When I first arrived in India in 2017 to take on the role of CEO of Randstad India, a large and complex organisation, the company was at a critical juncture as the ship was shaking and on the verge of sinking. Employee engagement and customer satisfaction were at an all-time low, and unsurprisingly, the business results were dismal. The scale of the challenge was daunting, with thousands of employees, multiple offices across this vast and diverse country, and a business that had lost its sense of purpose and value.
By a stroke of serendipity, shortly after my arrival, I was given the opportunity to attend an intensive executive leadership course at London Business School on transformational leadership. The timing could not have been better. What I was learning in the classroom, I was living every day in the real world in India.
During that course, my coach asked me a question that all leaders should occasionally ask themselves: “Paul, what is great leadership?” As I began to share my perspective, he stopped me mid-sentence and said, “Paul, you should write a book.”
That seed was planted in London. At the time, my hands were full with the task ahead, but in the months that followed, the idea of writing a book about game-changing leadership while still deep in the messy game started to gain momentum.
Another fortunate encounter followed in Delhi when Anurag Batra invited me to a BW Businessworld breakfast event with Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s leading leadership coach. We spoke about global leadership and what it means to be a true game-changing leader. Then came the question that would trigger my next chapter: “Paul, when is your book going to be published?”
Ten months later, The E5 Movement: Leadership Through the Rule of 5 was born. I wrote it for leaders at every level, grounded in my real-world experiences across Canada, Japan, India and beyond. It is not a theoretical study but a collection of real-life lessons from great leaders across business, politics, the arts, religion and science.
The audiobook soon followed, recorded in Bangalore during the toughest days of the pandemic, and later the Japanese edition, which became a bestseller. Now, five years on, I am thrilled to announce the release of the Hindi edition, making the E5 Movement accessible to an even wider audience.
Inspired by Isaac Newton’s words, “we see further when we stand on the shoulders of giants,” the E5 Movement offers a fresh perspective on the behaviours of exceptional leaders. It is built around five simple yet powerful principles:
- Envision
Leadership starts with a clear vision, a compelling “north star” that gives people purpose and direction. Without it, even the most talented teams lose their way. In India, I learned that vision must be both bold and relatable, stretching people beyond their comfort zone while connecting to their deepest values. Most importantly, the vision should be rooted in “why.”
- Express
A vision is meaningless unless communicated with authenticity and passion. Leaders must express the “why” behind every decision. In my turnaround role, I found that expressing the purpose behind each choice built trust and alignment across a diverse organisation. Like lessons learned from e-commerce, expressing purpose requires using every available channel to communicate effectively.
- Excite
True leaders ignite purpose and enthusiasm in others, creating a multiplier effect that drives extraordinary results. Energy is contagious. When people feel excited about the mission, they go above and beyond. In India, I saw firsthand how excitement spread like wildfire through the company, leading to remarkable results.
- Enable
Leaders must remove obstacles and empower teams with the resources and tools they need to succeed. Creating a culture where innovation and collaboration thrive is key. During the transformation, we invested in people development and process improvement. When people are enabled, they deliver extraordinary results. The enabling leader shows up with one clear purpose: to ensure that everyone can shine.
- Execute
Ideas mean nothing without disciplined execution. Leadership is about delivering on promises with accountability, ownership and follow-through. In India, once we combined a clear vision with strong communication, generated excitement and united leaders to enable everyone to succeed, execution became unstoppable. The turnaround that followed was unprecedented, with Randstad India achieving its best-ever results and setting new benchmarks globally.
The world has changed since the book’s first publication in 2020. The COVID-19 crisis reminded us that leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about authenticity, transparency and courage. As the Japanese proverb says, “As the rain falls, the roots grow stronger.” Crises do not just challenge us, they shape us.
If there is one lesson I hope readers take from The E5 Movement, it is this: everything begins and ends with people. Products evolve and markets shift, but people remain at the heart of every transformation. People do not join companies for logos or perks, they join leaders. They stay because of leaders. And they leave because of leaders.
India taught me this truth deeply. It also introduced me to jugaad, the art of creative problem-solving, which when combined with Japan’s kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, creates a powerful force for transformation. This blend helped my teams deliver record results, both in India and later in Japan, where Randstad became the company’s top-performing country globally.
Looking back, I see that the E5 Movement is more than a framework. It is a mindset and a promise. To envision boldly, express clearly, excite purposefully, enable fully and execute relentlessly. Leaders who embrace these principles do more than manage. They inspire, transform and create movements.
With the Hindi edition, my hope is simple: that this book becomes a trusted companion for leaders across India, inspiring them to be better every day, grow stronger through challenges and ignite movements of their own. The world needs leaders who are ready to step forward with courage, purpose and belief.
Authored by: Paul Dupuis – CEO, Leadership Coach, Author
.jpg) |
