School of Inspired Leadership on the importance of establishing ‘Dialogue across Differences’

School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), a Gurgaon-based business school, recently concluded its annual Inspired Leadership Conference 2016. This year, the event involved talks on underlining the importance of establishing ‘Dialogue across Differences’ for developing competency in leadership roles. The inaugural address was chaired by the event’s key note speaker Mr. Arun Maira – former member of Planning Commission of India, and former Chairman of Boston Consulting Group (India).

In addition, the Inspired Leadership Conference witnessed participation from Indian business experts like – Vivek Katju, Ujala Bedi, Ashish Sonal, Nidhi Arora, Sanjay Jorapur – CHRO of Hero MotoCorp., and Vivek Tripathi – CHRO Lava International.

Keeping in mind the key reasons that have contributed in lack of competency within leadership roles, like differences across gender, age, ideologies, identity, income groups, etc., decided to design this year’s leadership conference around ‘Dialogue across Differences’, and why establishing dialogues for the same is a critical factor.

Day one of the conference concluded with a panel of stakeholders who responded to views by suggesting ways of channeling this conflict into innovation in the workplace and the community. They also summarized the ‘learning about the skill’ segment of dialogue across differences.

On the second day, the event established dialogue on the ‘Complex conflicts of our Times’, like the Naxalite-Maoists insurgency in various states, the Kashmir conflict, the Cauvery river water dispute, the Singur land dispute, and other protracted conflicts. Panelists in this segment attempted to build conversations on these sensitive and emotional issues by listening mindfully to each opinion on these matters. The conference concluded with a valedictory address by Ms. Shazia Syed – CEO of Unilever, Pakistan, followed by a Closing Circle that involved all small groups and a panel of leaders for an interactive Q&A session.

Commenting on the conference, Anil Sachdev, Founder& CEO, SOIL said, “All of us are attempting to become an integral part of the elite group, i.e. the ones who lead the way. However, the brutal reality is that not all of us manage to beat the odds and/or thrive under pressure. Moreover, lack of relevant skills in most candidates renders them unfit or inefficient to hold strong leadership roles. We were compelled to raise awareness about the same through this Inspired Leadership Conference. We are confident that the success of this forum will encourage management students to seriously consider their training as the first step towards becoming future leaders.”