New Delhi  :  Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) organised a free workshop on “Leading Self to Excellence” from 15 to 19 October 2021 under the aegis of the AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) program. ATAL is a unique initiative by AICTE to enhance the quality of technical education in the country by training the faculty on a wide range of topics of relevance. “Life Skills Management” is one of the thrust areas in this program.

 “Each one of us is a Leader. We first lead ourselves, and then as we lead our lives well, others start to follow us. So, the primary focus of this workshop was on leading oneself, and then only in the second part of the workshop, we discussed about leading others. This is an “inside-out” kind of approach”, is how Dr. Anuj Grover, Associate Dean, IRD at IIIT-Delhi, describes the Leadership workshop conducted by him.

Dr. Grover has over 21 years of experience in industry and academia and has conducted more than 50 workshops on Leadership for students and industry professionals – though this is his first one in collaboration with AICTE. About 200 participants from across the country signed up for this 5-day intensive workshop.

The workshop was based on the timeless principles of effectiveness as elucidated by leadership coaches like Stephen R Covey, Ram Charan, Bob Burg, John Mann, and the like. The sessions were interspersed with activities and spiced up with stories from Indian lore to drive home the ideas. As per the AICTE mandate, there should be a few sessions that help the participants to manage their physical and mental well-being. Consequently, a set of simple yet powerful Yoga tools was offered by an instructor from Isha Foundation. The workshop also included guided meditations based on readily available online resources so that participants can continue practising even after the workshop. The participants scoring more than 60% in the online evaluation received a certificate from AICTE.

Participants from across the country benefited from the workshop. Kalyani Srinivas from PES Modern College of Engineering, Pune, shared, “This was one of the best FDPs that I have participated in. The environment of trust which was prevailing was incredible”. “I was very keen to understand about Time management aspect, after listening to Mr Anuj and the way he explained using matrix was really beneficial,” said Vidhya S. from Amrita Vishwa Vidhyapeetham, Coimbatore.

 The workshop was also open to school teachers. Labony Dutta Roy, a teacher at BDM International, Kolkata, said that the workshop was, “Extremely wonderful, enriching, enjoyable, practical program.”

AICTE’s thrust area on Life Skills is indeed meaningful, and the workshop touched the participants in a profound manner. Deepshikha Kapasia of Ursuline Convent Senior Secondary School, NOIDA said, “before (this) program I was like ok… but now I have aim for my life.”

 As a part of its commitment to give back to society, IIIT-Delhi is also committed to conducting two more workshops by Dr. Shobha Sundar Ram, and Dr. Sumit Darak in the next few months. Their details are available on the AICTE website and interested candidates can register online on the ATAL portal, or by clicking here: https://www.aicte-india.org/atal