Rethinking GCC Leadership: A Series

Why do so many talented managers and leaders in India’s GCCs struggle to break out of the service mindset — even when they’re ready for more?

Having led a Global Delivery Center in India between 2013 and 2016, and worked with a wide range of GCC clients since 2018, I’ve been immersed in this world for over a decade.

And the patterns I’ve seen are too consistent to ignore:

1) Delivering high-quality services is a no-brainer. Transition playbooks, metrics, and organizational designs for service delivery are well-established and widely replicable.

2) Developing service delivery leaders into strategic thought leaders is hard. The journey is rarely smooth — for organizations or individuals. Deep-seated cultural paradigms often block leaders from stepping fully into ownership.

3) Smart organizational models that enable true empowerment are still rare. As long as local teams lack independence in budgets and people strategy, entrepreneurial thinking will remain stifled. Freedom to operate is essential.

Today, my vision is shaped not by my own ambitions, but by the GCC managers and leaders I work with:
- Eager to drive innovation, yet held back by lack of formal authority.
- Delivering relentlessly, but not having learned to sell their impact.
- Hesitating to challenge peers or seniors — because they’ve never been encouraged to do so.

If this resonates with you, follow along. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring what it takes to grow leadership in India’s GCCs — from transactional excellence to strategic influence.

What kind of impact do you want your leadership to create?

Every leader begins with intention — but intention alone does not shape a team. The impact you aspire to create becomes the invisible force that guides decisions, behaviors, and the culture you cultivate. Before you lead others, it is essential to understand why you want to lead at all. Is it to drive performance? To bring transformation? To uplift people? The clarity of your intention becomes the lens through which your team understands its purpose and the energy it brings to its work. When impact is defined, direction becomes natural. When it is missing, even the most skilled teams fall into confusion or inconsistency.

Are you building a team that speaks up or a team that waits?

Great teams do not thrive on harmony—they thrive on honesty. The question to reflect on is: Do people in your team speak freely, challenge ideas, admit mistakes, and disagree without fear? If the answer is no, the team is surviving, not growing.

A team that waits for instructions may deliver results, but it will never create breakthroughs. A team that questions, debates, and brings alternate perspectives becomes a source of innovation. Leaders who value compliance get followers. Leaders who value courage and shared responsibility build other leaders. And when everyone in the team feels accountable for outcomes—not just tasks—the quality of work naturally elevates beyond expectations.

Is your leadership centered around control or contribution?

Leadership evolves through three questions:
“What do I want?” → “What do you want?” → “What do they need?”

This shift reflects a leader’s maturity. Traditional leadership often revolves around the leader’s vision and priorities. But modern, purpose-driven leadership asks: Who are we here to serve? A leader who frames decisions around the community, the customer, or the larger purpose creates alignment far beyond personal ambition. When contribution becomes the north star, teams move from executing tasks to shaping meaningful impact.