Manipal: An evening of transformation at TAPMI

Media Release

Manipal, 13 Jan 2013: Keeping in line with its mission of providing excellence in post graduate management education and exposing its students to the best from the industry, T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal organized the 12th leadership lecture in its campus environs on Saturday the Jan 12. The guest of honour for the evening was Shri KC Jani, Executive Director, IDBI Bank Ltd, who shared his wisdom on “How to be a successful Leader in life” with the enthusiastic young student community of TAPMI. And going by the tremendous response from the 300 plus students present in the auditorium, the lecture was a resounding success.

 

 

Shri KC Jani, a very successful leader in his own right, strayed away from the modalities of a traditional lecture, and adopted the role of raconteur. Peppering his perspective of leadership with anecdotes from history, he ensured rapt attention of all the people present in the hall. He focused on the qualities that a person has to cultivate, in order to become a successful leader in life. He touched base on the importance of every one of them and backed them with examples from the real world to underline its criticality.

 

First and foremost for a leader, according to Shri Jani, was the inherent ability to take risks. Without the risk taking ability, he stated, there is no difference between a leader and a follower. However, he also stated that risks have to be measured and calculated and always have to for the greater good. Also, according to Shri Jani, the ability to think beyond the normal was very important for a leader. Quoting the life and times of the great personality like Narayana Murthy in this regard, he said, how his vision single handedly lead to the creation of Infosys.

 

 

Other important aspects of great leader, according to him were patience, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to lead from the front. He underscored its importance by quoting instances from the lives of Dhirubhai Ambani, Nelson Mandela, Sonia Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw and Sardar Vallabahai Patel.  And last but not the least, he emphasized the importance of physical fitness for a leader, which was in addition to the mental fortitude.  To substantiate this and enthuse the young audience, he also referred to passionate artists like Dev Anand, Clint Eastwood, Zorabai, Gangubai, et al.

 

The invigorating lecture was followed by an interesting question and answer session which touched upon the styles of leadership and the inherent conflict between leadership and traditional Indian values of contentment and sacrifice, which was handled with aplomb.  All in all, it was a great evening for the students of TAPMI, who had much to learn on the 150th birth anniversary of One India’s greatest leaders, Swami Vivekananda, and January 12 was declared by the Government of India as National Youth Day.  Earlier, Dr AS Vasudev Rao, Director-in-charge and Dean (Administration) welcomed the audience and Prof Chowdari Prasad, Dean (Branding & Promotions) introduced the Speaker.