The Indian American Forum for Political Education held a panel discussion titled. “Leadership for the 21st Century” on Friday February 25th 2011, featuring Dr. Nitin Nohria, Dr. Sanjiv Chopra and Ms. Arti Singh. Raj Sharma from Merrill Lynch served as the moderator.

The event opened with a welcome address by Dr. Manju Sheth, who is a member of the EC. Andrea Menezes, the Associate Secretary and Ajay Saini presented the Secretary and Treasurer’s report.  

President Dr. Melville Menezes outlined the efforts of the present committee who worked hard to extend the membership and reach of IAFPE. He then introduced HBS Dean Dr. Nitin Nohria and recognized his outstanding contributions to the field of Management.

A very enlightening panel discussion followed. Each presenter gave his or her view on what leadership meant.  Dr. Chopra , Dean of Continuing Education treated the word LEADERSHIP as an acronym and expanded each letter to represent the characteristic of a good leader. Starting from L for Listening he outlined several important features in a good leader. He drew extensively from the characteristics of historical figures known for their leadership .  “P stands for packing your parachute.  Leaders like sky divers take risks and their success is owed to the person who packed their parachutes – the mentors who helped train them. Leaders must serve as mentors to others” said Chopra.

Dean Nohria focused on the importance of ethics. “ A good leader needs to catch themselves when they begin to justify an unethical action. ” said Nohria as he clearly stated his opposition to justify an unethical behavior on any grounds. Arti Singh emphasized the need to listen and be a role model for the people who work for the leader.

Appluading IAFPE, Nohria said “ I was really impressed to see how much has been accomplished by this organization with not much capital investment”.

IAFPE also recognized its political interns for their great work. EC member Sanjay Kaul introduced the interns.  Adit Chipalkatti, a sophomore at Babson College, interned at Rep Jay Kaufman’s office. Surya Menon, a senior at Lexington High School interned at State Senator Susan Fargo’s office. Saman Salim, a senior at University of Massachusetts, Amherst interned at Rep William C. Gavin’s office.  Rohan Vahalia, a junior at American University in Washington interned at Deval Patrick’s re-election campaign. The event concluded with a  vote of thanks by Vice President Rita Shah.  It was overall a very enlightening evening.

|