<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1200130323366352&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
×
Logo
  • About
    • About Soil
    • Vision & Values
    • Spirituality & Indian Ethos
    • Founder & Chairman’s Message
    • Director’s Message – SOIL Gurgaon
    • Director’s Message – SOIL Manesar
    • Industry Consortium
    • Governing Board
    • Academic Advisory Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Mandatory Disclosures
    • Anti-ragging Notice & Committee
    • Social Innovation Program
  • Accreditations & Associations
  • Media
    • News
    • Events
    • Press Release
    • Media Kit
  • Campus
    • Gurgaon City Campus
    • New Gurgaon (Manesar) Campus
  • Annual Events
    • Inspired Leadership Conference
    • DEEKSHANTA – Convocation
    • Annual Alumni Meet
    • SOIL Premier League
    • Social Innovation Fair
    • Karma Rasoi
    • Himalayan Retreat
  • Blog
  • About Soil
  • About
    • About Soil
    • Vision & Values
    • Spirituality & Indian Ethos
    • Founder & Chairman’s Message
    • Director’s Message – SOIL Gurgaon
    • Director’s Message – SOIL Manesar
    • Industry Consortium
    • Governing Board
    • Academic Advisory Board
    • Leadership Council
    • Mandatory Disclosures
    • Anti-ragging Notice & Committee
    • Social Innovation Program
  • Accreditations & Associations
  • Media
    • News
    • Events
    • Press Release
    • Media Kit
  • Campus
    • Gurgaon City Campus
    • New Gurgaon (Manesar) Campus
  • Annual Events
    • Inspired Leadership Conference
    • DEEKSHANTA – Convocation
    • Annual Alumni Meet
    • SOIL Premier League
    • Social Innovation Fair
    • Karma Rasoi
    • Himalayan Retreat
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About Us
      • About Soil
      • Vision & Values
      • Spirituality & Indian Ethos
      • Founder & Chairman’s Message
      • Dean’s Message
      • Director’s Message
      • Industry Consortium
      • Governing Board
      • Academic Advisory Board
      • Leadership Council
      • Mandatory Disclosures
      • Anti-ragging Notice & Committee
      • Social Innovation Program
      • Media

      • News
      • Events
      • Press Release
      • Media Kit
      • Campus

      • Gurgaon City Campus
      • New Gurgaon (Manesar) Campus
      • Annual Events

      • Inspired Leadership Conference
      • DEEKSHANTA – Convocation
      • Annual Alumni Meet
      • SOIL Premier League
      • Social Innovation Fair
      • Karma Rasoi
      • Himalayan Retreat
      • Accreditations &
        Associations

  • Programs
    • PGPM
    • PGPM HR
    • PGDM
    • PGPM-Flex
  • Faculty & Staff
      • Faculty Introduction
      • Faculty Members
      • Research & Publications

      • Conferences

      • Awards & Achievements

  • Recruiters
    • Overview
    • Campus Recruitment Process
    • Participating Companies
    • Recruiter Testimonials
    • Student Awards
    • Alumni Speak
    • Internship

    • Overview
    • PGDM Internship Process
    • Project Summary
    • Reports

    • PGPM Placement Reports
    • PGDM Internship Report
    • Class Profile

    • PGPM
    • PGDM
    • Career Development

    • Overview
    • PGPM Calendar
    • PGDM Calendar
  • Blog
Posts By
  • Admissions Office
  • Faculty Desk
  • Industry Insights
  • Innovation & Design Thinking
  • Leadership & Management
  • Social Impact & Covid
  • Student Careers
  • Student Life
Topics
  • 1 Year MBA
  • 1 Year MBA course
  • 2 Year MBA
  • Admissions
  • Advisors
  • Analytics
  • Arts
  • B School
  • Big Data
  • Board
  • Business Design
  • Candidates
  • Career
  • Careers
  • Case Study
  • CEDEP
  • Change Management
  • Coaching
  • Collaboration
  • Commerce
  • COVID
  • Curriculum
  • Demand
  • Design Thinking
  • Digital
  • Director
  • Diversity
  • Entrepreneur
  • Executive MBA
  • Executive Programs
  • Experiences
  • Experiential Learning
  • Faculty
  • Family Business
  • Finance
  • Global Exchange
  • Growth
  • Healthcare
  • History
  • HR
  • ILC
  • Industry
  • Industry Analysis
  • Industry Network
  • Innovation
  • International
  • Internships
  • Interview
  • Interview Expereience
  • investing
  • Journey
  • Knowledge
  • Leaders speak
  • Leadership
  • Leadership Series
  • Learn by action
  • Learning
  • Location
  • Management
  • MBA
  • MBA in HR
  • MBA in Human Resource Management
  • Mentorship
  • Microsoft
  • Mindfulness
  • MNC
  • Networking
  • News & Events
  • NGO
  • Non Engineering
  • One Year Full Time MBA Program
  • One Year MBA
  • One Year MBA in Business Leadership
  • One Year MBA in India
  • Opportunities
  • Part Time
  • Part time programs
  • Personal Interview
  • PGDM
  • PGDM in Business Design
  • PGPM
  • PGPM - Human Resource
  • PGPM HR
  • Placements
  • Planning
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Management
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Management in Business Design
  • Post Graduate Program in Management
  • Post Graduate Program In Management - Human Resource
  • Pre MBA
  • PreMBA
  • Preparation
  • Ranking
  • Self Reflection
  • SIP
  • Skills
  • Skils
  • Social Innovation
  • SOIL Days
  • Specialization
  • Sports
  • Start Up
  • Strategy
  • Talent Appreciation
  • Teaching
  • Team work
  • Technology
  • Transformation
  • Two Year MBA
  • Two Year MBA in India
  • Wisdom
  • Women Leadership
Audience
  • 1 Year MBA
  • 2 Year MBA
  • Corporates
  • Executive Programs
  • HR
  • HR Programs
  • Part Time Programs
  • PGDM
  • PGPM
Industry
  • Analytics
  • BFSI
  • Digital
  • Education
  • Finance
  • HR
  • NGO
Year
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
Popular Posts
12 Tips To Apply At Soil – From The Pgdm Director For Admissions

12 Tips To Apply At Soil – From The Pgdm Director For Admissions

Read More
MBA vs. PGDM: Understanding the Difference

MBA vs. PGDM: Understanding the Difference

Read More
One Year MBA in India

One Year MBA in India

Read More
What Is The Future Of Design Thinking In Business?

What Is The Future Of Design Thinking In Business?

Read More
PGPM Vs PGDM: Which One Should You Opt For

PGPM Vs PGDM: Which One Should You Opt For

Read More
  • balance-between-agility-inclusiivty-and-n-between

    The balance between Agility, Inclusivity & everything in-between

    28 Aug 2020
    • admin
    Share

    “Actions are the louder expression of thought. The quality of thought is ordered by the nature of our inner belief and faith.”

    ― Swami Chinmayananda

     

    The last five months have presented a unique opportunity for all of us to reflect on our beliefs and also act on them. Amidst all its creations, the novel COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly changed the reality for businesses — dislocation of employees, modification in customer behavior and disruption of supply chains, amongst other realities. The changes may have been instigated by a necessity, but have the potential of becoming permanent inflection points. As with all situations, a few leaders took the lead in coping with these changed realities, and are steering their organizations in pragmatic and inspired ways.

    I like the fact that Anil and the SOIL team had the Vision of creating the ‘Becoming the Best Version of Yourself’ Webinar series – to create a platform for listening to some of these leaders. It is a beautiful way of serving the community, so that instead of fear and insecurity the people source inspiration and rise to their highest and personal best.

    Listening to some of these leaders during the SOIL ‘Becoming the Best Version of Yourself’ Webinar series has been a pleasure and a privilege. With such an inspiring lineup, it was hard to restrict myself, but I have focused on my reflections from Anil’s conversations with Gopal Vittal (CEO & MD, Bharti Airtel; Laura Kohler (Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Kohler) and Shaheen Mistri (Founder & CEO, Teach for India). This blog is my attempt to explore the three inherent themes that I gleaned from the three leaders: Inclusive is effective, agility allows unlocking of bolder aspirations, and ‘to-be and ‘to-do’ go hand-in-hand.

    Inclusive is effective

    There is joy in working towards big, bold and ambitious targets; however, the ability to achieve and sustain them is rare. Those rare times are manifested when clarity of thought is mapped with sensitivity towards all stakeholders. As Gopal Vittal said in the webinar, ‘my role as the leader is to be the bridge and glue between different functions and different agendas’. At an intent level, everyone comes to do a good job, but as leaders, it is as important to listen as it is to share. Curating listening posts opens up the pathways for seeking and offering support, truly making it everyone’s journey. They allow conversations on the ‘hows’, which are as important as the ‘whats’, and which are usually the weak link in strategy execution. Inclusivity creates a richer solution and also enables members to feel more compassionate towards each other, something that we all seek today. For instance, Airtel chose to provide continuity of service, free of cost, to the migrant workers during the first two months of the lockdown (keeping their reality in mind). For me, this spirit of inclusion wasn’t just a response to the pandemic; it is as evident in Airtel’s Open Network, which started in 2015, and is a vibrant illustration of making the customers a part of the solution generation.

    Agility allows unlocking of bolder ambitions

    Agility allows nimbleness to renew oneself, to adapt and to change quickly. While it has significant importance at a personal level, it is equally important at an institution level in order to survive and to thrive. Like with all good things, it has to be nurtured and cultivated, deliberately. Like Shaheen said, ‘agility to cope with problems didn’t emerge in Covid, it’s a way of Life for us’. This way of life is deep rooted in two beliefs — having a strong sense of possibility, and the resilience to relentlessly pursue goals. The short term goals could change because of the environment, and we need to have the agility to adapt. Maybe this is what has allowed Teach for India to become one of the largest fellowship programs in the country, impacting 20 million children thus far, and enabling the future of so many more.

    Laura shared Kohler’s adoption of agility — be it the Sprints which have teams from across businesses, or the Business Resource Groups, where workforce self-organizes, activates, and solves problems in addition to their ‘day jobs’. Deploying the most appropriate person, instead of the highest-level person is a beautiful example of harnessing the power of its people for the better. And these principles are probably what enabled a Kohler factory in UK to figure out how to assemble ventilators, and Kohler factories in China and US to leverage their sourcing capability and find ways to get PPEs to the medical community.

    The equilibrium between ‘to-be’ and ‘to-do’

    Staying on the right side of optimism is critical, now more so than ever. A lot of it comes from mindfulness — by understanding oneself better each day and by discovering facets that make up the ‘whole’ person. Workplaces are compelling spaces to gain self-knowledge,and in some cases discovering our calling. If we are able to discover our Ikigai (Japenese term which literally means the reason for being), a sweet spot which integrates our talent, passion and purpose towards something that the society and world at large needs, we are so much better prepared to serve.

    As leaders, finding and serving that Ikigai, also allows us to enable the same for others. It came through as Laura shared her own journey of embracing the legacy and history of the 142-year-old company to serving the organization and its people. Incubation of new ideas and nurturing the Micro Communities within Kohler would probably be allowing many of its employees to work towards better lives, better communities and a better planet.

    These webinars reiterated for me that inclusivity makes solutions more effective; that agility can allow unlocking of bolder aspirations; and that the equilibrium between ‘to-be and ‘to-do’ does start with oneself, but can be built at the institution level as well. These beliefs and ways of working are critical in today’s new world, but unlike the PPEs, they can’t be acquired overnight. They have to be thoughtfully nurtured in the institution, one action at a time. And the Leaders who nurture these Values in the Institutions probably learn them early on in their lives; which is where institutions like SOIL play a pivotal role in instilling these Values. Keep up the fantastic work SOIL!

    Akansha Arora

    “Akansha, thinks of herself as a life-long learner. She is particularly interested in Group Relations and is pursuing her PhD. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Udayan Care, a NGO that focuses on vulnerable children. She comes with a blend of industry and consulting experience. Her last assignment was with KFC, as Director of HR prior to which she had worked with Right Management, the strategic HR Consulting arm of Manpower Group”

  • Our Top Stories to Read

    PGDM vs MBA – Full form, Specializations, Reasons to Consider, Salary Differences. Founder & Chairman Mr. Anil Sachdev Learnings and Importance of Theatre
  • SOIL Live Digital Events

    Beyond my MBA | SOIL Alumni Series | 07.00 PM – 08.00 PM

    Learn More

    Beyond my MBA | SOIL Alumni Series | 07.00 PM – 08.00 PM

    Learn More
Never miss a beat. Get Blog updates regularly in your inbox
Loading
X

Post navigation

Previous Previous post: THE SIP TALES FROM SOIL
Next Next post: My Journey at SOIL so far…
About Us
  • Governing Board
  • Academic Advisory Board
  • Leadership Council
  • Founder & Chairman's Message
  • Director's Message - SOIL Gurgaon
  • Director's Message - SOIL Manesar
  • Annual Events
  • Events
  • News
  • Gurgaon City Campus
  • New Gurgaon(Manesar) Campus
  • Careers at soil
Academic Programs
  • PGPM
  • PGPM HR
  • PGDM
Faculty & Staff
  • Faculty Members
  • Research and Publications
  • Conferences
  • Awards & Achievements
Recruiters
  • Campus Placement
  • Internship
  • PGPM Placement Reports
  • PGDM Internship Reports
  • PGPM Class Profile
  • PGDM Class Profile
  • Career Development
Blog
Contact Us
SOIL

Legal Entity Name - Grow Talent Company Limited, Plot 76, Sector 44, Gurgaon, Haryana, India - 122003