"Leadership is not a Position or a Title, it is Action with Example"

In today's business scenario, Leadership skills are critical to the success of any organization. Economies are interdependent and business managers who are leaders in their organizations can no longer isolate itself from world economy; contemporary leadership practices need to be enriched to meet the aspiration of employees and other stakeholders that has awareness and access to all kinds of information. Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad (University Courses Campus) - Management Department Organised a National Seminar on "Leading Transformation - The Competencies Leaders Develop for New Age Organizations" to provide a platform to the research scholars and students for reflecting on various issues related to Leadership. Mr. Sandeep Tyagi (Director - Human Resources at Samsung Electronics) was the Chief Guest for the day accompanied by Guest of Honor - Ms. Shipra Lavania (Chief Human Resource Officer at News Corp VC Circle), Prof. (Dr.) Debi S Saini (Emeritus Professor - HRM at IIT Ranchi) and Dr. Subi Chaturvedi (Senior President at YES Bank & Fr. UN IGF, MAG Member).

The Seminar was inaugurated by all the dignitaries by seeking the blessings of mother Saraswati followed by the welcome address by Dr. Sapna Rakesh - Director IMS, Ghaziabad University Courses Campus. Ma'am captivated the young minds and disseminated the message on:
Leadership: A huge challenge in a sensitizing world
Dilemma among students to take or not to take leadership roles
Leadership is bringing people together and not confined to decision making

The eminent dignitaries gave an insight on the changing business needs and the challenges professionals face to handle big business world. Prof. (Dr.) Debi S Saini (Emeritus Professor- HRM at IIT Ranchi), talked on three major aspects entailing critical success factors for businesses, focus areas of great leaders, and transformational leadership. According to him Great leader's heart bleed for their people. Leaders need to inculcate trust and faith and should follow the strategy of: "Employees First, Customers Second". Today's business cannot be done with yesterday's knowledge, thus the key mantras stated by him were:
Implementing right strategy
Complex problem solving is the order of the day
Change leadership
Retaining talent
Research and development innovation
Speed
Managing Generation - Y

Ms. Shipra Lavania (Chief Human Resource Officer at News Corp VC Circle), expressed her thoughts on "Agile Leadership and Current Issues in Agile leadership". She very aptly cited that today everybody wants to be ahead of time and create a difference in organization and the key answer is leadership. Organization fail today because they lack to understand the "adopt and adapt" strategy in the present business environment. Thus, she cited that:
Designations do not make too much differences, it is how you take opportunities
Communication is a big weapon in improving leadership skill
Leaders never delegate decision making they only invite suggestion
We should strengthen our Manipur Chakra which in turn reflects our gut feeling

Dr. Subi Chaturvedi (Senior President at YES Bank & Fr. UN IGF, MAG Member), believed that 'learning is a never-ending process' and we should always keep the zeal & spark alive of our inner student and should retain our learning experiences. She very aptly captivated the audience by emphasizing the criticality of response as the need of the hour but we should not make choices too early. The key strategies he focused on were:
Understanding Comparative Advantages.
Addressing the problem of risk mitigation
Practicing the PST Policy i.e. PRIORITISE, SWITCH & TRAIN

Mr. Sandeep Tyagi (Director - Human Resources at Samsung Electronics) firmly believed in the concept of 'Develop - Inspire - Motivate People' and Creativity & Innovation is the DNA for the management & success of the organization. He laid emphasis on:
Building of best teams Driving for results Never give-up attitude Navigating your goal

After a high tea break, the Seminar progressed with the Technical session which was chaired by Mr. Subhankar Ghosh (Chief People Officer at Zoom Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd., Writer, Motivational Speaker, Mentor and a Rally Driver) and Mr. Rakesh Seth (Director HR Services & helping Teams to Grow Business; Speaker & Author).
Mr. Subhankar Ghosh (Chief People Officer at Zoom Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd., Writer, Motivational Speaker, Mentor and a Rally Driver) emphasized that there is no perfect leadership style which businesses can be adapt & practice thoroughly, situations & environment acts as a critically factor which triggers the way a Leader leads. He quoted:
Different mindset people possess and understanding every perspective
Trends of leadership
Adaptability in current dynamic market scenario

Mr. Rakesh Seth (Director HR Services & helping Teams to Grow Business; Speaker & Author) focused on the basics of leadership and the charismatic qualities which a Leader must inherit to be successful. In this context, he quoted:
Leadership is about inspiring, influencing, personality
Initiatives and Actions: Need of Hour
Dream and ambition makes a leader

After the lunch break, parallel sessions on paper presentations by various students, research scholars and faculty members from different institutions where initiated in the auditorium and MDP room. An overwhelming response was received and 21 research papers were presented indeed. The program proceeded with a Panel Discussion on 'Future Leadership Challenges' by eminent dignitaries from the industry entailing Mr. Raj Gupta (HR - Head Life Sciences at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.), Prof. Archana Tyagi (Working as a Visiting Faculty at IIM Kashipur & NMIMS and an Expert Career Counselor in ISO/IEC 17024 Scheme for NABET & Quality Council of India), Mr. Dinesh Bhasin (Founder of Bread & Butter - India, Netherland & Hong Kong) and Mr. Neeraj Singh (Dy. General Manager HR at Power Finance Corporation Ltd.). Prof. Archana Tyagi was the moderator of the panel discussion and commenced the session.

Mr. Raj Gupta (HR - Head Life Sciences at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.), touched based on "SMAC" and Artificial & Machine Learning. The key issues addressed by him were:
Analysing business Acumen by acticipating global trends
Change Management Ability of leaders by taking all stakeholders together
Dealing with Ambiguity
Handling chaos & other critical attributes of the business

Mr. Neeraj Singh (Dy. General Manager HR at Power Finance Corporation Ltd.), expressed his thoughts on actual workplace environment. He thrust on lack of strategy to be the biggest challenge along with time management. He addressed on:
Creating Wealth in terms of Happiness & Not Money
Balance needs to be given both on theory & practice

Mr. Dinesh Bhasin (Founder of Bread & Butter -India, Netherland & Hong Kong), connected the talk with the leadership strategy focusing on the 4 M's (Money, Market, Machine and Men). He categorized leader into 4 categories and reflected on:
Automation in the job sector
Women Power in business environment
Collaboration as a strategy in Leadership

Prof. Archana Tyagi (Working as a Visiting Faculty at IIM Kashipur & NMIMS and an Expert Career Counselor in ISO/IEC 17024 Scheme for NABET & Quality Council of India), as moderator shared the seven challenges entailing:
Anticipating & responding to change
Agile leadership and rescaling oneself accordingly
Mentoring & grooming team for building effective organizations
Multi-generation collaborations
Inclusion & diversity
Taking care of unconscious bias
Leading by vision with a purpose

The seminar ended with a valedictory session where top three paper presenters were rewarded with Cash Prizes and Certificates of Merit. With the help of a dedicated team of faculty, staff and students the event was executed with precision bringing a glory to each one associated with the program. The Seminar ended with a Vote of Thanks proposed by Dr. Shilpi Sarna with the pursuit of holistic development of future performers and creating well rounded value-based leaders for tomorrow.