MDI’s Samvaad 2015 Brings Together Leaders From Snapdeal, PayU, StanChart

The One Year Full Time MBA (NMP) Class of 2016 at Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon, hosted its Annual Leadership Conclave, Samvaad’ 15, on October 24.

The event was centered around the theme ‘Emerging leaders of innovative India’ and explored innovations taking place in India and the organisations leading the charge. Panelists at the event included leading entrepreneurs, company heads, leadership gurus, academicians and industry stalwarts from various sectors and start-ups.

The event commenced with a welcome speech by Prof. J. K. Jain, Chairperson, NMP & Energy Management and Prof. C.P. Shrimali, Director, MDI.

Highlighting the significance of this initiative, Prof. J. K. Jain, said “Developing young managers to be good leaders is the soul of the NMP programme in MDI. The support of industry’s great captains helps in sowing the seeds to inculcate values of leadership in future managers”

Back-to-back sessions delving into topics such as building people-centric organisations, cultural challenges for global CXOs, power of start-ups and the promise they hold for B-school students, among others, were next.

Neena Goyal of Standard Chartered

The first panel included Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, D. D. Misra, Director (HR) at ONGC and AVM Baladitya VSM, Air Vice Marshal, Indian Air Force.

“Transformational leadership is about Commitment, Integrity, Non-interference & Involvement of employees,” said Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India highlighting the change catalysed by good leadership.

Guiding the participants about developing leadership qualities, D. D. Misra, Director (HR) at ONGC said “Never fear to ask for help, take responsibility and lead your team with passion.”

Vikas Banga of Snapdeal

The second panel saw participation by leaders from the corporate world. The panelists included Gyanesh Chaudhary, MD & CEO, Vikram Solar Pvt Limited, Ms. Neena Goel, Executive Director and Market Head, Standard Chartered, Mr. Rajiv Arora, Human Resource Leader at Mercer and Dr. V.P. Singh, Executive Director- HR & Chief Pupil at Devyani International.

Speaking about Women as business leaders, Ms. Neena Goel, Executive Director and Market Head, Standard Chartered said “Work life balance, respecting value system & connecting with people are important for future leaders.”

Mr. Vikas Banga, Vice President at Snapdeal & Angel Investor, Mr. Praneeth Tammiraju, AVP Operations at PepperTap, Mr. Sameer Grover, Founder & CEO at Crownit and Mr. Prabhakar Tiwari, CMO, PayU India also shared their thoughts at the event.

MDI Students at Samvaad