Integral leadership is key to management excellence

Fresh graduates, desiring to become future leaders, opt for an MBA Degree hoping to attain a highly successful career. However, it is important to choose a program that offers adequate industry exposure and, more importantly, appropriate understanding of the corporate world.

“Self-awareness, self-discovery and self-realisation are the fundamental pre-requisites essential to adapt to the current corporate culture,” says Anand K Nair, founder and CEO of the Academy for Excellence in Management Education (AEME), Bangalore.

In association with Vasavi Educational Trust, AEME recently launched Executive and Advanced MBA  programmes leading to an MBA degree with Post Graduate Diploma in Leadership
Development. “Students must look for programs and institutions that offer practical value addition and updated specialisations, rather than mere materialistic accessories packaged to beat the competition,” he says.

“No two leaders are alike!” he points out. “Many students and professionals are unaware of their true leadership potential. ‘Integral Leadership’ deals with one’s own leadership potential — the power within.  Understanding corporate leadership becomes easier and more meaningful with the understanding and practise of integral leadership,” he affirms. “The corporate world seeks effective leaders, right from entry level positions,” he agrees, addressing the current need. “Corporates expect employees to be masters in what they know and what they do.”

Some large corporate entities have their own training centres or in-house training divisions designed to create mastery in executing tasks and raising performance standards. This clearly indicates the existing gap between what the organisations expect and what they get from fresh recruits, he explains. “There exists a clear gap — for want of leaders.” The new understanding of a ‘leader’ is one who operates from his/her ‘higher consciousness’, he maintains. “Such leaders develop mastery in what they need to know and what they need to do. An educational program that does not create such leaders cannot create professionals who are effective and efficient right from entry level position.”
Why leadership?

“Managers get work done from subordinates, while leaders, with their ideas and ideals, inspire followers everywhere,” observes Prof NS Ramaswamy, founder-director of IIM, Bangalore and chief mentor, AEME.

KG Ramachandran, chairperson, AEME Governing Council and former director of Infosys Leadership Institute, says,  “Successful leaders have always been exemplary in their traits and behaviors.”
The specialized leadership program revolves around this fact, as it aims to create effective and ethical leadership traits amongst future leaders.

“While most prevalent corporate models of leadership education try to effect behavioral and personality changes, AEME’s Integral Leadership program works directly on the very roots of behavior and personality: the consciousness itself,” says Partho Sanyal, facilitator, Integral Leadership Education.

“Real and effective leadership is not a matter of learning techniques and mental formulas, or changing behavior patterns to suit a professional need,” according to Sri Partho, educationist and practitioner of Vedanta. “Real leadership is a direct function of what we are and what we possess — within and beyond ourselves. In other words, leadership is a function of our whole consciousness and not merely of our personality.”
Self-motivation

“Present day youth are passionate about starting their own business ventures. However, lack of funds is often a serious obstacle,” says Christy Paul, founder director of AEME. “AEME has taken the bold step of coming forward to provide assistance for student entrepreneurial funding, through its Corporate Interface Cell. Aspiring students shall have the opportunity to fulfill their dream of becoming entrepreneurs upon completion of the academic program; they shall be able to employ people rather than seeking employment,” he says.

An initiative of Rosalind Education and Research Trust and Vasavi Educational Trust, the AEME has a student-centric facilitating approach and research oriented learning process,  says Dr KS Gupta, director, academics. “The AEME faculty comprises industry experts and academicians hailing from reputed national Institutions.”

AEME offers both, a one-year, part-time Executive MBA degree with Post Graduate Diploma in Executive Leadership Development and a two-year, full-time MBA degree with PG Diploma in Advanced Leadership Development, both awarded by a UGC recognised and NAAC accredited state university. Admissions for the 2011 batch are currently on.