Enabling self-sufficiency at Kanhai Village

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” As part of our SIP project, this is what we are trying to do in Kanhai Village located in Gurgaon, Haryana, enabling self-sufficiency. We are a five member team from SOIL- Ashray, Abhishek, Anirban, Geeta and Bhavna, working closely with close to 70 BPL (Below Poverty Line) families in Kanhai. We are enabling these villagers to become self-sufficient in the key areas of Health and Education.

As part of the initiatives, we have conducted a health camp with Max India Foundation, an AIDS awareness camp with SRF Foundation and recently a Polio awareness camp. In the coming months, we are planning to undertake more such camps in partnership with other NGO’s. Getting into a project like this makes you recognize the disparity that exists in the country and realize that the things that we take for granted in our daily lives like sanitation, personal hygiene etc, can be such an alien concept to these families. However, we are overwhelmed by the support that we have got from the people here and are very thankful to the Sarpanch of the Kanhai who has lent us tremendous support.

The best part of being associated with SOIL and such a project is knowing that the work we are doing here will not be forgotten once our batch passes out, but will be continued by our succeeding batches. It is very difficult to capture our experience and our emotions in words; the only thing we can say is that we are very thankful to SOIL for enabling such a humbling experience and allowing us to be a part of change.

Contributed by - Ashray, Abhishek, Anirban, Geeta and Bhavna

Inspired leadership Conference

Anil Sachdev talks about the upcoming Inspired Leadership Conference

Inspired Leadership Conference – 2010

SOIL is happy to announce our first conference on Inspired Leadership. This will bring together a microcosm of the planet’s leaders in business, government, ‘Not for Profit’, Education, performing arts etc. The world today needs global leaders to think beyond themselves and their countries; School Of Inspired Leadership endeavours to bring the community together by hosting this conference on Inspired Leadership. The conference will provoke thoughts about Inspired Leadership and how can it be empowered by the five values that SOIL believes in – Mindfulness, Compassion, Ethics, Sustainability and Diversity.

The planet is in grave danger. Ecological disasters, economic crises, terrorism, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor - are all signs of this man made catastrophe. We cannot solve these complex problems by the existing ways of doing and managing. We have to take responsibility by leading in ‘whole systems’ ways. We cannot make dangerous tradeoffs by stimulating greater consumption to solve economic recession; by engaging in wars to bring about peace; by creating new cities to improve living standards of the rural poor; by reducing ‘emissions’ to impact global warming etc. We need to dig deep into the reservoirs of ancient wisdom to look at how our ancestors lived in harmony with Mother Nature and ask new questions that make us behave like one global family and raise our ‘consciousness’.

The conference will be held on 29th and 30th of Jan 2010 at the SOIL campus in Gurgaon. It will have three distinct parts:

Plenary sessions with business leaders of repute :

• Mr. Arun Maira, Member Planning Commission; Mr. Muthuraman, Vice Chairman, Tata Steel; Senator Abbie Cornett of Omaha
• Workshop on Inspired Leadership by Peter Block, author and consultant
• Open Space Learning for over 10 hours facilitated by Anne Stadler, Founder of Spirited Work and the Open Space Institute of USA

For more information or to register for the conference, please write to us at Ilc2010@soilindia.net

The official video of School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL)

Message from Nishchae Suri, President SOIL

Great Leaders believe in Lifelong Learning. At the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), we create lifelong learners.

The first step in building an institution committed to learning is a personal one: You must be open to learning. At SOIL, we are committed to continuous personal improvements and growth. To enhance and develop learning skills, we have focused ourselves on a few critical dimensions around knowledge, information and learning methods

We are willing to accept the provisional nature of knowledge. We constantly question long established 'truths' to make sure that they still hold. We encourage an open attitude towards learning and encourage and appreciate diversity in thought and application.

Large organizations rely heavily on processed data. With information being constantly screened, condensed, compiled, coded and crystallized into recommendations, we end up with a filtered view of what's happening. We enable real life organizational experiences for you, where you can confront and experience what's really going on in organizations. Visit companies from different industries, meet their employees, talk to customers and understand how work really gets done.

We recognize that every individual has different learning needs and styles. While one of you may be detail oriented, another would look for the bigger picture. Our Individual Learning Plan (ILP) captures your personal bias and our mentors help you calibrate your judgments accordingly. Humility coupled with fierce resolve is necessary for success. The willingness to seek better ideas is part attitude and part developed skill. At SOIL, we help you become skilled at defining the limits of your own knowledge. By simply asking the right questions and recognizing that you do not have all the answers, you can enhance your learning substantially.

At SOIL, we celebrate your strengths and help you become the person and professional you were born to be.

Benefits of Industry Consortium to SOIL Students

A select consortium of corporate firms who share SOIL's vision and ethos have been invited to partner with SOIL to enhance mutual learning and standards in higher education. This network of accomplished professionals, help impart overall direction to curriculum design, participate in the admission process, review the quality of teaching, learning & industry research and lead the placement process.

Currently, our industry consortium includes reputed companies like Asian Paints, ABB, Anand Group, Aditya Birla Group, Avantha Group, Bharat Petroleum, Bank of Baroda, Dabur, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Grant Thorton, Hindustan Unilever, Indian Hotels, Infosys, Johnson and Johnson, Kohler, L&T, Max Healthcare, Max New York Life, Mahindra and Mahindra Group, Maruti, Nokia, SAP, SAS Technologies, Symphony Services, Schneider Electric, SRF, Taj Hotels, Tata Steel and TVS Motors. The Industry Consortium Board is chaired by Dr. A.K. Khandelwal, the former Chairman of Bank of Baroda.

The Industry consortium partners with SOIL in the following ways –

• Curriculum Design
• Selection of Students
• Mentoring Students
• Research and Case Study Preparation
• Leading the Placement Process

At SOIL, we believe Corporate Social Responsibility not only can be, but absolutely should be a priority in this marketplace. In fact, the global financial meltdown is testimony to the fact that it is imperative to have more responsible corporate behavior, follow sustainable business models and adopt transparent regulation, to achieve more stability in the global markets. We maintain that inclusive and sustainable growth are not only better in the long term on a social level, but indeed create more value for all stakeholders.

Learning from the heart - SIP program with Shri Ram Foundation

“All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.” Aristotle

We are an eight member team working with the SRF Foundation (part of the SRF group, one of SOIL’s industry consortium members). The objective of SRF Foundation is to reform rural education. As part of the SIP program at SOIL, Ankush, Uttara, Nataraj, Bhavesh, Rahul, Suraj, Vinay and Santosh are visiting various villages and documenting their schooling experiences.

The SRF Foundation is working to create a world class platform for sustainable education transformation. As part of its Model School Programme, the foundation has adopted 25 schools in Mewat Districit of Haryana and is addressing various issues in these schools. We, as students of SOIL are working closely with the foundation to study the problems in these schools and prepare individual cases for them.

The team till date has visited 9 of the 25 schools as part of our project learning and have taken away more learnings in this short period of time than we could have ever imagined. Challenges are many as we progress into this project; however, our belief in the project motivates us day-in and day-out.

Blind cannot lead the blind, thus, if we are to think of ourselves as the leaders of tomorrow, then we must be aware of every aspect of our environment. And what this project has done for us is that it has made us conscious of the disparity that exists in the Indian education system. It is heart-rending to see children learn in an environment where there is paucity of books, teachers and infrastructure. Here, the students are not motivated to attend the school for the value of education but only for the mid-day meal. So how does a system survive, when there is no hunger for education?

As we further along on this project, we are becoming acutely aware of the tasks and challenges that lie before us. However, we are hopeful that our emotions and hard work put in the project will not just replicate itself in the generous donors but also reflect in our future professional lives. And as the course rolls out, we are proud of our contribution as students of SOIL to a larger interest of the country.

Submitted by : Ankush, Uttara, Nataraj, Bhavesh, Rahul, Suraj, Vinay and Santosh

SOIL's Commitment

We believe that leadership is about taking responsibility to create impact without necessarily having the authority vested in your position to make this happen. Our students work with a NGO one day a week on a project that enables the NGO to ‘do more with less for more’.

We provide the tools, the talent and the ethos to celebrate sustainability – to nurture a generation of inspired professionals who build organizations by creating value for the shareholders while caring for the environment and staying committed to improving the lives of those they touch.

Our NGO partners include – Adharshila, Natural Heritage, Nyaya Bhoomi, Dr Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, SRF Foundation, Common Cause, SOS Children Village, Udayan Care, Joining Hands, Searchyears and Navjyoti.

Watch out this blog space for articles from SOIL student on these projects.

Message from Anil Sachdev, Founder & CEO SOIL

Ethics, diversity, mindfulness, compassion and sustainability are the five pillars of "Inspired Leadership". They truly create lasting value in the true sense of the word and build organizations of consequence. The School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) is being founded to develop leaders who live this vision.

We are creating a business school that is attempting to respond to some questions given below:

• Can business schools truly develop leaders who care for the planet?
• Is it possible to build "character" in higher education?
• Do we know the challenges we are likely to face tomorrow and can we build competence to face
• these ahead of time?
• How do we build enthusiasm in our hearts when there is so much "bad news" screaming at us from every form of media?
• Can a business school help students to know themselves, realize their "purpose", discover their gifts and learn how to leverage their strengths to create maximum value?

We are experimenting with many innovative approaches. Our Social Innovation Program (SIP) entails every student spending one day a week working with a NGO that is striving to improve the state of our world. Each student would be mentored by a Business leader. This would develop leaders with compassion who truly "care". We plan to teach ethics by leveraging the power of theatre and performing arts. We will simulate live "cases" in which students would attempt to play the roles of real life characters when they face ethical dilemmas. This will develop leaders who realize the consequences of the choices they make.

We are designing a "wellness" program covering physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being. This will teach our students the virtues of a good living and a balanced healthy lifestyle.We are forming a Consortium of role model companies to participate in shaping SOIL at every stage- from selection of students based on multiple intelligences to design of relevant curriculum, review of quality, participating in the Social Innovation Program (SIP), teaching relevant & live case studies on their companies and the placement of students. This will make our school truly exceptional and impactful.

We are all excited about giving birth to SOIL. We feel "blessed" and have a deep sense of gratitude of being given this opportunity to build an Institution of consequence. Join us in this journey and help us to create the SOIL in which the right seeds are planted to grow talent that our world needs and deserves!