Cultivating Leadership Enters India via Partnering The Core Questin

Cultivating Leadership, a leadership development firm is entering the Indian market through a joint venture with The Core Questin, a Delhi-based consulting firm. The Core Questin has been working with Indian and international organizations since 2020, helping leaders and teams thrive in an increasingly complex environment.  

Cultivating Leadership, a certified B Corporation is renowned for its expertise in adult development and complexity. This partnership will introduce its globally validated tools and approaches to Indian organizations, backed by a worldwide network of coaches, advisors, and facilitators.

Key Highlights of the Collaboration:  

• A new entity will be established in India under the Cultivating Leadership brand. 
• Leadership will include Keith Johnston (Cultivating Leadership) and Shweta Anand Arora (The Core Questin) as Directors, supported by their respective leadership teams. 
• The venture will deliver leadership experiences, tools, and frameworks grounded in theory and proven through Cultivating Leadership’s global work. 
• Clients will gain access to the expertise of over 90 coaches, advisors, and facilitators from Cultivating Leadership’s network across regions like Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. 
• By merging The Core Questin’s expertise in the Indian C-Suite with Cultivating Leadership’s global capabilities, the partnership is uniquely positioned to address leadership challenges in India’s diverse and complex market.  

Leadership Challenges in a Complex World

The growing frequency and impact of global disruptions have highlighted the need for leaders to rethink traditional approaches. A 2021 EY survey of global board directors revealed that while 87% recognized increasing market disruptions, only 52% felt their companies effectively understood interconnected risks. Events like the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, and rapid technological advancements underscore the need for leaders to navigate uncertainty with adaptability and resilience.  

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2024 emphasizes challenges like climate change, conflict, and technological shifts amid economic uncertainty. While these challenges are significant, they also present an opportunity to reimagine leadership approaches for a rapidly changing world. Leaders who can embrace uncertainty, foster resilience, and align teams around a shared purpose can turn disruptions into opportunities. 

Cultivating Leadership and The Core Questin aim to equip top management with the skills needed to address today’s complexity. This includes tools to navigate external unpredictability and manage the internal discomfort of limited control. Cultivating Leadership offers a deep understanding of adult development theories and real-world applications, enabling leaders to adopt a sense-making approach rather than relying solely on traditional problem-solving.  

By leveraging this expertise alongside The Core Questin’s understanding of the Indian market, organizations will be better positioned to thrive amid complexity. This collaboration is a step forward in preparing Indian leaders to embrace uncertainty, build resilience, and lead with adaptability in an interconnected world.

Reflecting on this collaboration, Shweta Anand Arora, CEO of The Core Questin, stated, “This partnership marks a pivotal moment for leadership development in India. Over the past four years, we’ve observed that while the Indian market stands on the brink of significant economic growth, this is coming at a cost. We are asking so much of our leaders - delivering growth and profit, while managing the diverse expectations and dynamics of an inter-generational workforce, learning how to embrace and leverage tectonic shifts in technology, and dealing with external events that continue to create uncertainty. None of this is easy, and often the tools leaders have learned and that have served them so well in dealing with complicated problems - are just not sufficient here.  We were excited to discover the work of Cultivating Leadership and to now bring it to India  - not only because it is new and cutting-edge, but because it offers hope for leaders. It shows how we can grow ourselves to deal with all of this complexity - in very concrete and practical ways. We are looking forward to engaging with leaders and organisations through this work - that has the potential to empower them to deal with today’s complexities with greater ease and joy! ”

Elaborating on their decision to enter the Indian market, Jennifer Garvey Berger, Co-Founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership, remarked, “Around the world, leaders see India as a key frontier for growth—a place full of possibility, whether they’re entering the market for the first time or expanding their presence. But India’s rich cultural diversity and vibrant complexity require a thoughtful, tailored approach. Partnering with The Core Questin, we’re excited to explore this dynamic space together, creating experiences that help Indian leaders and global organisations not just navigate this complexity, but thrive within it.”

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