Centre for Leadership

In the current ever-changing world and given the way the world is shaping up, organizations are facing many challenges due to technological disruptions and the uncertainties have given a new approach to leadership. As the saying goes ‘Crisis does not build character. It reveals it’, the strength of true leadership is revealed when it comes to volatile situations and complexities. The pandemic has clearly shown that irrespective of whatever prevails, yesterday, today and tomorrow will make and demand new leaders

Today leadership is not just about inspiring and building a vision, it is also a process of ‘social influence’ and motivating people to achieve their goals. ‘Great leadership’ is about helping individuals become ‘stand-out leaders’ and catalyze a positive change at workplace. In the last one-decade, there is a complete perceptual shift about how positive leadership has taken precedence over all other traits and characteristics in leaders. Today’s leaders are of ‘high caliber’ who believe in ‘walk-the-talk’ and leading by example. By being more committed and having faith and trust in their employees, leaders are embracing transformational leadership style and being more agile in their approach. Sincere efforts are put forth by leaders to strive toward making their vision a reality while putting people first. Just being able to motivate people isn’t enough — leaders need to be empathetic and connect with their employees/people in order to be successful. Along with caring, leadership has now become more transparent and leaders believe in building trust with their employees to drive down their shared purpose.  The new generation, particularly the millennials want to emulate and follow the legacy of their leaders helping them to transform continuously and grow. Corporate leaders in the pandemic have also become more collaborative by being ‘inclusive’ and embracing diversity has become the mantra for success. This transition is being considered extremely beneficial as leaders are now playing the role of chief architect, strategist and steering the vision. ‘Responsible leadership’ is playing a larger role as leaders are making efforts to bring in a significant difference. The actions of the leaders need to be demonstrated in such a way that they care for each individual.

Considering all this, the Centre for Leadership (CfL) at Ramaiah Institute of Management has been set up to nurture leadership that will enable people to face the various emerging uncertainties and challenges.

The Centre is ably guided by Dr Manasa Nagabhushanam, the Director of Academics, Research and Administration at RIM, a strong and able leader, an academician, writer, consultant and researcher. She possesses more than three decades of work experience in academia and the consulting-training-research domain. The Centre is headed by Dr V Padmaja, Associate Professor and HoD -Dept of HRM. She is actively involved in the conduct of various training programs and actively coordinates with industry to enhance the academic-industry interface at the Institute.

The CfL is one of the Centers of Excellence set up in 2020 which strongly believes that the behavior of individuals determines business outcomes and the longevity of an organization. The Centre emphasizes in creating, sharing, and applying knowledge, skills and competencies to address the challenges faced by organizations.