SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, May 26: Senior officers of the coal sector were imparted training by the experts of IIT Indian School of Mines (ISM) about the effective leadership and distinction between a manager and a leader in the ongoing five-day executive leadership programme (EDP).
On the fourth day of the programme, Prof Rajni Singh, dean (media and branding) of IIT ISM while addressing a special session on ‘Leadership and Motivation Issues in Mining Project’ explained about the qualities of leadership in general and talked at length about leadership in the mining sector.
The EDP is being organized by the Department of Management Studies & Industrial Engineering of IIT ISM in which 20 South Eastern Coal Fields Limited (SECL) executives are participating.
In her 90 minutes interactive session Prof Singh, who is the first woman dean at IIT (ISM), satisfied and clarified the doubts of the executives of the South Eastern Coal Fields Limited (SECL) who asked a range of questions about the qualities of a manager and a leader.
She while addressing the session emphasized on the distinction between leader and leadership, which she termed as quite crucial and also explained that leadership is not a step but a process.
Elaborating further, she said, “No single conventional theory about leadership like charismatic leadership theory, trait theory, behavioural theory, situational theory, transactional theory and transformational theory can fit in as it is not a static quality”.
Explaining about five ways to build trust in one’s team, she said that maintaining integrity, communicating the organization’s vision and values and focusing on shared rather than personal goals are essential.
Elaborating on leadership in the mining sector, Prof Singh posed some questions to the participants and stirred them to ponder over, like do engineers have a safety culture? Have they a clear vision? Have they set a personal example? Do they participate rather than do it all? Have they taken command?
Earlier on the second day of the programme, Prof Niladri Das, associate professor of the Department of Management Studies and Industrial Engineering(DMSIE) addressed on ‘Financial Statement Analysis’ in Industrial Projects while Prof Rashmi Singh, assistant professor of DMSIE, who is also the organizer of the EDP shed light on ‘ Risk Analysis of Industrial Projects’.
