Thought leadership through management education
Management education represents a unique opportunity in the life of an individual to develop points of view that shape the professional and the type of individual she is
WHY has thought leadership become so important at this juncture in history? Every ideology and every system has fallen short, in some way or the other. While capitalism has brought growth and higher standards of living, it has also resulted in periodic instability and often increased inequalities. Socialism brought about greater equality and economic security, but lagged greatly in increasing the size of the pie. Authoritarian states have collapsed, but democracy has also not delivered results, at least quickly enough. So we have to live with huge contradictions: the worst of both worlds.
Thought leaders and thought leadership can broadly be segmented into five categories. The first kind of thought leaders, are those whose thoughts inspire, stoke passion, trigger a process of self-inquiry among the listeners. For instance, Rabindranath Tagores dream of an India: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
Or Churchill who famously said: Never give in never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force: never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
And the finest text on thought leadership the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita contains nuggets of knowledge that are invaluable to everyday living, living more fruitfully and optimally. It is much more about philosophy than religion and is universal in its applicability, across religions, cultures and countries. It explains vividly the concept of the mind and the intellect. How one needs to sharpen the intellect to control the mind. Or, how ones attitude determines ones altitude, how the past is history, the future is a mystery, the present is a gift, use it optimally by keeping the mind from drifting constantly into the past and the future.