This year, SJMSOM also invited Sri Sri Ravishankarji, whose
message proved to be very simple, and yet extremely pertinent:
that Leadership works
through examples.
As he pointed out, the best form of communication for a leader was
to live by example – to be totally open, sincere and inclusive. One needs to nurture
a sense of belongingness and of responsibility, be able to convey through one's
presence, and above all cultivate non-verbal communication skills. Leaders must
achieve timely communication and try to make it a two-way process by evoking
a reciprocal response.
Several other speakers invited for the Leadership
Lecture Series 2005 while recounting their personal experiences,
offered valuable insights
on how
effective leadership
can work. Mrs Ranjana Kumar, Chairperson of NABARD, related the challenges
specific to leading a PSU. Under her leadership the bank which suffered
losses for eight
successive years transformed into a healthy, profitable organization.
Likewise, Mrs Lalita Gupte expounded on how a development financial
institution was
transformed to a Universal Bank by learning about retail banking
and market entry to number
of overseas destinations.
Mr Harsh Mariwalla, Chairman, MARICO Industries, narrated
the story of another kind of transformation i.e. making
over Marico from a
closely held family
managed firm to a highly professionally managed organization. He
emphasized on the
need for Innovation/Incubation, IT deployment, maintaining growth
and market leadership,
cost management and internationalization, in the context of present
scenario
in the FMCG sector.
Mr Baba Kalyani's (Chairman, Bharat Forge Ltd) presentation
proved to be yet another inspiring account, as he described
the process
of converting
a small
auto ancillary manufacturing company to a truly global leader.
The key ingredients to the success lay in having a well-stated
strategic
intent,
acquisition
of firms and successfully merging it in developed countries like
Germany, as a
result
of which Bharat Forge emerged as the most competitive forging
company in
the world.
Referring to some of his own lifetime experiences, Dr Vijay
Mallya, Chairman, UB Group offered stirring, simple and
encouraging homilies
on leadership.
As he pointed out, the key strengths of a leader lay in self-belief
and confidence, and a passion that "one can do it". Dr Swati Piramal, Director -Strategy,
Nicholas Piramal, adopted a most innovative and subtle way of relating the essence
of leadership – through story, music and a high quality video.
Speaking about the challenges confronting the academia today,
Prof Ashok Misra, Director, IIT Bombay recounted what was
necessary to leading an
institute of
higher learning like IIT Bombay. His talk captured the changes
that higher technical education is undergoing globally.
As
one delves deeper into the foundations of Leadership, one is
faced with the challenge of understanding an entire
range
of 'inner'
human
qualities
that extend
beyond rational intelligence. There is a uniqueness associated
with the style of leadership displayed by an individual;
something which
does
not seem to
follow any standard theory or prescription. The essence
of leadership may lie in fostering
and giving expression to skills which are popularly described
as 'soft', and are more emotive or intuitive in nature.
