SOIL is an institute which emphasizes building Inspired Leaders of Tomorrow who can make a difference! I, for one, had never heard of a B-school taking an initiative such as this. The first time I visited the website, unequivocally, I found it very decent and interesting. No placements figures flashing, no bright attention getters. This fresh and very apparent difference motivated me to apply to SOIL for MBA program even though I was not too sure.
I wanted to know more about SOIL and as luck would have it, I came to know of the Inspired Leadership Conference to be held at SOIL in March. I found absolutely no reasons of missing it. I travelled to Gurgaon and came to SOIL. The moment I entered SOIL, I found it really different. The classrooms were very different from the traditional classrooms. I could see the emphasis on Mindfulness, Ethics, Diversity, Compassion and Sustainability everywhere around the campus. Later, I got to know these are the five pillars of SOIL.
The experience at SOIL was so amazing and enriching that by the time the Inspired Leadership Conference was over on the second day, I was absolutely confident that this was the place where I wanted to be! Though I was not yet absolutely sure of joining something looked very promising. I felt that this place could transform my life.
Now I am a proud member of SOIL family, and I can confidently add that the most striking feature of SOIL is that it not only talks about the five pillars but also applies them day in and day out! The five pillars: Mindfulness, Ethics, Diversity, compassion and Sustainability form the backbone of SOIL. Mr. Anil Sachdev, the founder & CEO of SOIL is a person who commands respect from every fraternity, be it students, faculty or corporate.
Upon joining SOIL, in the first few days I had this image of SOIL and a belief in mind, that I would get plenty of opportunities to hone my skills. The very first class was taken by Mr. Anil Sachdev himself. And guess what? The class was on Self Leadership! I was revealed to my inner self, my potential & the real Manu in me.
The most beautiful feature of SOIL is that it is a B-School which stresses so much on the development of every single student that enters its gates. The amount of resources allocated for one-one interaction and holistic learning is so special here. First and foremost, the Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for each one of us is sketched with inputs from the Caliper test. Our strengths and gifts which amazingly we ourselves were not aware of were revealed to us. Various exercises, in conjunction with the ILP help us recognize our own potential. Professors and industry leaders spend a lot of time to know us better in order to help us understand ourselves better. Yes, serious grooming of Inspired Leaders is done here!!
Students literally rediscover themselves. In the initial few weeks, I just said to myself, this school is really different! And the amazing part is, the whole process of self development for students is spread throughout the year! Each student is assigned a dedicated mentor from the Industry. The beauty of the process of assigning a mentor to a student is that each student gets a dedicated senior industry leader who is self motivated and wants to give back to society.
I chose SOIL when I had other options and one of them was from a top ten B-school in India. One month on, I am very proud to be a part of a family called School of Inspired Leadership.
Manu Malhotra (SOIL BLP Class of 2012)
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