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Leadership Village YLP, an introduction

Wayanad

On November 1,1980, the state of Kerala witnessed birth of a new promised land. On this day, Wayand – a place bestowed with nature’s bounty, was declared as the 12th district of Kerala. A land of deep rooted culture, electrifying myths, rugged terrains resembling wild west movies, a green canopy of tropical forests swaying to spicy winds, megalithic carvings on rock formations– a mystical land indeed. Wayanad boasts some of the highest hill ranges in the state and the Winding hairpin bends and ridges make the journey up the ranges an exciting experience

Located 700 – 2100 ers above sea level, Wayanad is strategically positioned among the states of Karnataka, Tamilnadu and its motherland, Kerala. Wayand also shares borders with seven districts of three states namely Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannoor in Kerala, Mysore, Kudaku, Chamaraj Nagar in Karnataka and Neelgiri in Tamilnadu. A strange land with diverse geographical and topographical features, a place of paradoxes facefeatures welcomes you for a much rewarding peep into a strange and successful inspirational story.

Leadership Village YLP

Leadership Village YLP ( Young Leaders Programme) was born out of a passion to empower the villages of Wayanad with inspirational leadership training based on training strategies at par with global standards. Leadership Village YLP strives to create the first "leadership Democracy" ever in the world in Wayanad. It is undertaken with the support of villagers, students, parents, teachers, and civic associations.The vision of Leadership Village YLP would bring in a revolutionary change - a change that can only be achieved when the young generation is pointed towards their true potential and when they are shown the true change they could create in themselves and in their communities.

Founders

Leadership Village YLP was founded two organisations LeadCap Trust, Bangalore and AFRC, Wayanad. The project is dynamically catapulted to many corners of Wayanad with the path breaking leadership initiatives of school children and Young Leaders of the project. The YLPs of the project are  Roshan, Pooja and Ramsheena who are well trained and now train children of other schools as part of Leadership Village Young Leaders training programs.

A village success story

What makes Leadership Village interesting and inspiring? The entire success story is based on the concept of democratizing leadership and the core vision of leadership followed by the promoters is "leadership is a decision" and anyone can be a leader once he/she makes a strong decision to make a change.

Leadership Village was launched in 2009, which was inaugurated by Mr.Shreyamskumar, member of legislative assembly.

Leadership Village is based on two simple concepts:

Leadership Libraries: Is essentially a small village library of leadership and motivational books, gathered from across the world through book collection drives and donations. But the real concept revolves around weekend discussions, where the village youth gather and one person narrates the learning from a book that he has read. That way, every week, someone or a team of two or three people would have read a book and would have passed on the knowledge to several others.

Living Libraries: Monthly meetings, where experts from various realms are invited to the village to have dialogues and conversations. These experts share with the villagers their initial struggles and how they surmounted them. These are again expected to expand the villager's horizons.

Focus

Individuals 15-25 years oldEmpowerment of these individuals through creation of self-awareness - that leadership is not reserved for a select few, but for everyone who wants to discover their true potential; that leadership is a personal decision, rather than a position or a set of skillsHaving achieved this self-awareness, the leaders shall be mentored so as to help them discover their hidden skills – in the areas of communication, self-motivation, problem solving, decision making etc.In the next step,  these self-aware leaders shall be initiated in conceptualizing and implementing larger causes that can value-add to the society

SUSO launched in Wayanad

The first ever SUSO (Stand Up Speak Out) event in Wayanad, Kerala, was launched by Leadership Village - Young Leaders Programme. The concept of SUSO is the brainchild of Vidyadhar Prabhudesai, a Global Shaper (World Economic Forum select group) from India.Vidyadhar is one of the founding members for LeadCap Ventures and currently heads its operations in Mumbai, Delhi and Bahrain. As a Managing Trustee of LeadCap Trust, he heads the "Voice of Youth" and “E-Learning” training program initiatives to provide India her future “One million leaders”. He has been instrumental in setting up of world’s first "Leadership Village" in Waynad, Kerala. Apart from above, Vidyadhar is also a co-founder and partner in Cygnus IT Solutions, an IT and Mobile application development and service provider company where he heads the marketing and sales function.

The concept of SUSO is  simplified for the readers of Leadership Village News Journal by Vidyadhar himself:

SUSO Concept note          

SUSO stands for Stand UP and Speak OUT. These are moderated discussions among teenagers and youth with below objectives

n       Make people aware of the prevailing issues

n       Help the youth to voice out their opinion

n       Come up with effective solutions

n       Reach a consensus for its implementation

Each SUSO session is based on a theme say - Mumbai Traffic vows - what can we do?  These discussions would be conducted in a college or school premises say – Bombay Scottish or Sydhenam. Below is a broad idea of how this will work

n       Video clip pertinent to the topic to precede the discussion

n       Moderator to head start the discussion

n       During the course of discussion, a person to pen down the critical points of the discussion

n       May be would capture the discussion

n       Hand outs on the issue to be distributed

Wayanad video

Wayanad - Video

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Why LCL ?

Individuals are left behind because of their lack of leadership drive shown in professional and personal life. Many organisations stumble and falter as the top management gets confused when they have to make crucial leadership decisions. Though leadership skills can be learnt through training, dearth of effective training programs hamper students`, individuals` and organisations` march towards success. Students of India desperately need leadership lessons and training, matching international standards,  so as to be qualified as global citizens. 

Communication skills form the corner stone of soft skills. Every human being has to essentially and effectively communicate with others. Effective communication is hall mark of one's education. the ability to speak fluently using the right word in the right order sprouts good communication. Except a limited few , majority of our young generation are weak in communication. The reason can be attributed to poor educational background, lack of exposure to English, fear psychosis, inferiority complexes etc. Our educational system is more or less theory oriented and during their study time students are not initiated to communication and other activities which may enhance and sharpen their life skills.

For a multifaceted country like India, the link language English plays a vital role for nation building. However, except in metropolitan cities, the language is not widely used in a progressive manner. Majority of the students across the length and breadth of the nation do not learn the language in a systematic and scientific manner which may value add to their lives.

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Best of LeadCap leadership diary

Sherlock Holms in Leadership Village!!

ffNewsIndia/photgraphique.a.Emage

May/11/2009/Leadership Village

Hi friends,

This is Anil Emage from Leadership Village. Do you know who is my companion tonight……?

LeadCap diary theme/2009

None other than the great Sherlock Holms !! He is the most eccentric student I ever had.Now he is one of my best friends, and a very essential character in a place called Leadership Village. He has his own vision of life and since it`s not normal it`s real. He is very active,dynamic and full of fine ideas. One of his fine ideas was to stay in our homely institute for the night which I gladly agreed as I could do some work for The Village project too. Three hours back he went out saying “I`ll be back in a jiffy.”

 Still no sign of him and I am here home alone. But I don`t mind waiting. He is such a fine fellow. A fine human being, who always worry about why  people dirty the roads,why they don`t smile  to   each other, why they print ghastly designs and call it advertising!  So these are his doubts. 

We share a passion so intimate to both of us that we are not going to sleep tonight,but sit in front of the system. We love music. He goes for hard rock but I prefer soft. We both love Eagles, Bryan Adams and he goes wild with Mark Knopfler. About five years back he came into my gravitational field as a student. But I knew him years back. He is the younger brother of my childhood friend. When Holms became  my student we used to hang around in cafes and street corners observing life and tried to learn a couple of lessons. It was fun. 

We used to discuss about universal culture and how we could fit into it. After a gap of one year we meet again now. And he was still discussing about universal culture. After five years our discussion on the same topic still continues. Now it`s well past midnight. Still he didn`t turn up. But I am happily waiting. As I type this I listen to the inspiring song USA for AFRICA`s We are the world which I would love to show him. I have other videos of Lional Richie, Stevie Wonder , Bon Jovi and Eric Clapton  which we shall be watching and discussing animatedly. And I am very very eager to know what he thinks about the music of Beatles, George Harrison, Abba and Carpenters. Like all the eccentrics he wanted to change his identity, so he changed his name. When he came to me he used to read a lot. Sherlock Holms being his popular character he adopted the name which I popularised in the school. Now he is known by that name in our circle. Months back one midnight he called me.

“Excuse me Emage...I want to kill you”

“Why Holms,what wrong did I commit”

“I want to die,Since you are my creator there`s no other way for me to die but to kill you”

That`s Holms for you…He is crazy about Dostoyevsky. It`s a pleasure talking to him. One day I got a poem from him as an SMS.    You are the wound     I am the pain….He is so poetic and creative,so I don`t mind waiting.

One Global Shaper, many ideas

By Govind GM*

Source World Economic Forum-Forum Blog http://www.forumblog.org/

Great minds drive powerful ideas. For a simple idea to be converted to a great idea, it has to be refined, polished and mixed with varied perspectives. The Global Shapers Community is a platform where simple ideas can be churned to orbit shifting ideas. A platform where ideas meet smart and sharp minds. More importantly, it is an incubator where these ideas can be actionized by individuals who are one step ahead in society transformation and future leadership potential. A crude idea taken from the Global Shapers Hub will be dissected, discussed and debated, and the end product would be a polished idea.

Every day, I start by reading news about the Indian economy booming and shining, be it in terms of GDP or its extra ordinary growth rates. India is projected to be in the league of world's top economies very soon. Unfortunately, statistics shows me a very different picture - A picture where 41.6% of the total population falls below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day, 47% of  children below the age of three are malnourished, and what not. I have met people who have no option but to walk almost 10-12 kilometers to buy basic medicines. There is a mismatch somewhere.

During my professional stint the Middle East, I came across a lot of Indians working and living in tough conditions. Manual labour is no joke when the sun is burning the sand at 50 deg c. Yet each and every person's story had the sweetness of success and hard work. They left their nearest and dearest ones back in the country that they would visit once in 5 years, or probably even 10 years. Their kid's smiling face photographs, kept hidden in their wallet, would keep them go on and on.

Be it a great leader or a small migrant worker, people are driven by dreams.  

I have first hand experience in dealing with people who have taken up leadership roles and self-support actions at the community level, voluntarily or involuntarily, even though living in difficult circumstances. We have heard and read stories about great successful leaders over and over. But it’s time we appreciate and foster leadership activities at the grass roots level, even if small. For a country like India which is developing at a very rapid pace, it is very crucial that each and every citizen take up the leadership roles in whatever way they can and try to bring in the change rather than waiting for someone else to. This is where the importance of passing the leadership message comes to picture.

I believe in teaching a man to fish rather than feeding him for a day. There is a strong need of orbit shifting ideas for sustainable or continuous growth in Urban and Rural India. I personally believe India is not about the metropolitan and the cosmopolitan cities. It is more about the rural villages and small towns. These small towns and villages will drive the growth of India in the coming decades. The India Economic Summit is the opportunity to explore these opportunities and more.

 * Govind GM is a Global Shaper, Bangalore Hub, Editor in Charge MSN Leadership Channel, India

Source: World Economic Forum - Forum Blog  http://www.forumblog.org/

Interview with Global Shaper Vidyadhar Prabhudesai

Vidyadhar is one of the founding members for LeadCap Ventures and currently heads its operations in Mumbai, Delhi and Bahrain. As a Managing Trustee of LeadCap Trust, he heads the "Voice of Youth" and “E-Learning” training program initiatives to provide India her future “One million leaders”. He has been instrumental in setting up of world’s first "Leadership Village" in Waynad, Kerala. Apart from above, Vidyadhar is also a co-founder and partner in Cygnus IT Solutions, an IT and Mobile application development and service provider company where he heads the marketing and sales function.

What does the Global Shapers Community mean to you and why is it important for you to be part of the GSC? 

I think it is for the first time that World Economic Forum has recognized achievements of 20-30 year olds globally. It is a sense of great achievement and pride for me personally as I am among top 20-30 youth from India who got selected to be a part of Global Shapers Community.

Youth represents more than 50% of the 7 billion people today and the Global Shapers is one of platform to hear our voices. Being young involves tackling some unprecedented challenges including climate change, terrorism, ageing societies and infrastructure, changing job markets, technological advances, the increasing influence of popular culture and changing family and social structures. I think youth will play a significant role as the world confronts these and other challenges.

For all of these reasons we as Global Shapers of future need to continue to improve the support available to young people to navigate these challenges. As a community, we must do more to develop a stronger, fairer and more inclusive society for young

Why are you excited about the India Economic Summit? 

I think IES is the only event where you can meet personalities from all walks of life – Politics, Culture, Academics, Technology, Business, NGO’s, Entrepreneurs, and Media etc. The other events which I have been were domain focused. If you are an entrepreneur you would certainly be interested in meeting all of them as you can network with top-notch bureaucrats, investors, media folks with whom you essentially work in future; and what better platform one can get other than IES? This is the opportunity which cannot be missed! 

What do you believe you can contribute to the meeting? 

LeadCap Trust focus is on leadership where we are striving to nurture a million leaders in India. I am a part of some of the initiatives under the foundation like the Leadership Village, a self sustainable model where we created income generation opportunities by helping the village men discover their true potential. Now the village men are not just dependent on farming produce but have developed sources like tourism, handicrafts etc. to supplement their income.  I also actively contribute to Young Leader Programs and Living Libraries in the Leadership Village. I also pioneered the book donation drive and helped to set up a “Village Leadership Library”. This model will be replicated in other parts of India.

Photograph - Leadership Village/ffNewsIndia archives

I have several other ideas in mind which I’d bring forward in the meeting. I’d like execute a project S-U-S-O. SUSO stands for Stand UP and Speak OUT, which are moderated discussions among teenagers and youth with below objectives

        Make people aware of the prevailing issues

        Help the youth to voice out their opinion

        Come up with effective solutions

        Reach a consensus for its implementation

Another idea is to provide cost effective higher education to people who are economically backward or those who cannot afford education like MBA. I strongly feel that if Academicians, Govt. and Entrepreneurs work together on this, it is definitely achievable. I am currently working on developing this model. My leadership learning from these projects can be valuable lessons for the summit. At the same time I can also learn the best practices in leadership and sustainable community development.

What will you bring back to your Hub and your community after the meeting? 

The India Economic Forum can provide me a platform to demonstrate some of my models as shared above. This event will also help me to build a global network of individuals across the world and find more innovative and effective means to empower youth. An insight into different economies their cultures and principles of nation building etc will help me mould my domain of expertise into highly scalable vessel of skills to sail through all kinds of challenges. It will enable me to shape myself into a global leader of tomorrow with a vision for empowering young people in the world.

As a visionary leader of the future I look forward in participating in activities that benefit both the world economy and the people’s community. Taking cues from past learning and knowledge earned from the Mumbai event, will eventually lead to a creation of programs that are aimed towards empowering youth.