Profile
Prof Rajesh K Pillania is India’s leading voice at the intersection of Happiness, Strategy and Innovation. Widely known as India’s Happiness Professor, he is a leading academic, author, researcher, and executive educator who helps CEOs, CXOs, CHROs, policymakers, and senior leaders translate happiness, strategic clarity, and innovation capability into leadership, high performance, and impact.
His philosophy is: Happiness Nourishes. Strategy Guides. Innovation Transforms.
For over two decades, Prof Pillania has taught thousands of students and executives in India and abroad. He is known for making powerful ideas simple, humorous, practical and actionable, and for taking them from classrooms to boardrooms, executive programmes, public platforms, media conversations and leadership practice.
His happiness work positions happiness as a serious leadership and performance agenda rather than a soft idea. He has taught Happiness Strategy to thousands of students and executives and has authored books and reports, including The Indian Practice of Happiness: Secrets from Centenarians, Happiness Strategy, India Happiness Report, India Cities Happiness Report, India Happiness and World Happiness.
As a recognised strategy scholar and educator, Prof Pillania has been rated and awarded as a Top Professor of Strategy in India by ASSOCHAM and Education Post. His strategy work helps leaders move from complexity to clarity, from intent to execution and from performance pressure to strategic impact.
His innovation work helps leaders and organisations build curiosity, creativity, adaptability and transformation capability. He positions innovation as useful, meaningful and impactful change, not merely novelty or technology. His first-of-their-kind courses and learning formats, such as Happiness Strategy, Strategic Intuition, Strategic Impact, Gandhi & Strategy and Strategic Humour, reflect his ability to create fresh, memorable and high-impact learning experiences.
A defining feature of Prof Pillania’s work is the democratisation of Happiness, Strategy and Innovation. Through research, books, executive education, public talks, media engagement, and practical frameworks, he makes powerful ideas accessible and useful to leaders, institutions, and society.
Prof Pillania is a multiple award-winning and globally recognised researcher. He has been ranked jointly number one in average research productivity among management faculty in India, including IIMs and IITs, for research output from 1968 to 2014, and globally number three for research publications on India in business management from 1960 to 2010. He has authored several books and reports on happiness, strategy and innovation and has written research papers and popular articles. His research work is endorsed by global icons, management legends and industry leaders including HH Dalai Lama, Prof. Philip Kotler, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Dr. Ruut Veenhoven, Prof. Sir Cary Cooper, Dr. Jaideep Prabhu, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, Dr. Dasho Karma Ura, Héctor García, Harsh Goenka, Harsh Mariwala, Ashok Soota, Padma Bhushan Prof. Jagdish N. Sheth, Padma Bhushan Dr. M. B. Athreya and Padma Bhushan Ajai Chowdhry, among others.
He has shared insights with millions on television and radio in India and internationally, including in Asia, North America, South America, Africa and the Middle East. His ideas have been covered by international, national and regional media, including Travel + Leisure, Yahoo News, MSN, Perfil, LA NACION, Daily Financial Times, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, Mint, Business Standard, India Today, NDTV, Moneycontrol, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Manorama and Ananda Bazaar Patrika.
His academic and research experience includes IIMs, the R. H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, Harvard University, and MDI Gurgaon, among others.
Prof Rajesh K Pillania is a go-to thought leader in India for leaders and institutions seeking to harness Happiness, Strategy and Innovation for leadership, high performance and impact.
Email: rajesh@pillania.org