ABSTRACT
This paper conducts a qualitative secondary data analysis of publicly documented communication behaviour among fifteen senior Indian and Indian-origin executives, seven women and eight men, examining how gendered expectations shape the interpretation of executive presence. Using documentary research and behavioural content analysis of interviews, keynote appearances, World Economic Forum sessions, business television segments, and published profiles, the paper compares recurring communication patterns, including directness, narrative style, humour, composure, outspokenness, and empathetic listening, across cases drawn from biopharmaceuticals, consumer goods, luxury retail, e-commerce, asset management, technology, banking, financial services, automotive, and diversified conglomerates. Findings show that directness and outspokenness attract descriptive language emphasising personal exception when performed by women, while the same qualities are treated as unremarkable and frequently celebrated in the men sampled. Composure and calm are consistently described as institutional strength in men, while comparable composure in women is more often folded into relational or values-based framing. These patterns are interpreted through Social Role Theory, Role Congruity Theory, Status Characteristics Theory, and the Double Bind literature. The paper argues that Indian and Indian-origin corporate media coverage reproduces, rather than corrects, the gendered asymmetry documented in Western organisational research, and offers practical implications for boards, coaches, and HR leaders.
Keywords: executive presence, gendered communication, documentary research, qualitative content analysis, Indian corporate leadership, double bind, role congruity theory
