Sadhana Centre for Management & Leadership development

Some unconventional inputs, some learning by doing processes and some crucibles, to learn and for leadership to emerge

Would be students to note that SCMLD is a “learning centre”. Learning by exploring, finding out, doing, experiencing, realising and continuously unlearning and changing. Learning is nothing but changing oneself for better /to be better. You will never change unless you change something you do daily. You need to discover a “new me” in you everyday. For this you need to embrace the “non me” aspect, in me - that is you need to discipline your life for a larger purpose controlling the “I, Me, Myself only” syndrome. Further you need to ”DO” things rather than say things. Leaders are the ones who have vision, determination, motivation and do things that deliver desired outcomes. Hence you need to go through these crucibles. Iron ore cannot become stainless steel unless processed through furnace. Commandos cannot be trained in AC rooms. Olympic champions are not made in days and weeks. Juices cannot be extracted unless canes are crushed or fruits squeezed. Diamonds comes out of grinding. Grinding will generate sparks, heat, dust and noise. Please be ready to go through the grind. If not, do not apply. Many more such crucibles will be introduced.

Yoga & pranayama or workout /aerobics and meditation, prayers for self, parents and also for the well being of all the beings —daily.
10 day Vipassana meditation camp to distill back to one’s original purity and prevent further pollution of the mind.
Outbound training and talent expressions - once a month to unleash the being, the child within.
3 day spiritual processes to flush out all negatives- fear, anxiety, blocks, wrong beliefs etc. and to free students from the past dysfunctional conditioning to the extent possible.
Mandatory community work - 20 hrs per trimester. Students of SCMLD collect used but good clothes from households and distribute to destitute women and children, teach / train rickshaw drivers of the locality how to maintain good customer relations, good health, harmony at home and manage stress. Few students of nearby municipal school are taught English and computer skills free of cost at the institute. This is to develop sensitivity, fellow feeling and infuse compassion besides realisation of realities.
Cleaning of 1.5 kms stretch of road on which the institute stands and the institute premises including the toilets, between 2 and 2.30 PM everyday to embed in them dignity of labour, sense of responsibility, responsible citizenship and to free them from fear of public opinion.
Active involvement of students in institute management & administration through Self Managing Teams numbering more than 50, to learn the art of managing - what cannot be taught in the class room or formally. This is for volunteers.
Open Houses for effective communication and transparency. Students can also requisition an open house whenever they feel the need. Everything about institute and its processes and why they are etc. are shared with the students. Also they are heard and are encouraged to be partners in institution building.
Biography studies, field assignments, online projects and consumer surveys to learn by experiencing, and to be self inspired.
Special training by experts in System Thinking for vision building, Kaizen for organized and disciplined work, Workshops by specialists for applied insights/specific skills, to be competent professionals.
Coaching for special certification programmes - CPIM, CFP, NCFM, Six Sigma, Career Development Skills, Business Dynamics etc. without additional fees, to make them extraordinary.
Social / Rural / NGO projects & dissertation.
Discover India assignments, of construction work site survey, municipal/panchayat schools and hospitals survey etc and household surveys for understanding income, expenditure, consumption, saving, investment, risk management, living styles and patterns.
100% attendance in all activities to make students responsible, punctual, time bound and committed.
Addresses by spiritual/social leaders for students to be human (spiritual), to reach out to the less privileged, to be free from ignorance and embark on the path of truth in their life, careers and relationships.
Students are empowered to audit the Accounts, Examination Department, all grooming processes and promises made in the prospectus & advertisements to ensure that they have effective participation in managing the institutional processes and also to monitor the delivery of the promises and commitments. This generates ownership. No separateness between students and the institute. Collaboration is important.
Students evaluate faculty and staff periodically. Cash incentives are given to faculty and staff who score more than 3.5 in the scale of 1 to 5 with 24 parameters for evaluation. It is a 360º process wherein students’ evaluation weightage is 40%. That is, performance based pay raise to staff and faculty is decided by students.
SCMLD is one institute, which practices “Management By Truth” following the Gandhian principle that Truth is God and not God is the truth; Truthful living is experiencing God and truth is nothing but accepting the eternal laws of nature and living by it.
Many action learning crucibles of “being a street vendor to earn minimum Rs.250/- a day” - every trimester to experience business, in a small way (the profit earned goes to the entrepreneurship cell of SCMLD, which will fund student entrepreneurs), 10 day ”counter salesman work” at an organized retail outlet and earning Rs.1500/- as wages during 4th Trimester to understand consumer insights; finding wage employment for two youngsters from the slums of Pune and working along side them doing the same work and earning minimum Rs.200/- per person per day for minimum 2 days; fines for deviations due to casualness and such fines to be earned by working (not to be taken from parents) etc. are examples. And there are several such crucibles for experiential learning to be sensitive, and realise realities.
To develop deeper understanding and to be research oriented, students are assigned sectors to build sectoral portfolios and keep updating it. Learning inquisitiveness and knowledge pooling interest of that student, as a student can be gauged from the quality and content of this portfolio / thesis.
Earning minimum Rs.800/- for pocket money per month (Rs.200/- per day and one day per week) by doing ”any work any time any where” is being introduced w.e.f. January 2009 to instill dignity of labour, shed ego, and demolish the unrealistic assumptions and presumptions.
Organising an event from concept to delivery for “collective” learning and getting minimum 100 volunteers is a must for every student. This is called “My gift of ‘Learning for all students’”.
Drill driven processes to liberate one from negative habits and mental patterns and to inculcate positive habits.
Mandatory library reading: 10 / 20 hrs per week as required to instill reading habits.
Workshops by specialists for applied insights / specific skills to be competent professionals.
Four National Seminars every year - one on functions of business, one on HR, the other one by first generation entrepreneurs and the last one on Leadership, enabling learning from industry practitioners and action leaders for students to get inspired.
Continuous interaction with industry practitioners by way of CEOs seminar, Mini seminar and Guest sessions at the institute.
Medical, life & accident disability insurance for all students, staff and faculty to free them from anxieties and to support their parents/spouses as the case may be.
Continuous evaluation of intellectual learning through fortnightly tests, assignments, problem solving case analysis and tests on extra reading of journals and periodicals. to enhance their professional acumen and enlarge the knowledge base.
Current affairs test periodically so that they are well informed at all times.
End term viva-voce by faculty teaching subjects and panel of industry practitioners not teaching, for applied insights evaluation and also to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching/grooming.
Distributed / shared learning and presentation, group discussion and evaluation before viva and end term tests.
Social / rural projects & dissertation or industry internship, during last trimester (after campus placement) and submission of master thesis. Choice to students to gain practical experience and consolidate the learning.
Hurt/feelings box, Criticism box & Suggestion box to know, listen, hear, counsel, correct & help each student to overcome their weaknesses and gain confidence, courage and discover oneself.
Co-curricular CGPA by 360 degree appraisals for, realisation and positive change. This is also to promote action leadership.
Syllabi updation / modification every 3 months - trimester wise, to be dynamic.
Celebration of festivals of all religions, regions and states - to appreciate, understand and admire the ’Unity in Diversity’ aspect of the country.
Provision of minimum 6 pairs of uniforms to each student, to be equal and to prevent splurge on campus. This is additional to 4 T shirts 1 track suit and 2 track pants provided to each student. 20-30 latest text books are also provided to each student at the hostel for home reading- which they need not return at all.
Well furnished accommodation with all amenities with constant monitoring of cleanliness, hygiene and discipline, for all students except local students.
Simple but nutritious vegetarian food closely monitored by the institute management for quality, hygiene and taste, three times all seven days.
Special coaching for students who are weak in certain areas / skills as per their need and also to improve English proficiency to those who are weak in it.
Continuous and focussed efforts to ensure 100% placement of students in companies where they will love to work and be respected for their contribution. Personal attention, coaching, counselling and mentoring based on observation of behaviour and periodical psychological assessments.
Stipulation that it is mandatory for selected applicants to visit the campus, experience the institute, verify the placement data, make all enquires and thoroughly satisfy before paying the fee for admission.
SCMLD is the one institution across the world where integrity of its students, staff and faculty are measured and indexed.
There are so many other innovative processes for students to evolve as a good human being, responsible citizens and a well trained professional who will become assets to themselves, their families and the country by each one discovering and growing to one’s potential.
All our money transactions are through Bank only and any one can audit our accounts All the above are firsts in education conceptualized, designed and implemented by Prof.M.S.Pillai. Many of the unique processes are copyrighted/ or are under copyright application. These processes are nowhere in the formal / conventional system of education and grooming. This list of important systemic processes towards empowerment & sculpting of students - the chiseling out of the unwanted - to liberate the unexpressed, unheard and the unseen real being, - the natural leader within, alongside academic and other inputs, facilitate their evolution to be extra-ordinary.

“Everything is created twice, first in the mind, then in physical form”
including a better society, a loyal customer, an excellent product, good roads, dams or a machine. Envision first. Then using intellect, knowledge, wisdom, science, technology, processes, tools and techniques, make that happen. That is action leadership. For this your ‘seeing’’ has to change to see the unseen. SCMLD works on that along with giving you knowledge, skills and techniques. Physical eye can only capture the image. It cannot see truths. Seeing, the seen and the seer all depend upon one’s ‘third eye’. Third eye cannot deceive, the physical eye can.

All facts are not truths. Truths may be somewhere beneath or beyond what appears or the data collected. Mostly it can be heard in the words unspoken, read in the words unwritten or seen in the reality unseen in the scenes we see...

Value addition, value creation & offering value to the customers and community presupposes vision - the ability to see the unseen, hear the unsaid, read the unwritten, touch the untouched, taste the untasted, feel the unfelt - and a passion converted into skillful & competent actions to offer ones’ BEST. It can be achieved only by learning, doing and exploring with persistence, faith and perseverance wanting to break new paths.