“To build new champions, one needs to take risks and put promising next gen players in the big league. It is only by taking that risk, will we give the opportunity for them to live up to a higher expectation, a higher standard’.

Manipal Global Round Table on Developing Next Generation Leaders held on 22nd and 23rd of November at Renaissance Marriott, Kuala Lumpur saw HR and L&D heads at leading companies across the region share their experiences in leadership development.

20 leaders from 19 Indian corporations, including ICICI bank, Quest Global, Avantha group, HP flew in from India for the 2 day conference. The conference was also attended by 10 leaders from Malaysian corporations including the head of sales at Air Asia.

Mr. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of the board, Manipal Global Education and chair of the round table, introduced the topic with a brilliant speech that connecting global economic events to the need for developing the next generation of global leaders.

The first panel discussion on leadership started with a presentation on a Harvard Case study on Sir Alex Ferguson’s (former manager of Manchester United Football Club) leadership style. A wonderfully engaging and thought provoking discussion followed on the panel that was moderated by Mr. Vikram Bector, Chief Talent Officer, Tata Motors. The panel comprised of 5 panel members, Mr. Sailesh Anthony Joseph Menezes, Country Manager-HR, Hewlett Packard (HP) India, Mr. Murali Padmanabhan, Sr. Director & Global Head of Learning & Leadership Development, Virtusa, Mr. Neelmani Singh, Head – Leadership Development, Reliance Industries, Mr. R Nanda, Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Chemicals.

Mr. T K Srirang, Senior General Manager & Head HR, ICICI Bank Ltd gave a very insightful presentation on the unique talent development philosophy at ICICI bank. “Talent shortage is a Myth”, he said, going on to expound on the need to take risks in the design of a talent development program. He spoke about the ICICI Manipal Academy, a visionary corporate university that has trained over 7400 POs to date.

The panel discussion on innovation was moderated by Dr. Shubhro Sen, Director – Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC). The industry leaders on the panel were Mr. Manoj Kumar Jaiswal, Sr. VP & Head Management Development Centre, Murugappa Group, Mr. Sudhakar Budaraju, Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Projects, Mr. Sanjib Kumar Parida, Sr. VP – HR, Tech Mahindra, Mr. Ramesh Shankar, Executive VP & Head – Human Resources, South Asia, Siemens and Mr. A S Param, Dewalaxhmana, HR Head, Hewlett Packard (HP).

The Round Table Day 1 was brought to a close with a deeply insightful keynote speech on ‘The Making of Champions’ by Mr. Greg Chappell, former captain of the Australian Cricket team and former coach of the Indian cricket team. He swept the audience with his impassioned speech on his growing years, his years as captain on the Aussie team, connecting each piece beautifully to a lesson in talent and leadership development. He gave the audience an inside view into what he did with the Indian cricket team and what the strategic thought was behind his decisions.

Day 2 of the Round Table started early with a trip to the beautiful sprawling green acres of the Manipal International University, Nilai Campus. The guests were personally welcomed by by Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Mohamed Salleh, Vice Chancellor of Manipal International University, Nilai Campus, Malaysia Vice Chancellor of the campus, and taken on a campus tour before the start of the Leadership Round Table sessions.

Mr. Ajay Sardana, Asst Vice President and Head-Global Customers & Market Intelligence, Grasim Industries Ltd and received his PGDBM degree certificate from Dr. Wing Lam, Vice Chancellor of GlobalNxt University. In his graduation speech, he spoke about his experience with the GlobalNxt MBA program and how the fantastic learning platform, the interaction with professors and peers from around the world all led to an enriching and transformational learning experience.

The first presentation for the day by by Dr Roshan Joseph, Vice President – Learning & Development, QuEST Global gave us an insight into a Successful Leadership Development Program. She spoke about the success and results of unique leadership development program at QuEST Global, built in collaboration with and delivered by GlobalNxt University. The 2 day International Round Table was brought to a close with a presentation by Mr Prashant Verma, Joint General Manager and Business HR Head – Wholesale, Banking, & Practice Head for Recruitment and Performance Management, ICICI Bank Ltd, who discussed the expectation of industry from academia while building leaders within organisations.

This unique CXO roundtable facilitated important discussions between leaders managing HR and L&D functions across people intensive industries. The deep dive into the real issues faced by companies across the world today enabled the participants to explore new ideas and the latest best practices in leadership development.

To share feedback or request more info, please contact advisor@globalnxt.edu.my