Empower through education with Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool

How can we empower through education? We see the future as evoking the action potential' in all students, to exercise leadership. Action taking is infectious. It builds the DNA in the person and also attracts others who want to collaborate in the action and value creation process. We have recognized the growing importance of competencies, a few of them are i.e.: ability to evoke trust, design and manage through collaboration, being mindful and self-aware. These competencies can be developed through crafting platforms/processes/systems, for students ' to do' and reflect. The Leadership insight develops only when there is repetition of the 'doing- reflecting' discipline. Role of Indian education system The Indian education system is expected to play a catalytic role in creating a balance between the economic growth and human development by mentoring its numerous students to perform successfully in the complex, global environment. This becomes a priority, as their future employers expect the young managers to be ready to tackle unpredictable challenges head-on and formulate action plans and strategies to overcome them. With foreign universities setting up campuses in India, our students will have multitudes of opportunities in meaningful educational programs in a variety of areas; faculty from different geographies with diverse expertise, and a much bigger exposure to global management systems and multinational cultures will be available to them without additional burden of inflated costs. Collaboration of Indian universities with foreign universities When many Indian universities have fallen in their rankings and need to improve their performance, opportunities of collaboration should be sought with the foreign universities that will eventually lead to the holistic growth and development of higher education in the country,Instead of ‘red ocean’ tussle for wasting resources in an ultra-competitive direction. Indian students, having to contend with currency depreciation, difficulty in securing educational loans, tightening visa and changing study/ work rules in developed countries, have now, a valuable opportunity to receive quality education at home. This would also contribute to raising the standards of our home grown Higher education sector. Prof Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool’s solution: - WeSchool is collaborating with the best in the business, to learn how to prepare the 'Global Citizen Manager' of today and tomorrow. Center for Creative leadership (CCL), a US based organization in the space of leadership development and Design Impact , a non-profit design firm Joined hands with WeSchool recently to create an unusual program aptly titled 'Leadership Beyond Boundaries' that has a blend of innovation and leadership development. Educators are in the know of the kind of moral decisions that engage students and the kind that are encountered regularly are not always clear-cut. Most decisions require choices among competing values. Global Citizen Leadership WeSchool is focussed on nurturing Global Citizen Leadership that is being reflected in the way ‘we are’ and embedded in our students’ behaviour and contribution potential. Our alliances with International Universities have been the key for us to understand the inter-linkages between management theories and industrial practices as followed in different parts of the world. The mix of accomplished visiting faculty from our collaborating Universities/ B schools and industry play a vital role in mentoring the academic programs by developing innovative curricula and pedagogies, teaching, simulation experiences and research.WeSchool’s international collaborations attract exchange students to come to India to understand our business ethos and this not only helps in making the classroom more global but creates better peer groups that interact at a different level and develop a deeper understanding of the global context. Contributed by Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool