Today, many progressive governments and corporate organizations worldwide display a desire for social change and a sense of urgency in adding value to the community and the environment. They are doing so on the back of new progressive leaders who are redefining leadership through their fresh, open-minded, innovative, and compassionate approach.
Progressive CEOs, leaders of organizations, or progressive political leaders are always keen to move ahead with the times. They always try to connect with the people around them at a personal level and remain humble and professional at all times. Such exemplary attitude paves the way to better organizations and societies with new progressive leaders becoming the torchbearers of positive change.
So, who are some of the most progressive leaders of the 21st century? Let us have a look.
New progressive leaders of the 21st century
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Sanjiv Bajaj, India
Sanjiv Bajaj is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv. . He comes first on our list of progressive leaders because he pioneered digital consumer lending in India, changing the financial services industry. As a result, Bajaj Finserv has risen to unprecedented heights by focusing on business excellence, long-term profitability, technology innovation, customer-centricity, and rigorous execution. Sanjiv Bajaj is also the CII President-Designate for 2021-22.
One of the most famous finance personalities in India, Sanjiv Bajaj, is also hailed for having progressive views on leadership. His focus on enabling employees to think like owners and take risks has created a flourishing, start-up-like culture at the company. It has also enabled Bajaj Finserv to innovate and grow exponentially while answering India’s financial inclusion needs with tech-based support and digital finance for underbanked communities. Consequently, customers and MSMEs from various Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions in India now enjoy seamless accessibility to loans, personal banking, insurance, etc.
Sanjiv ‘Bajaj’s Transformational Leader Award (large-cap category) 2017 at the Asian Center’s Leadership, Corporate Governance, Sustainability & CSR Awards and Business Leader of the Year award, 2018 is a testament to his progressive ideals.
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Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, is among the world’s most influential women and new progressive leaders for her worldwide reach, tolerance, and leadership. In 2018, she became the first global leader in bringing a newborn to the United Nations general assembly.
A thrifty leader, Ardern froze MPs’ wages in 2018 and insisted on them carpooling to places or events. Her government’s reaction to the Christchurch terrorist attack in 2019 was praised globally. Her sympathy for the victims won her global acclaim. A picture of her embracing someone from the community of Christchurch Muslims with the phrase ‘peace’ in Arabic and English was projected onto the tallest skyscraper globally.
Under Ardern’s leadership, New Zealand is now recognised as a leader in women’s rights, workplace rights, and taking action on the climate problem.
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Satya Nadella, US
Next on our list of new progressive leaders in the 21st century is Satya Nadella – the CEO of Microsoft. After becoming the head of the global software giant in 2014, Nadella has brought about a growth mindset and brought Microsoft back from the brink of irrelevance. As a result, the company’s market capitalization increased significantly. A striking example of how through progressive-thinking and people-centric ideas can transform the company
Under his leadership, Microsoft now has a renewed mission to “”empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more””. With this as his key leadership motto, Nadella has driven a change in the culture of the company by focusing on the principles of empathy, growth mindset, learning, growth, and collaboration. He rebranded the ‘C’ in CEO as culture.
Therefore, he has been recognise for his progressive leadership mantras and achievements across the world. Some of his accolades include being a Time 100 honouree in 2018 and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2022. Financial Times also named Satya Nadella as the Person of the Year in 2019.
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Sanna Marin, Finland
Sanna is third on our list of progressive leaders because Sanna Marin became the youngest Prime Minister of Finland ever at 34 years of age. As well as this, 4 out of 5 parties in the administration of the coalition are heade by women.
Under Marin’s progressive leadership, in February 2020, Finland’s women-led government-approved equal paid leave for parents plus one month for the mother. Finland has also pledged to become carbon neutral by 2035. She has also set her eyes on cutting down traffic emissions by 50% by 2030.
In 2020, Sanna Marin was ranke amongst the 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes. She was also covere by Time Magazine for the Time 100 Next issue that revolved around 100 globally influential leaders!
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Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland
At barely 43, Katrin Jakobsdottir is among the youngest women to govern a European nation. She was electe the country’s Prime Minister in 2017. Iceland was voted the greatest nation for women in 2019 because of the Jakobsdottir government enacting the world’s strictest equal pay law.
One of the few led by an ecological party, her administration has drawn a 34-step plan to reduce emissions by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2040 (ten years ahead of the continental European objective).
Progressive leadership is all about diversity, social transformation, and combating climate change. The governance illustrated by Katrin Jakobsdottir is only a sampling of how progressive leadership may accomplish employment and gender equality and much more to push a country’s people forward into the future.
Conclusion
As you may have read in our list of progressive leaders, these modern-day heads of governments and corporations are shaping a better world for one and all. While some like Sanjiv Bajaj are bridging the financial gap in society and driving millions towards inclusivity and equality, others like Sanna Marin are shaping national policies that will have a huge impact on society and the environment from the ground up. These are the role models to look up to for any aspiring leader!
While there are a multitude of leaders around the world, only a few can claim to be truly progressive. A progressive leader is one who has a finger on the pulse of the society and world and truly understands
Such leaders can be found in the 21st century across political offices as well as corporate organizations. Take a look at five progressive leaders in the era who are shaping the way forward through modern leadership principles, and strong innovation.
famous finance personalities in India
