One can lead teams with empathy while managing teams with efficacy was the key takeaway of the Women’s Leadership Programme that was organised at the Jio Institute.
The programme that ringed in with the study of Katz framework prolonged into a deep understanding of technical, interpersonal and conceptual skills. Mr. Rakesh Godhwani, Founder of School of Meaningful Experiences, asked the participants to be on a mission to transform themselves. He emphasised the importance of fluent interpersonal relationships on an office floor, and how being approachable or anticipating a colleague’s problems could lead to a high achieving and well-managed office environment.
Dr. Padmaja Palekar, People Experience, Global Mobility - Asia, Unilever, taught the participants various methods for a leader to present oneself affably. One such exercise was to divulge a peculiar fact about one’s self while introducing oneself with an alliterative adjective.
The participants also learnt to deploy leadership skills in VUCA environments. Dr Palekar, Mr. Godhwani and Dr. Nilay Yajnik, Professor & Director-Executive Education, Jio Institute drove discussions on holding one’s guard in tough environments. Dr. Yajnik asked the participants to thrive with visibility in the era of volatile job market. He added after graduation there is a pervasive ambiguity that graduating students experience in concerns of their careers but the students should maintain their confidence despite the circumstances. Similarly, professionals should imbue conviction in them and resolve the difficulties of volatile markets with patience, finding customised solutions for problems .
An exercise in gaining insight from films:
The programme also involved learning from various aspects of our culture and society. The participants watched the movie Invictus and learnt how to employ fortitude and ideation of leadership through the example of Nelson Mandela. The free-flow of ideas arising out of the streaming of the movie invited a fine discussion around many contemporary topics and much a fine commentary for the intelligentsia. The anecdotes discussed from the life of Nelson Mandela emboldened a narrative on virtues like standing up for one’s firm belief, benefits of grit and determination, and sticking to one’s dreams against all odds.
Dr. Anuradha Narasimhan, Professor of Entrepreneurship, IIT, Bombay and VP, Britannia, explained to the participants how while launching for the first time in the market, one has to compete with the inhibitions of the potential customers whereas while launching with a competition in the market one has to have a better product.
A programme set for success:
Mr. Yogesh Malik, the head of Jio-bp academy emphasised how the programme was equipped to be catering to the “big picture,” while the participants participated in the laudatory venture. The CEO of Jio-bp, Mr. Harish Mehta commended the venture and extolled it as genuinely worthwhile to bring conversations ahead. The CFO of Jio-bp, Mr. Vinod Tahilani mentioned how the objective to help women grow to become inspiration for others was fulfilled. Such participation helped Jio-bp gather a pool of miscellaneous talents. Accomplishing this mission of participation of women from multiple sections of Jio-bp was predominantly set in motion by Ms Rachita Chatterjee, head of Bio-fuels & Strategic Sourcing and Ms Rama Gummalla, head of Procurement & Contracts. The women exclaimed of their happiness and satiation after having accomplished the programme that contributed to decision making, influencing and thinking skills of the participants.
In conclusion, the programme proved to be a source of immense value addition for the personnel seeking inputs for honing their business skills and strategy. The programme helping one seek satiation in life, further provided a fertile ground for networking and communication, benefitting the participants in an all-comprehensive manner.