Creating ripples of real impact in the world through innovation [/b]
An upcoming B School in Karla shows the way[/b]
Leadership Beyond Boundaries is fundamentally about transcending boundaries -- the boundaries that exist within ourselves about what we think is possible, the boundaries between us and others that create separation, misunderstanding and competition; and the boundaries in society that keep us apart even as we walk in the same world.
INSTITUTE FOR FUTURE EDUCATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LEADERSHIP (iFEEL), (estb. 2010), a B school with the belief that entrepreneurship and leadership are critical to India's prosperity, economic development and social equality across all levels of society. The Institute located at Karla with the picturesque Sahaydri hills as its backdrop, has a Fully Wi-Fi Campus,
conference and Seminar Halls, a RAIN lab, well equipped library ,open air Amphitheater,cafeteria,hostel accommodation and student activity areas that include a volleyball court, a cricket and football ground, jogging tracks, a yoga zone and large open areas for outdoor games apart from indoor games. Though modest in size, this upcoming B School has the vision to develop and nurture leadership and entrepreneurship excellence. Rightly, iFEEL is focused on designing practice oriented PGDM programme, learning and a contemporary industry-focused curriculum driven by a strong corporate and international academic interface, which brings overall transformation in students. At Present it offers a two year, full time, AICTE approved Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), with intake capacity of 120 seats.
Recently its PGDM students and faculty members embarked on a journey through an initiative , ‘Leadership Beyond Boundaries’ that focused on developing leadership and innovation skills and applying these to create social impact. iFEEL teamed up with Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)(www.ccl.org) and Design Impact (www.d-impact.org), a design firm to shape the program into a blend of innovation, business creation and leadership development. Lyndon Rego, Director-Innovation Incubator& Global Director -LBB, and Ramsey Ford, Co-founder and Design Director-Design Impact, handheld the students along with IFEEL faculty in these breakthrough projects and mentored the Global Citizen Leaders of the future.
At the conclusion of the program, the students noted that they'd found big opportunities in small things, things they had not previously been aware of. While one of the teams created a model to improve decrepit toilets in a nearby school when they understood that the lack of sanitation was the main reason young girls in rural India drop out of school. (http://www.ifeel.edu.in/gallery/videos/21/gcl-group-c2-opportunity-to-increase-health-awareness-among-school-children-in-a-local-school-at-karla-near-pune?group=all-videos) Another team framed a model to turn fallow farm land into a source of income and entrepreneurship for women, which they captured in an innovative video (http://www.ifeel.edu.in/gallery/videos/18/gcl-group-b1opportunities-to-increase-profitablity-in-agribusines-in-karla-village?group=all-videos).
Opportunities were discovered for local youth in nearby Karla to pursue better careers or entrepreneurial initiative by a team (http://www.ifeel.edu.in/gallery/videos/25/gcl-group-a3-opportunity-for-local-youth-in-karlanr-pune-to-pursue-better-careers-or-entrepreneurial-initiatives?group=all-videos), another group of students looked out for Opportunity to improve garbage and sanitation facility in the vicinity and turn it into a sought after tourist spot. (http://www.ifeel.edu.in/gallery/videos/17/gcl-group-a2-opportunity-to-improve-garbage-and-sanitation-facility-in-karla-lonavala-near-pune?group=all-videos)
During the course of six months the young managers and entrepreneurs-to-be, in total eight groups, looked at issues like women’s empowerment, youth entrepreneurship, sanitation, clean water etc. They initially struggled to connect the dots but at the end many noted that working with others who were different from themselves was the greatest takeaway and were able to achieve success by harnessing the different skills and perspectives of all. They learnt to look beyond the narrow confines of ‘me-my profile-career-income’ and took on the mantle of responsible leaders that empower stakeholders in the society in every possible sustainable manner. This initiative changed the lenses of the young MBAs-to-be, by pushing them to step out of the comfort zones of classroom learning and take a closer look at the fast- paced realities of environment and come out with strong solutions that had the potential to be taken to a higher level .This endeavor tested their ability to accept failure and turn it into opportunities for higher degrees of success.
At the end of the presentations, some of them had found investors ready to create and buy the solutions and more importantly, were instrumental in creating a stronger bond with the rural community that surrounded them, but the biggest gift was what a student shared, “I now know I can make a difference in the world ! ”
While Faculty crunch, lack of students, poor curriculum and inadequate infrastructure are some of the problems that create troubles for other management institutes, here is a modest institute located in rural Maharashtra resolutely carrying on its mission to mentor young Global Citizen Leaders, thereby setting an example that others could emulate.
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