Leadership Development Programme

On joining, all students of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) at the Indian School of Business (ISB) go through the Leadership Development Programme (LDP), which is unique as it is based on a 360-degree feedback and introspection model. It inculcates a spirit of teamwork and leadership through a series of lectures, discussions, workshops and group practice sessions. Essential skills for leadership such as effective listening and communication, presentation, team building, assertiveness and problem solving are developed. Students also learn the technical skills as well as develop emotional intelligence and cognitive abilities, which are required to be a leader.

The LDP focuses on individual growth through a three-fold approach of self-reflection, peer evaluation and facilitator intervention. Leadership development is most effective when change is backed by assessment and support – and change itself comes about only when individuals venture out of their comfort zone and learn from new experiences.

360-degree Assessment

ISB uses a 360-degree or multi-rater feedback assessment tool, which relies on carefully structured questionnaires to systematically collect opinions about a student’s behaviour or performance from six or seven individuals – workplace superiors, colleagues and subordinates – who have valuable perspectives on the student's strengths and areas of development.

Feedback is collated prior to the start of the programme.  Raters send their feedback directly to ISB. At the start of the programme, students are given an overall summary of the feedback they have received. The feedback is not used for any evaluative purposes and the questionnaire is designed in such a way that resistance to seeking and giving feedback is minimised. Students are assigned to small learning groups with one designated coach.

The coaches help students to:

• Explore their feedback
• Develop personal goals based on the feedback they have received
• Plan challenges to strengthen their leadership capability

After identifying their strengths and areas of development, students are ready to move towards charting a developmental plan. Usually one or two strengths and one or two developmental areas are chosen to work on. These developmental plans are written down based on the SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based).

Workshops

Students are offered experiential skill-building workshops during the weekends over the first four terms. The themes include:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Working Effectively in Teams
• Presentation and Communication Skills