10 Life lessons I learned from India’s Visionary & Formidable Educationist Dr Indu Shahani
You experience a fire in your belly, intimidated, inspired, sustained under the spell of an orator who calls for change with a torch stick burning material echoing and resonating with the crowd of thousands.
That’s how a revolutionary looked like in the past.
Wait! Now Let me drag you back to the Oval room
You are in an oval room, you see a tall figure, a woman with magnetic energy that pulls you in and keeps you captivated, under her spell, she owns her presence, the space around her, she projects gravitas. Draped in her colourful saree, it is not the word she speaks but the force that carries them that empowers you to make a choice to take ownership of your life immediately, she sparks a new dynamic and compels you to LRC (learn, reflect and change).
That’s how a revolutionary of the 21st Century looks like, the interesting fact is she is a teacher with four decades in empowering lives which still continues with her vision and her mission to lead the New Age Education in India as she proudly says, “Make in India, Skill in India, then why not educate in India?”
The best part is she is the Chairperson and the dean of five New Age Education Institutes and my dearest Mentor and Guide. Over the years I have had the access and the opportunity to volunteer on a wide range of projects under her visionary leadership and here are 10 life lessons I learned from my Mentor Dr Shahani Maám.
1. Willingness to adapt
When colleges in Mumbai focused on encouraging rote learning and passing each semester with no room for creativity and social responsibility.
As the Principal of HR College, she created an alternative system that grade sheet won’t be provided until students take up personal and social projects. Paving a way for students to go beyond academics and discover their true potential and sharing their knowledge with others. No doubt her students are all over the world, dominating every sphere. She is a true pioneer of initiating holistic development of students in higher education in Mumbai.
The same willingness to adapt has helped her lead the New Age Educational Institutes, she is constantly on the go, restless and determined to understand the change times and embrace the required skills to thrive.
2. Live in the future: The power of Big Picture Thinking
She has dedicated time to reading and reflecting and planning her next move. Her reading choices are unconventional and futuristic. She spends a great deal of time reading and connecting the dots.
Her morning starts with Newspaper reading and time dedicated to The Economist, Harvard Business Review and some remarkable books fuels her vision and while she lives in the future. She struggles hard to strike a balance between visionary thinking and daily execution.
Dr Shahani is truly a teacher with a compelling vision and indomitable will to make it a reality
3. Intensity of Focus
When Steve Jobs visited Google Office, he advised Larry Page to shortlist and focus on only five products and make them world-class. Steve Jobs was primarily known for his intense focus. I have never seen Steve Jobs working but I am proud that I have seen a Visionary Educationist completely focused on her work.
As a leader, she has to allocate time, energy and resources, she is also on many prestigious boards as a Director but she is remarkably intelligent to take out time and devise strategies to ensure she re-invents herself to stay true to her mission to impart world-class education in India.
The secret of her intensity of focus is she reflects deeply, delegates the work and communicates her priorities clearly keeping the big picture in mind.
4.A deep and abiding CURIOSITY
Whenever she speaks at a conference, award function or in her lectures she is known to spark a new dialogue like “make in India, skill in India, then why not educate in India.”
In my humble opinion, she has truly re-defined thought leadership in Education in India. As a leader, she doesn’t have the definitive answer to every question but she has the self-awareness to initiate the new conversation and get everyone alone, involve all and find the answers together. It all stems from her deep and abiding curiosity and her personal humility that keeps her grounded yet to envision a sky full of infinite possibilities.
The path to innovation begins with curiosity.
Igniting the spirit of entrepreneurship
5. Willingness to challenge the conventional wisdom
She is a free spirit who continues to re-invent herself. She demands clarity of thought from herself and everyone around her.
She once said in an interview that
‘“the role of the 21st-century teacher is not to be sage by the stage but a guide by the side.”
She looks beyond the orthodoxy in her field, assesses the changing dynamics and leads the change by example which reflects in her every choice.
6. Inspire and Empower everyone around you
She is the leader who encourages experimentation and who gives the freedom to experiment. If you come up with an idea, a plan she will make time and listen to you and empower you to make decisions and take things ahead.
In ISME, she has ensured there is less paperwork, no hierarchy rather a field to brainstorm innovative ideas and that’s only possible because she continues to inspire and empower everyone with her vision and her mentorship.
Dr Shahani with HRH Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex
7. People Skills: The power of fostering enduring relationships
We have had Prince Edward visiting ISME, Arrianna Huffington, N Chandrashekar and many more sharing their profound wisdom and life lessons with all of us. This has been possible for years of efforts of Dr Shahani to foster these relationships with eminent individuals.
The secret of her incredible networking skills is her abiding curiosity, for her, every encounter with people is of importance she grasps as much as she can in every conversation with people.
8. Inject Optimism
The will to want fosters the ability to do that’s her mantra. She is a perfect example of undying optimism. If you go to her with a problem she will draw 10 possible and innovative solutions. Working within constraints armed with knowledge and possibilities defines her authentic leadership.
9. A culture of Innovation
Dr Shahani’s room has no doors, it’s transparent, you can walk in anytime which signifies her emphasis on the free flow of new ideas with zero roadblocks.
This is her big investment she is someone who works extremely hard to retain a culture which encourages and rewards experimentation and innovation.
I have always found a new Dr Shahani with new ideas and thoughts because she re-invents herself and encourages everyone to innovate rapidly.
10. Compassionate Leadership
India needs a new education system in place she understood this and I believe she acts on it every single day. Indian School for Management and Entrepreneurship is a manifestation of her compassionate leadership. She keeps it simple: take a problem and solve it. As she did, she weaved an ecosystem with ISME and DICE Ecosystem i.e Design Innovation Creativity-led Entrepreneurship for students like me to thrive.
Once Dr Shahani told me that when she was teaching at HR College, she did not like the conventional benches. She thinks it is a barrier when she asks her students for group discussion, therefore, she ensured she designed round tables with chairs so we can sit together and brainstorm fostering a spirit of collaboration. This speaks volumes of her compassionate leadership.
Lastly, Once I was summoned by Dr Shahani maám and when I went to her room, she was busy with something. She was delighted to see me with a cheerful smile and with childlike wonder, she asked me, “When can you make time to teach me this new learning feature on LinkedIn?” That’s the essence of Dr Shahani, she is an obsessive, passionate and a relentless learner. I am blessed to have her as my mentor and guide.