ADMAP – Learning with a New Perspective

Prof Parimal Merchant, a respected faculty at SPJIMR, Mumbai is widely renowned for his innovative initiatives. Enriched with Twenty-four years experience in industry, consultancy and capital markets, he comes across as a person who is not bigoted to the orthodox theories of management. We had a chance to taste the flavour of his style of pedagogy just after the completion of our first term. As a co-ordinator of ADMAP (Assessment and Development of Managerial Aptitude & Potential), which in itself is a unique initiative at SPJIMR, he addressed us on the “Traits of a Leader”.

To everyone’s surprise, he started the talk by ridiculing MBA as a degree. He challenged everyone to come up with a valid and convincing reason to do an MBA. He countered the explanations given by the startled participants with aplomb. Gradually, he builded the platform to explain the true essence of a management degree and bought forward the unique pedagogy of SPJIMR’s ADMAP program.

He urged the participants not to take this course just as a mean to good placements, but to imbibe the true essence of management. He elaborated on the philosophy of this course by asking us to develop and inculcate qualities which will ensure their success in today’s era of cut-throat competition. He mentioned eleven traits of a true leader based on various findings and research which are mentioned underneath:

• Hard work
• Analytical ability
• Initiative
• Attention to details
• Leadership
• Entrepreneurship
• Influencing without power
• Perseverance
• Team skill
• Value for values
• Persuasiveness

The session ended with a movie on Aditya Vikram Birla, former chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. Aditya Birla was a great visionary who himself set out a bold, uncharted path that proved that Indian businessmen are second to none when it comes to creativity and adventure. We could clearly identify all the above traits in him.

Finally, when the session got over, everyone was bubbling with enthusiasm and energy of new found wisdom. We realised the rich heritage we are part of and experienced the truly unique approach of learning, tutored only at SPJIMR.

Cheers..

Saurabh Shukla

Drishtaanta

There were several aspects of Swamiji’s teachings that had an impact on me. There were some about which I had not given much thought till now. There were some small earthen pots and some plastic grapes kept on Swamiji’s table. Session after session I was curious to know why they were kept there. After the second session break on the first day, I approached one of Swamiji’s followers. I asked him about what I had observed. His answer was very informative. It was the concept of ‘Drishtaanta’. If one teaches about earth (clay) by showing a small earthen pot, the disciples can easily discern about a pot of any size because the same attributes and behavior apply to a bigger pot which may not be present in the immediate vicinity.

Swamiji used the concept of Drishtaanta all through his discourse. His teachings were crisp and clear distillations of profound philosophies in the form of allegories and fables. In a similar way, the values that we imbibe by means of little habits can cumulatively give shape to our larger philosophy towards life.

I have always believed that happiness is not the absence of problems. It is the ability to deal with them. To that end, what Swamiji taught had a deep impact on me. The synthesis of his discourses was the concept of a happy ‘self’. Swamiji explained that if we take away the happiness from ‘self’ what remains is nothingness. This is because, all the success in the objective world comes to a zilch when the ‘self’ is not happy and does not have the ability to appreciate it.

The harmony between the material and spiritual sides of a person is also something that Swamiji helped us understand. The drishtaanta of the ‘blades’ of a fan representing the matter and ‘electricity’ representing the spirit very vividly explains how both are required to make the fan run smoothly. That is when the full potential of the fan is realized. Thanks to SPJIMR’s Gita Shibir, I am now able to appreciate and understand these aspects of my life better.

Cheers,
Ganga

Gita Shibir

Temple bells playing morning raga for sun’s dance on the horizon. Fresh blossoms happily looking skyward. Lush grass giving me back the joys of morning walk. Busy squirrels stopping and munching on nuts. There couldn’t be a better place to think about self management. Kayavarohan (off Baroda) had the right ambience.

It was important to understand and be convinced about the motivations for self management. Swamiji, through his easy anecdotes, made a vivid case for the harmony of our success in the objective world to be in same measure as that in the subjective world. All the materials surrounding us and to gain which we work hard are part of the objective world. Whereas, the subjective world is presided over by ‘me’. Most parts of our formal education till now concentrated on the knowledge and skills required for doing well in the objective world. Very little time and energy were dedicated to know about self and for self management.

Swamiji helped us understand about expectations. One may have any amount of expectations. But, it is important to understand and be aware that not all of them can be accomplished. This is the mantra for managed expectations. This mantra is instrumental in realizing the true potential of ‘self’. Also, by cracking this code, one derives happiness as there will be lesser expectation conflicts within and without.

Swamiji explained the mechanism of anger. One gets angry because others may not be feeding the expectations or ego of one’s self. But, anger leads to sadness and disappointment. So, it is important to manage anger. The thumb rule for anger management is to “do unto others what you would want to be done to you”. Such a succinct, yet so powerful, advice from Swamiji.

Cheers,
Ganga