Hitendra's Story

Hitendra’s mission is to discover, codify, and teach the laws of success in life and leadership. With an MBA and Ph.D. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a lifelong study of the world’s mystic traditions, Wadhwa brings a mathematician’s rigor and a truth-seeker’s spirit to some of today’s most vexing questions about authenticity, success, leadership, and human potential. He has codified many of these principles in his book, “Inner Mastery, Outer Impact: How Your Five Core Energies Hold the Key to Success”, published by Hachette Book Group in 2022.

As Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School and Founder of the Mentora Institute, he has coached dozens of Fortune 100 C-suite executives and taught more than ten thousand MBAs, executives, doctors, lawyers, social activists, and educators. His class on Personal Leadership & Success at Columbia has for many years been the most popular leadership elective, earning him the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the Executive-MBA Commitment to Excellence Award.

Hitendra’s work has been covered by leading media including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Forbes, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and more. Hitendra’s lessons, says the BBC World Service, “are about how to become a master of yourself before trying to be a master of the universe.” Psychology Today states, “The award-winning professor promises not how to make a living, but how to live.”

Hitendra’s podcast, Intersections, features acclaimed thought leaders and practitioners reflecting on how to dissolve cultural, disciplinary and other boundaries to achieve our highest potential in life.

Wadhwa’s Mentora Institute is at the forefront of creating a simple, inspiring, and personalized approach to developing leaders. His clients include Accenture, Chevron, Ericsson, Kraft Heinz, Lululemon, Morgan Stanley, New York Times, SAP, the Tata Group, and United Health Group.

His nonprofit organization, Mentora Foundation, is developing a fellowship of global changemakers who are committed to building a principled world by strengthening the moral, mental, and social fibers in their families, organizations, communities, and nations, starting with their own selves.

Previously, Wadhwa was a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and the CEO/founder of a Silicon Valley start-up, Paramark, which was twice recognized as a Top-100 Internet technology company by Technologic Partners/Venture Wire.

Articles

Leadership in Flow Brings Balance to Work and Life

In this in-depth interview, Hitendra Wadhwa discusses his leadership model, which harmonizes Eastern spiritual wisdom with Western practical approaches. He elaborates on how his framework, which focuses on five core energies, challenges conventional leadership training and adapts to modern organizational needs. Wadhwa also explores the concept of 'leadership in flow', emphasizing its role in enhancing work-life balance and leadership effectiveness in contemporary settings.

How To Ratchet Up The ‘Current Best You’ In Pursuit Of Mastery

Ratcheting up the “current best you” in the pursuit of mastery requires fusing a healthy appreciation of and self-confidence in that current best you with the balancing humility required to be open to others’ helping you get ever better. This proposition is derived from a combination of Roger Neill’s ”current best thinking” approach and Hitendra Wadhwa’s “Inner Mastery, Outer Impact” book.

Building a People-centric DEIA Strategy

What is the right way to approach diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the workplace? In this interview conducted by Connex Partners, Hitendra talks about the importance of moving beyond traditional DEIA models, to build a more nuanced, people-centric strategy that honors every individual.

Learn to Trust Your Inner Core to Make Tough Choices

Coronavirus has not simply shaken up our daily routines - it has also shaken up the way we make daily choices and tradeoffs. So how do you make the right decisions when your old playbook is obsolete and no expert can guide you to a perfect answer?

Columbia Launches its First Online Leadership Programme

In his pursuit to advance the scientifically validated techniques of turning inner mastery into outer impact, Hitendra Wadhwa launches the course 'Personal Sucess and Leadership' at Columbia Business School (CBS) in conjunction with Mentora Insitute, with CBS becoming one of the pioneers amongst the Ivy Leagues to welcome online-only programs.

On the Lesson Plan: Feelings

Although business schools have traditionally excelled at teaching "hard skills" like finance and accounting, more programs are now incorporating courses on "soft skills," like accepting feedback with grace and speaking to subordinates, with Wadhwa's class at Columbia being one of the frontrunners in this continuing push to mold better future leaders.

Small Actions Make Great Leaders

Leadership has traditionally been taught as a set of larger actions, such as having a difficult conversation or coaching someone. In reality, leading well is an integrated activity, in which one is doing many things simultaneously.

Can One Man Save American Business?

One's emotions, values, motivations are all inner-life issues that are often lost from view in the typical focus of business and management. However, Hitendra Wadhwa believes that inner life matters increasingly in business. He argues that self-regulation can achieve what market regulation cannot — great business leadership.

Lessons You Can Learn in Business School That Aren't Taught in Class

In the two years Hitendra was at Columbia Business School, he learned how to value a company down to the penny of its stock price and forecast budgets years into the future. But there were certain lessons that weren't on the syllabus that have proven to be even more invaluable.

Is This The Answer To Diversity And Inclusion?

Organizations spend about $8 billion per year on D&I training with little to show for their efforts. Recent research shows that they can even have a negative impact on diversity outcomes. The answer to this deeply entrenched problem — a shift from the outer to the inner — couldn't have come at a better time.

I Failed to Keep My 2018 Resolution. Here's Why It Was a Success Anyway

In this introspective article, Hitendra argues that progress can be measured in different, unexpected ways. Perhaps there is a new metric we can all use to assess our progress on whatever goal we set for ourselves. Not about how many moments of greatness we have practiced, but how much greatness we have practiced in our moments.

5 Pillars of Becoming a Self-Aware Leader

Americans are obsessed with doing. We like to be in constant motion even if we don’t always have a clear sense of exactly where we are going. As long as we are moving, we feel productive. But this steady movement is often unnecessary and unproductive, and professor Hitendra Wadhwa from Columbia University, is trying to change this mentality.

The Greeting That Could Help Get Us Through This

Within the word 'Namaste' is encoded not only a whole philosophy of yoga but also a powerful quality of being inclusive, which is physically impossible to achieve with handshakes or other gestures. Hitendra writes that during the coronavirus pandemic, the namaste greeting's no-contact benefits are increasingly important — and meaningful.

The Evolution of a Great Leader

In a letter from Mandela in jail to his wife, Winnie, he wrote: "Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps trying." In this article, Hiitendra Wadhwa argues that despite Mandela's flaws, and perhaps because of them, we find there is much more to consider about the late Nelson Mandela's development as a leader.

— IN THE PRESS —

Radio Interviews and Podcasts

BBC World Service Interview with Professor Hitendra Wadhwa

BBC World Service interviews Columbia Business School Professor Hitendra Wadhwa, Founder, Institute for Personal Leadership, on how he embarked on his spiritual journey, why he launched Personal Leadership at Columbia, and whether spirituality and business can co-exist. Learn about Professor Wadhwa’s personal quest to resolve this question.

Redefining The Practice of Leadership: Prof Hitendra Wadhwa

The new approach to leadership is about mastering your inner landscape. Discover how self-mastery — exploring who you are, curating the values and emotions that drive your behaviors, and channeling purpose — critically impacts your interactions in life and leadership.

Awake: The Life of Yogananda Minute by Minute

Hitendra Wadhwa’s appearances in Awake: The Life of Yogananda were simultaneously inspirational and graceful, no mean feat. With the much deliberated “How to Live” themes discussed in this podcast, Hitendra offers a unique (and it must be noted, world renowned) perspective on harmonising the inner spiritual striving with the outer material quest for success.

The Importance of Self-Mastery in Leadership

Professor Hitendra Wadhwa’s Personal Leadership & Success is Columbia Business School’s most popular leadership elective. It’s easy to see why. Blending his cultural heritage and experiences in business, psychology, mathematics, with Eastern mystical traditions, Wadhwa investigates how business leaders – and everyone – can best reach their potential.

Leadership Lesson From Lincoln

"It wasn't Abraham Lincoln's strengths but the self-discipline with which he used those strengths for the right purpose." The Founder of Mentora Institute and Professor at Columbia Business School, Professor Hitendra Wadhwa, shares How Lincoln Became America's Greatest President with the BFM 89.9 Business Radio Station.

Happiness from Eastern Wisdom

To be effective in your life and work, you must be willing to expand your happiness horizons beyond your own culture. Arthur and Hitendra Wadhwa, Founder of Mentora Institute, discuss how blending Eastern and Western philosophies can help you discover your full potential and build a life on the foundations of moral living, spiritual practice and wisdom.

How to Use Ancient Indian Wisdom to Maximize Positive Impact in Modern Times

Hitendra Wadhwa helps us to understand the essence of ancient Indian wisdom and how it can positively impact our lives in this modern world. Do these ancient ideas remain valid in today's times? Is there a place for tradition in our lives and could this ancient wisdom be the answer to what so many are searching for?

How Would Lincoln Guide Our Nation Today?

In April 2020, Hitendra Wadhwa happened to read a piece of history from almost exactly 157 years ago. The Civil War was raging and amidst the greatest crisis of their lifetime, what did Lincoln invite people to do? He asked the American people to slow down, step back and make time for a day of prayer and reflection. As we go through the crisis of our lifetime, Hitendra and Max discuss timeless wisdom from Lincoln about entering into a state of humble inquiry.

Channeling Emotions Productively with Hitendra Wadhwa

There are more possibilities to our personality than what 20th century science has confined us to. Latest learnings from 21st century science allow us to break away from the shackles of these limiting beliefs and pursue a path that is more authentic to our true self. Learn more from this podcast by Mentora founder Hitendra Wadhwa.

President Trump's White House: Chaos or Effective Leadership?

Political observers raised serious questions about how the White House — and a country — can be run in a maelstrom of mixed policy signals, constant leaks, and damaging scandals in Trump's presidency. Hitendra discusses how chaos shapes leadership and the opportunities yielded by the former climate in the White House.

Hitendra's Story

— IN THE PRESS —

Articles

Leadership in Flow Brings Balance to Work and Life

How To Ratchet Up The ‘Current Best You’ In Pursuit Of Mastery

Building a People-centric DEIA Strategy

Learn to Trust Your Inner Core to Make Tough Choices

Columbia Launches its First Online Leadership Programme

On the Lesson Plan: Feelings

Small Actions Make Great Leaders

Can One Man Save American Business?

Lessons You Can Learn in Business School That Aren't Taught in Class

Is This The Answer To Diversity And Inclusion?

I Failed to Keep My 2018 Resolution. Here's Why It Was a Success Anyway

5 Pillars of Becoming a Self-Aware Leader

The Greeting That Could Help Get Us Through This

The Evolution of a Great Leader

— IN THE PRESS —

Radio Interviews and Podcasts

BBC World Service Interview with Professor Hitendra Wadhwa

Redefining The Practice of Leadership: Prof Hitendra Wadhwa

Awake: The Life of Yogananda Minute by Minute

The Importance of Self-Mastery in Leadership

Leadership Lesson From Lincoln

Happiness from Eastern Wisdom

How to Use Ancient Indian Wisdom to Maximize Positive Impact in Modern Times

How Would Lincoln Guide Our Nation Today?

Channeling Emotions Productively with Hitendra Wadhwa

President Trump's White House: Chaos or Effective Leadership?

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