3O^th JANUARY 2016, VJIM, HYDERABAD: For inspiring the students to aspire to be great future leaders Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (VJIM), Hyderabad’s faculty and management organized for a Seminar on Leadership Lessons. Three eminent speakers from the industry were invited to the seminar to provide students with insights of leadership, essential qualities imperative for leading and other important lessons.

The session started with the address of the first speaker Mr.Sharat Sharma, Chief Human Capital Consultant, IAM Human Capital Consulting. The speaker started his address by relating each letters of the word L-E-A-D-E-R with one crucial component of being one. He said an L added to the word EARN makes all difference (L)earn and rightly pointed out that only 10% of people who believe and invest in learning can become leaders. He also discussed about the forces restraining one from becoming a good leader. An (E)mpowered environment should be created around oneself if one wants to become a leader. Mr. Sharma pointed out that creating (A)wareness in the industry in which you are working is crucial for success. (D)reaming is another quality that leaders should have and achievers create their own opportunities and do not wait for one to work out. He also stressed that (E)nergy is something that speaks louder than anything else about a person. Finally, Mr. Sharma  talked about the importance of (R)elationships and how it contributes in differentiating a leader from a manager. Amidst much applauds, Mr Sharma concluded his session with a very sound peace of advice for the students- advising the students- “At your first job, you need to be ready to service people and team without expecting too much for your own self. That is going to determine a lot about your future and path ahead.”

The second speaker of the session was . The speaker started his session by quoting Warren Bennis “Leadership is like beauty. It’s hard to define but you know it when you see it”. He said that today it is a lot about leading Leaders and that is an art one needs to learn right from the onset. Through out his talk, he primarily stressed on the value system and the integrity. “According to me integrity is the only quality required for a leader to be successful,” emphasized Dr. Dasari. He defined integrity to students as consistency in thinking, saying and doing. The speaker also helped students to understand the difference between a promise and a commitment and said that a leader should always be a committed person. He further moved on to speak about emotional intelligence and how it helps in making a person optimistic. It is very important for a good leader to see the importance and recognize and appreciate the efforts of a person for his contribution and said that everyone has a craving for recognition in them. The speaker concluded his speech by stating that “Humility is the highest Virtue”.

The final speaker of the session was Mr. S Raghu, Senior Manager learning and development, KSK Energy Pvt. Ltd. The speaker started his address by stating that it is always important to learn from other’s mistakes. His speech became more interesting when the speaker gave audience a puzzle of identifying three leaders and asked them to choose their ideal leader from the three. The speaker said that there are two types of leaders: People-oriented and Task-oriented. He gave the students the difference between Theory and Practice and which one is more important amongst the two. The speaker said that for being a leader one should be self-aware and one should equip oneself with all required skills and attitudes. The speaker also mentioned that being more rigid is being more fragile and one needs to be as flexible as possible. Adaptability is the only leadership-quality that cannot be taught by some other person and only knowledge of a person will help in solving this problem. Lastly the speaker concludes his session by advising students to have a good clarity and direction for transforming oneself to a great leader and a greater human being.

Bhavya Priya Akula,

PR Committee, VJIM