A two-day camp aimed at inculcating leadership skills among students was inaugurated at National College on Wednesday under the auspices of Palkhivala Foundation, Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC), Chennai with speakers from the Mumbai-based Forum of Free Enterprise.
This is the first time that the camp is taking place outside Chennai, since its inception seven years ago.
“We get students from many disciplines for these workshops; but we realised that we could reach out to more children if we spread our work to smaller cities,” J. Durga Lakshmi, Registrar, NPAC, told The Hindu .
“Our workshops help students to identify the barriers that are keeping them from achieving their true potential, and show them ways to tackle them.”
Over 120 students from colleges in and around Tiruchi have registered for the camp this year.
Motivational speakers Rajiv Luv and Sachin Kamath briefed participants on topics such as goal-setting, time management, self-esteem and communication skills, in lively interactive sessions. Mr. Kamath started off his talk by highlighting the ‘prisoners’, ‘vacationers’ and ‘learners’ who populate a training programme. “It is important to be a learner who asks questions and shares information, because learning is not a one-dimensional process,” he said.
Mr. Luv talked about self-esteem and how one’s identity and perception is shaped by the expectations and evaluations of other people. “Confidence comes from our self-esteem. Everybody who comes into our life keeps sticking judgmental labels on us. The more labels you have, the less confidence you will have. If you take charge of your self-esteem, you can become an effective leader,” he said.
In his inaugural address, Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, former judge, Supreme Court of India, said: “Leadership is needed not just in politics, but also in our daily life. Unless we learn to take charge of ourselves, we cannot progress to become role models for others.”
The camp will end on Friday.
