Do B-Schools teach leadership skills?

Ipsita Sarkar Gupta | shiksha.com

“A leader is a manager. They need to know the nuances of management to be a good leader,” says Suneet Khambat, an entrepreneur and this year’s CAT topper (100 percentile). For him, management education is the ideal step for honing his leadership skills.

Suneet’s statement made us think, do Indian Business Schools (B-Schools) actually teach leadership skills, or is it just limited to theory? To understand the answer to this question, we spoke to some alumni and current students of top B-Schools and Tier II B-Schools

“There’s a lot of opportunity to learn about leadership in B-School. Apart from some courses, there are various clubs, committees, events and important posts/positions that introduce the concepts of leadership to a student. A lot of learning is class-based in every school. But at the end of the day, it all depends on how the student inculcates learning in real life,” says Sufal Roongta, a current student of IIM- Ahmedabad.

Further substantiating Sufal’s view, Soumendu Ganguly, IIM-Ahmedabad 2010 passout, says, “The activities in a B-school – group discussions, presentations or organising activities for clubs and events – helps hone the leadership talent of a candidate.”

“What is leadership? What are some of the most important leadership qualities? A lot depends on how we tend to define the term,” says Anil Narayanan, an IIM-Calcutta 2013 pass out. “For me, leadership quality includes:

1. Ability to judge talent and delegate accordingly,
2. Good communication,
3. Teamwork, and
4. Good foresight

“B-School definitely helps develop the first three leadership qualities through class activities, workshops and events. There is also industry exposure and alumni networking,” adds Anil.

However, all the above points mentioned hold true if a candidate is from a top B-School. “In our college, leadership was only limited to a theoretical subject. Nothing more. It’s even useless to think about leadership skills when no effort is made to introduce it,” says a candidate (who refused to be named) from a Tier II B-School.

According to Joydeep Sarkar, COO of Godrej ISS Hicare, "Leadership acumen is something that develops over time. B-Schools may have events and activites that can initiate some skills, but it cannot simulate leadership."

Traditionally (read Indian society), the MBA degree is considered to be a sure shot passport to success and money. Despite the claims of various top B-School grads, we are not sure if Indian B-Schools grads are as enthusiastic about leadership qualities as they are about placements.