutions inspired by India’s culture of innovation and adaptability. The resulting experiments were tailored for immediate testing within their teams.
A journey of growth, purpose, and lasting impact
The Quest bridged inspiration and action, equipping leaders to navigate complexity, innovate with purpose, and drive meaningful change. As another participant shared: “Leadership is about humanity, adaptability, and staying grounded in purpose while solving real-world challenges.”
Returning to their organization, these leaders carried the spirit of Mumbai: bold, resourceful, and empowered to drive change.
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