Personal Learning Paper

Manish Verma, 17 | Leadership Excellence In Organizations | Course Facilitator: Prof. Kumar Alok November 19, 2011 Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna

John F. Kennedy says: Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. The course was thoughtfully designed to give excellent learning experience. Leadership is the cornerstone for all the companies that want to grow and explore possibilities to remain competent. It is this virtue that keeps a company on top and it is this virtue which turns bloated, ill managed companies into a giant too big to demolish. The course had to be gripping and interesting and I knew it very well that Prof. Kumar Alok will do justice to the course. I was sure that I would not have to force myself to attend the classes. No wonder I attended all the sessions but one. There was not an iota of doubt that the course will be good or bad. I was certain that learning will happen throughout. And that happened. The expectations, feelings and apprehensions were not based on my gut feeling but they were backed by the kind of education imparted in HRM course. I personally learnt more than enough in such a small span of time, from stereotypes to documentation of errors to emergency leader to what not. I cannot tangibalize the knowledge shared by the facilitator but definitely I learned or rather inculcated so much that I will cherish throughout my lifetime. How we behave in a group situation, how we lead to disaster for our own fault without even realizing, how important it gets to communicate as per the context are critical for a leader to lead well. Why does it so happen that some people remain idle, some people pretend to be working while some devotedly work for a given outcome? I have got enough stimuli to reflect upon. The number of sessions was very limited and leadership in itself is a huge ocean. So, it seemed that the course ended prematurely. Nevertheless, the practicality aspect of the course was in no way sacrificed and thats the best part about the course. It is, to a greater extent, irrelevant to talk only about leadership theories without giving hands on experience to the assimilators. The games were designed in a way that gave ample scope for opening up to the booming avenue of research called Leadership. A course can be made as rich as it can be if the facilitator knows his/her subject well and the passion about the subject adds to it. A seemingly boring, dreary subject can be brought to life if the teaching abilities, delivery style, content and of course commitment are intact. A stark difference was conspicuous if I compare the first half of the course with the second half. I literally experienced the subject throughout the twelve sessions I attended and I never felt that I was wasting my time and energy. Such is the impact on me that I feel none of the CIMP students can afford to miss the subject (full 24 sessions by Prof.

Kumar Alok). The activities were also quite interesting and engaging. They brought us all together to leverage the power of being united and realize the concept of 1+1+1+1 5. The structuring of every video, every audio and every game administered was excellent. Delivering so much in so little time is indeed a challenging job but it was made possible due to the sheer sharpness of the facilitator himself. There are certain aspects that need to be looked at to improve the course on curriculum front. Cases are indispensable when the purpose of the course is to stimulate the minds towards betterment, towards change. Well, Vaak was the final outcome of all the practice and learning by listening to great orators of the world. Though, it might be worthwhile if the professor himself tries to structure a speech on any burning issue and deliver the same for the students. This way, perhaps, they will connect easily as to how important it is for a person to deliver effective speeches to lead. All in all, it was a great experience learning from one of the finest Gurus that CIMP has. It is a personal request to see to it that this course along with Training & Development is taught by you to ensure that before passing out of the PGDM course, people have good understanding of all the HR and Leadership concepts with their applications. I wish that CIMP can boast of more such professors who can enforce discipline and yet make the classes so engaging, so amicable and so delighting. The experience was wonderful and hats off to a wonderful person who is much more than just a professor. May you keep advancing in every field that you choose. Warm Regards, Manish Verma (A Sincere Admirer)