In the corner offices of today’s companies and the buzzing workstations of startups alike, a silent revolution is brewing — one that isn’t just about hybrid work, AI, or productivity tools. It’s about people. Or more specifically, how people feel seen, heard, and valued — or increasingly, how they don’t.

We are in a moment of quiet crisis. We at Aaroha – The Humanistic Leadership Project, conducted a survey in February 2025 among CEOs of large and medium enterprises to understand the key challenges when it came to the workplace. A key finding from this research was that the traditional employment contract—a mutual understanding of loyalty, security, and fair compensation between employer and employee—has been steadily eroding.Research by McKinsey in 2022 found that nearly 40% of employees globally were considering quitting their jobs, not just for better pay, but for meaning, purpose, and autonomy. In India, a Deloitte survey (2023) found that 54% of Gen Z employees feel disconnected from their managers, citing lack of empathy and agency as top reasons for disengagement.

Here’s the core issue: people don’t feel like agents of their own careers. Managers feel constrained by top-down decision-making. Teams feel micromanaged. Everyone feels like a cog. In the scramble for efficiency and scale, we’ve forgotten something essential: the person at the heart of leadership.

That’s why it’s time to turn to Indian philosophy — not as spiritual nostalgia, but as a deeply practical and powerful framework for leadership in modern times.

Indian Philosophy: A Leadership Toolkit We’ve Ignored

At its core, Indian philosophy is not a monolith — it’s a living, breathing ecosystem of ideas. From the Bhagavad Gita to the Upanishads, from Buddhist mindfulness to Jain ethics, Indian thought offers a rich vocabulary for leadership that is rooted not in control, but in consciousness.

Let’s start with agency — the sense that you have the ability to choose your response, shape your path, and influence your world. The Gita teaches us a foundational truth: “Karmanye vadhikaraste, ma phaleshu kadachana” — You have the right to action, but not to the fruits of the action.

At first glance, this may sound like a call to passive detachment. But dig deeper, and it’s an invitation to own your effort, to act with integrity without being paralyzed by outcome anxiety. In leadership terms, it’s about internal locus of control. It tells a manager: focus on what you can influence — clarity, compassion, courage — and let go of what you cannot — market swings, office politics, or a new CEO.

This idea alone can be transformative. In a coaching session with a mid-level leader in a tech company, I once asked her what she could control in her toxic team environment. After a pause, she said, “Only how I show up.” We started from there. Three months later, she hadn’t just improved the team’s dynamics; she’d been promoted — because she’d stopped waiting for permission to lead.

Why This Matters Now More Than Ever

The pandemic was more than a disruption — it was a collective disillusionment. It forced people to ask: What really matters? Why am I doing this job? What am I becoming?

And while Western leadership models have offered valuable tools — emotional intelligence, strengths-based development, systems thinking — they often stop at the mind. Indian philosophy invites us to go deeper — to the self.

It reminds us that leadership is first an inner journey. The yamas and niyamas of yoga, for example, are not just about physical discipline. They offer a moral compass: ahimsa (non-violence) teaches us to lead without harm; satya (truthfulness) asks us to speak with integrity. These are not “soft skills” — they are soul skills.

And let’s be honest: in a world of performative leadership and LinkedIn optics, we’re starving for authenticity. Employees can sniff out inauthenticity faster than ever. Leadership that doesn’t arise from within just doesn’t stick.

The Future of Leadership is Indian — and Universal

This is not about replacing one model with another. It’s about integrating the wisdom we already have in our backyard — and which the world is starting to pay attention to. Global companies are bringing mindfulness into boardrooms. CEOs are quoting the Gita at conferences. But what if we stopped treating Indian philosophy like a decorative element and started using it as the foundation?

Imagine if performance appraisal conversations began not with KPIs but with reflection and self-inquiry. Imagine teams that understand dharma — not as duty imposed from above, but as the alignment of one’s inner nature with outer action.

Because when leaders act from that place — where competence meets consciousness — they don’t just manage teams. They move people.

In a time when employee surveys reveal disengagement, burnout, and confusion, it’s tempting to fix the surface — perks, pay, policies. But what we really need is a shift in how we see ourselves and each other at work.

Indian philosophy doesn’t give us all the answers. But it gives us better questions: Who am I? What can I control? How can I serve?

And , that’s where real leadership begins.

This article is written by Haritha Kandala. Kalpana Sinha and Ketaki Kadekar who are Managing Partners at Aaroha the Humanistic Leadership Project – a leadership consulting firm inspired by Indian Philosophy