Nurturing Leaders: BHU inks MoU with Competitiveness Mindset Institute to train students on ethical leadership

Holistic development of students is one of the prime objectives with which the founding fathers of Banaras Hindu University established this great seat of learning.

Over the past few years, the university has been taking a number of new initiatives to inculcate in students qualities and skills that not only help them shine academically but also excel individually as well as professionally.

The Finding the Leader in You Scholar (FLY Scholar) program is one such initiative that has significantly benefited hundreds of students of the university. Remarkably, over 1300 students have received the FLY training over the past one and a half years, since the start of the program in BHU.

The training, being conducted in collaboration with Competitiveness Mindset Institute, aims to foster a new generation of leaders who are skilled and knowledgeable and deeply committed to ethical principles and social responsibility.

Taking this initiative further, Banaras Hindu University on Aug 3 inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Competitiveness Mindset Institute, India.

As part of the understanding, the not-for-profit institute will teach and build the Big Five Competitiveness non-cognitive skills to students in order to improve effectiveness and performance in class and in the workplace. Besides, it will help in building the foundation of skills for ethical leadership and facilitate them in acquiring competitive mindset in order to improve employability. As part of the MoU, over the course of the next three years, students will also be offered training to develop advanced communication skills, which helps them build relationships, trust, and credibility.

Registrar Prof. Arun Kumar Singh and Prof. Havovi Trivedi, President, CMI India, signed the MoU in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain and other senior functionaries of the university at the Kamdhenu auditorium of the Department of Dairy Science and Food Technology.

The Vice-Chancellor also inaugurated the FLY Senior Program, especially curated for the top academic and administrative leaders of the university. The interactive and activity based program covered various areas key to leadership as participants shared their inputs on innovativeness, taking initiatives, as well as problem solving.

The session was attended by directors of institutes, deans of faculties, heads of departments, coordinators and professors in charge of various units, among other senior office bearers of the university.

Sharing his inputs during one of the sessions, Vice-Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain underlined the need to have an approach that is student and institution-oriented and is aimed at their welfare and betterment. Prof. Jain said that the FLY program has been efficiently helping participants strive to achieve competitive mindset skills.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that during his interactions with students who have attended the FLY training, he has witnessed the change in their attitude, outlook, and personalities.

Prof. Havovi Trivedi commended the initiative taken by Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain that provides an opportunity to the senior leadership of BHU to bond with each other, explore the nuances of what a structured process of decision-making is, and share with each other their experiences. She said that CMI is enriched by interacting with the senior leadership team of Banaras Hindu University.

Dr. Aparna Rajagopal, Director and Lead Architect of the FLY program, CMI-United States, said the purpose of the FLY Senior Professional program is at least twofold. One is to create awareness of what students are experiencing in the FLY program, and the second is to provide a concrete framework that senior leadership can share with their teams as they tackle initiatives and solve problems.

Ms. Oma Oza, Director, CMI India, said the program gave an opportunity to the BHU leadership to engage in metacognition- thinking about their thinking, share strategies and construct learning together.

During various sessions of the day-long program, participants were given several tasks, including identifying various issues and challenges they see as potential problems, defining the problems, taking measures to address the issues.

The activities also included making an assessment of the scenarios when measures were taken and when no measures were taken. Senior members of the university shared their insightful inputs as they pondered on various issues they face on a daily basis.

The university has already launched the FLY training program across faculties for the academic session 2024-25. Currently, three cohorts are underway in Mahila Mahavidyalaya, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the College of Nursing, with 120 participants.

The batches comprising 110 students in the Institute of Management Studies have already completed their training. Prof. Lalita Vatta, Coordinator for FLY programs in the university, informed that training for three batches comprising nearly 120 students of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences will be taking place from Aug 4 to 7, 2024.