Business School
Battleground View from a Helicopter
- by Sandeep Khanna *
The best place to get the
straight scoop about what B-school life is about is from students themselves
rather than some "expatriated expert" from a pedigree B-school or some
"high-society" magazine who do mumbo-jumbo about the school, faculty,
facilities, etc., without experiencing... or rather not living like the
soldiers... breathing the same air... and thinking way beyond the regular
"individuals".
Great Lakes, like all leading
B-schools across the globe, is not only trying to break into the "Big-5" of the
B-schools but with determined focus and vision, its beating hollow its
competitors and cheap "B-school imitations" who have sprung up across India in
the past year or so.
Oops... I started with my own
gyan... anyways, let the experts decide the ratings of the schools... and let me
give you a snapshot from 5000 feet of life at Great Lakes... tighten your seat
belts... sit back and enjoy your ride...
The first question that anyone
asks me is, "Is B-school life as hectic as people say?" For me, it's definitely
not hectic, but in a way, lots of fun. There are about 50-60 hours of classes
per week (excluding the guest lectures... we would get to that in a while...)
and study groups, but also the requisite dinner parties and bar nights... But it
runs in spurts - sometimes it's very busy, and then there are lots of slower
times when it's possible to socialize, relax, and catch up on Zzzzz...
The next trip we take on life
away from books... Walking through the Great Lakes campus is an experience
unlike any other. This may not be a stately (as of now), elegant
thirty-five-acre campus of classic red-brick buildings, tree-lined walkways, and
open, grassy courtyards like the ISBs and the IIMs, but yes, the corridors of
Great Lakes ooze with energy, enthusiasm, ideas, sparks of brainwaves, the
insatiable knowledge banks built into students... the essential ingredients of a
par excellence B-school.
The campus serves to strengthen
the sense of comradeship at the school, with the belief that the daily
interaction of life between students, professors, visiting faculty and guests
only increases the potential for learning. There are abundant opportunities to
participate in student government and clubs as well as activities that match
your particular interests, whether you are looking to find a diversion from
academic life or to have a significant impact on the Great Lakes community.
Student clubs at Great Lakes are never considered "extra" curricular, because
they are an important part of the curriculum and foster valuable opportunities
for learning and relationship-building with students outside of the classroom.
The philosophy of Great Lakes
becomes a part of students from Day One... we believe that leadership, ethics
and values are inseparable. The teaching of ethics here is explicit, not
implicit, and our standards of mutual respect, honesty and integrity, and
personal accountability are inherent qualities throughout the community. We put
this into practice in many ways.
But one "X" factor which makes us
very different from other B-schools is the enhanced number of student-industry
leader interaction that we have... titled aptly the "Skull Session" where the
leaders of tomorrow brainstorm with the Gurus of today... the forum, led by
students in partnership with faculty and staff, seeks to broaden the thinking
spheres of students away from just theoretical knowledge into an inspirational
and integrative program.
We at Great Lakes plan to have
over 250 hours of such interaction spread over a year... a few of the luminaries
who have visited our campus till now are... Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman, TATA
Group, Mr. Lakshmi Narayan, CEO, Cognizant, Mr. Alok Sharma, Director, Apple
India, Mr. Abhijeet Bhaduri, Director HR, at Frito Lays, Mr. Ravindran, Global
Head HR Covansys... and this is just the tip of the iceberg... forum is a potent
medium where one can explore the idea of authentic, character-based
leadership...
Guess this flight needs to land
to refuel on some precious sleep...
Hope you enjoyed the flight...
see you soon on the next one...
