The L&D Rendezvous on the 8th of
October at the SILC Pune will remain etched in my memory for more reasons than
one; in my previous article I highlighted one reason – Snehwan. But the event,
and my overall experience being a part of the Core Team at L&D Global Pune
Chapter, has had many learnings and ramifications for me as a professional. Being
a Line Function Manager & all that comes with it - the good and the bad,
meant that this experience was a truly defining one for me as I document in
this write-up; this is despite me being a former Visiting Faculty in Brand
& Advertising Management, and having handled training assignments in
corporates as well as extensive cross-functional projects.
THE
L&D Pune Chapter
My introduction to L&D Pune chapter was a direct
outcome of my business blogging and non-fiction books blogging, which lead me
to getting in touch with a variety of professionals outside my core function and
specialty, {which is and remains
Telecommunications / Technology / ECommerce and Channel Sales / Marketing /
Business Management / Logistics} – including top Management thinkers /
gurus and cross-functional exposure to a variety of domains, whose utility in
broadening my horizons I cannot understate. This
is not tooting my own horn; I am just underlining that I was not new to
cross-functional teams, neither was I a frog-in-the-proverbial-well person.
This habit, or rather, this disconcerting habit {apparently, impression is sales persons
don’t read} got me in contact with some LnD professionals, as well as
Writers; leading to an association with a fast-upcoming Writers connect
outreach, which I shall subsequently document once things are clearer. It was
as a result of this that I got in touch with the L&D Global Team Pune Chapter, where I got associated more out
of curiosity and without any real expectations, to be honest. Well, I was
wrong. Period.
The
Difference
The stunning openness, willingness to experiment,
learn from juniors, seniors, and easy relaxed rapport impressed me; this was
clearly a professional outfit. And yet,despite
being hobbyists all, with no personal financial interest in the venture – if
you can call it that – their level of commitment, and their thoroughly
professional approach and planning floored me. This is difficult to master even
in hierarchical teams, as all Line Managers are only too well and painfully
aware. But beyond all this, was the transparent enthusiasm – and here I learnt perhaps my biggest corporate lesson.
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| THE L&D PUNE CHAPTER EVENT TEAM |
For decades, Management Thinkers have waxed eloquent
of the role of positivity, enthusiasm in Business execution in particular and
Business in general. I have documented several management books on this blog
itself, and a few also touch on this point. Like most Line Managers {Yup, gross generalization here, basis
personal experience}; I remained leery and dismissive of this, for the perfectly
simple reason that I found, through self
experience as well as discussions with my teams and peers, that finding or
inculcating such a team was next to impossible in the real world. Here, in this team – devoid of documented
controls, was the clear proof of the theories written in the books… the
enthusiasm, commitment, energy levels, common association with objectives and
the way it impacted overall team performance was and is an education. The way
this team overcame level, status & achievement differences was exemplary. Stay
connected with my blog as I progress further in my hunt for the truth, and how
can we create such vibrant teams…
THE EVENT
The preamble above is, in my opinion, vital to
understanding events; I have a habit of documenting each significant
self-learning on my blog here insofaras it pertains to Business, Management or
Indian History; and this preamble will enable my readers to get some vague idea
of the energy and spirit of the people behind the event. It is the energy of
the people planning and executing that gets translated into quality – be it a
product or be it an event. We saw in my latest book review of Management
Thought {The Difference: When Good Enough Isnt Enough – Subir Chaudhury} how small things can translate into big epochal business impact.
Well, these small things did translate into
vibrant and alive event.
I have seen many events, planned and executed,
helped in – many – CXO events, Sales Events; from that perspective I can
honestly state this one I attended from LnD Global was among the top drawer
events I have attended. We had some 63+ paying members in attendance – all professionals,
making for a very targeted and interested audience, as well as alive with
energy. They were here to learn and to contact; their interest was two-fold,
and it showed.
The focus areas were two learning platforms – Power Negotiations, a panel discussion;
and Leadership and Innovation Strategies,
A Masterclass. The Power Negotiation Panel was suitable high-profile,
fielding an IAS Officer at Director Level, two CEOs-MDs, and one Head of
Learning & Development of a top Indian Firm. Given the subject of Power
Negotiations, this enabled a wide-spectrum participative look at negotiation as
a Business Skill
The keynote speaker was the CEO of Sakal International Learning Center, Mr
Debashish Biswas, who took a Leadership and Masterclass Strategy session, which
was the frontispiece of the event. One can write volumes on this subject; so I
shall desist from describing it, or indeed the one above. My Take-away from this masterclass is my preferred focal point in this article
: which was the relevance of staying updated, current – in the words of the
keynote speaker – reinventing oneself. I am proud that I have done this
throughout my career – but out of a pure play passion, a desire to learn, read,
re-skill, try new tasks even in my job {Handling Port Stevedoring Operations
for import, or training, or faculty}; I never thought of this as a powerful
tool. Until the 8th of October, that is.
Conclusion
This was a paid event – was it worth it? Yes, it
was; it cleared my brain, my mind; gave me a kick in the proverbial ***,
{excuse my language please – cant put it any better}, and taught me a lot. But
most importantly, it was infectious with positivity and free flowing energy, which
has a tendency to rub off on others as
well. That, and the fact that it gave me confidence, ideas – rekindled my
passion, as well as put me in touch with like-minded professionals made it one
hell of an experience. Would I attend one again? Sure I would – spending from
my own pocket. Why shouldn’t I? I stand to benefit! And the icing on the cake was I met someone like Mr Ashok Deshmane… to know more about him, click this link
It was nice to read your experience sir. I fathom that in today's scenario, Leadership is not visible and all I have seen is personal greed in context with grade,pay hike or autocracy.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to understand the empirical effect of leadership on business, management and employee and mostly it is kept bewildered due to the reasons mentioned above.
The system, it's tracking process and commitment combined with passion and moral values can certainly bring significant realms in a vertical.
The pseudo leaders needs to be chucked off to stimulate and create a revolution.
The question is who will do it?
The answer is ownership of an employee.
Lot of other factors are associated,but intent and responsibility factors are critical to display and bring the changes.
Sherry
Thanks for the detailed comment and observation, Sherry. Sad but what you say does make a lot of sense; however, signs of change are also visible, as I myself learnt on 8th!
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