“Diversity in the Classroom is a Strong Focus for Us”: Anil Sachdev, SOIL

The School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) in Gurgaon, New Delhi Capital Region in India was one of the first B-School’s in India to offer a one-year full time post graduate course in management. In-fact the B-School offers not just one, but two one-year courses focusing on different aspects of management.  Shikhar Mohan, Founder, OneYearMBA.co.in, digs deeper in a conversation with Anil Sachdev, Founder & CEO, SOIL.

SOIL is an interesting name. How did you decide on this name?

The School of Inspired Leadership was conceptualized in the beautiful foothills of Sidhbari, Dharamshala with a team of industry practitioners and consultants who strongly believed that it was time for management education to take a leap forward into the space of Leadership. We had several rounds of visioning exercises to identify what it is that is most critical to the businesses of tomorrow and focused on Leadership. The ‘Inspired Leadership’ refers to the 5 pillars or values of Compassion, Diversity, Ethics, Mindfulness and Sustainability. These are the values that we look for in our applicants and then instill into every part of our program as well to reinforce them and give our students tools to apply them in their work and personal arena.

SOIL was established in 2008 when the one- year Post Graduate education model was still relatively new in India – ISB had just about started gaining mind-space having after starting its course in 2001 and IIM A had just broken ground with PGPX in 2007. You chose a one-year model for your school’s programme then. What guided your choice?

Internationally, especially in Europe, the one year program has been very popular. When we studied the course content of the existing two year and one year programs we felt that a lot of time in the two year programs was being spent on exams, term breaks etc. On consulting with senior academicians across the globe we decided that for the Indian students a one year program will be better suited, especially if they come with prior work experience.

There are unique challenges that come with addressing a new category – you have to not just establish your own school’s brand, but build the category too. Your comments?

When you are doing something for the right cause with a purpose in mind, challenges become milestones. We had the support of our consortium members, international visiting faculty, renowned industry practitioners as mentors and a great team – with all this we worked hard and continue to do so because the journey has only just begun.

On that note, as per SOIL’s website, the B-School has been co-created by 32 companies. What does this mean? What efficiency, knowledge, or new opportunities do these companies bring to SOIL and what is their level of involvement?

These 32 companies are the co-creators of SOIL in every sense. We reached out to them and signed an MOU which states that they will help us in creating this institute of excellence – they have helped us with every stage of institution building. Our curriculum has been created through multiple level meetings with key stakeholders from within these organizations and is reviewed twice a year. Representatives from these companies are part of our interview panel for admissions and also mentor our students through a very structured one on one coaching intervention. Our faculty also partner with them to build case studies. They of course partner with us for recruitment as well.

SOIL offers two one-year full time courses – one is a general management course, with specialization in General Management & Marketing  and the other one in HR. Can you tell us more about the programs?

The Business Leadership Program is designed for experienced professionals to gain insights about the interconnected business environment. Often in their work, they have been limited to a single function or vertical. This one year gives them excellent opportunities to understand fairly quickly diverse perspectives. This is done through interactions with excellent faculty as well as live projects and other learning interventions.

The Human Resource leadership program on the other hand invites graduates and young professionals to understand in depth contemporary human capital challenges. We have enjoyed translating years of consulting experience into insights through the classroom activities. The HR fraternity has come together to create this unique program for future HR leaders, providing them with the tools to contribute to sustainable transformations in organizations.

When we studied the course content of the existing two year and one year programs we felt that a lot of time in the two year programs was being spent on exams, term breaks etc. On consulting with senior academicians across the globe we decided that for the Indian students a one year program will be better suited, especially if they come with prior work experience

The eligibility requirements for SOIL’s Business Leadership Programme and the HR course is different – candidates need 2 years of work experience for the business leadership programme while fresh graduates can join the HR programmes. Consequently the participants of your Human Resources Leadership Programme tend to be younger – the average class work experience is around two years as compared to 4.5 years for your business leadership programme. 

This structure mimics the structure for management courses followed by most B-Schools outside India where candidates with 3+ years of work experience are eligible to pursue an MBA and students with 0-3 years work experience pursue an MIM. Is SOIL following a similar model?

SOIL created the admission criteria of the programmes as an outcome of our personal visioning exercise where industry partners and faculty members both felt that keeping in mind the curriculum for both these courses this should be the criteria for admission. We also wanted to open our programs for some excellent candidates despite their less experience because they bring diversity into the classroom and yet have the ability to cope with the demands of the one year program.

What has the industry response to students graduating from SOIL been like? Are the companies who have partnered SOIL as ‘c0-creators’ been prominent recruiters?

We believe that every individual must discover his talent and follow it with unparalleled passion to ensure greater success. To ensure this we have a good mix of companies who are prominent recruiters in other campuses as well as some who visit SOIL exclusively. The recruiters like HCL, Infosys, ICICI, Dabur and others who go across campuses enjoy visiting SOIL for the fresh approach offered by our students and their focus on the values of inspired leadership. 

SOIL’s stats show 40% female participants in its programmes. This number at most B-Schools in India is 10-15% and most B-Schools are working hard to address the gender imbalance. How did you get this number up to where it is today?

From the beginning diversity in the classroom has been a strong focus for us. We begin this with our admission process which uses a leadership profiling tool called the Caliper. Applicants to our programs all take this test in a controlled environment and on basis the reports are invited for the next round. So at this stage itself we allow people with multiple intelligences and diverse talents to make it through the rigorous selection process. We have also been granting scholarships to several meritorious and deserving candidates – many of them are female participants as well. These and other initiatives help us invite more female participants to our Business Leadership and HR Leadership programs.

What has been the biggest milestone for SOIL over this long journey?

The day we successfully graduated our fifth batch in May 2014, we now have nearly 500 alumni living the journey of ‘Inspired Leadership’ and making impact in some of the most admired work places of India. From an experiment in ‘Higher Education’, we have become a benchmark for ‘Transformational Learning’ that is developing leaders who truly care about “making a difference to make our world better”.

 Over this short period, 2 of our Alumni have become social entrepreneurs, one heads “sustainability” function of a well known company, another heads HR of a 1200 people work force etc. This is our real wealth and our achievement!