Indian CEOs enjoy highest approval, says survey

LOS ANGELES - Executives in India have the highest faith in their CEOs and general corporate leadership, says a survey of 13 major nations.

Executives in China, Brazil and Russia also have much more faith in their CEOs and general corporate leadership than their counterparts in the US, Canada and Britain, says the survey released Tuesday.

The survey, ‘Confidence in Leadership Index’, was done by the Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry International, a global provider of talent management solutions.

The survey showed wide differences in how executives feel about the direction under CEOs.

On a scale from -100 (getting worse) to +100 (getting better), executives in India, China, Brazil and Russia expressed strongest support for their corporate bosses, posting scores of 52, 53, 44 and 26 respectively against a global mean of 22.

On the other hand, with their mean scores of -1, -4 and -5, executives in Canada, the US and Britain showed their lack of confidence in their corporate bosses.

Interestingly, Indian executives ranked the credibility of their CEOs at 81 and the credibility of their corporate leadership in general at 78 - the highest among 13 countries.

The global mean for CEO credibility was 69 and for corporate leadership in general it was 70.

The confidence in CEOs and corporate leadership globally increased during the past year, hinting that economic recovery is under way after the global meltdown.

“Increased confidence at the CEO level is a powerful indicator of business recovery,” said Ana Dutra, CEO, Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting.

“Leaders at the top of the house set the tone for their organisations, and steadily increasing support indicates that CEOs’ actions are instilling confidence in their employees, peers and directors,” Dutra said in a statement.

The Direction of Leadership index rose 3.7 points to 26.3 in the first quarter of 2010, indicating that confidence in CEOs globally is back after the economic meltdown.