Jijivisha Project, last day, time to reflect -the IHG Europe Future Leaders in India
Hello, we are Lauranna and Kelly from France and Australia, both working in London. We are looking after the Future Leaders programme: Lauranna is managing the programme in Europe and Kelly is providing training and coaching to the graduates for development.
Today is the last day of our Jijivisha project which took us along with the 12 Future Leaders to Faridabad, India. Our goal going there was for the group to understand the importance of empathy and self reflection, for a stronger performance in the workplace.
We had some expectations and we were quite pragmatic about these: group frustration, healthy conflict, stress, and self centred negative reactions. We also anticipated positive outcomes: the project would allow them to shine individually and the group would bond, coming back stronger formidable leaders. We experienced a few stormy moments of course! Quite entertaining, to be honest, from our view. But what we didn't expect was that we would learn as much as the graduates did.
what we didn't expect was that we would learn as much as the graduates did
Our group experience began with a sleepy bus ride to Faridabad, all of us amused at our luggage travelling on the bus roof. We reached Tender Heart School and were immediately enveloped in warmth with the welcome from Renu Bali and her team. Chai and inspiring discussion were immediately presented to us which we drank in. With an immense understanding of people, Renu pushed us to pause the busy agenda we had set (including our volunteer induction and tour of the school) to indulge in a nap after the long journey, which we gratefully took.
Lesson 1: patience. As you may have read over the last 12 days, each of our Future Leaders has experienced growth and many unplanned lessons during our time at Tender Heart. The self reflection was intense. From the beginning the group were tasked with sharing their daily low and high moments with each other. Day 1 centred on jet lag and initial adjusting to the dorm and communal bathroom situation! As we progressed, the learning and thoughts shared became more and more insightful.
We had some breakdowns, some break throughs and much laughter. So coming back to our learning, we learned that:
Martha is an incredible photographic artist and as kind as you can imagine.
Clement who led the project from the beginning is a very funny chap who can be highly focused when needed.
Stefano has great intentions and cooking talent.
Evgenii has the ability to ground people and can build a website from scratch quickly.
Vanessa brings calm to those around her, as long as there's chocolate involved.
Laura is an amazing observer and has a great understanding of people.
Thibault inspires people to take ownership of their roles and can deliver impressive impromptu speeches. Justine is driven and can easily promote this feeling in others.
Anthony has a great sense of humour and connects quickly with those around him.
Nathalia also has a great sense of humour and infectious laugh, with the ability to relax people.
Alba brings huge energy and serious dance moves.
And finally Rosalie allowed us to discover her true personality, very caring and a natural with children.
We also learned that being more open invites stronger connections, and that we don't have all the answers. We took time to self reflect also each day to be able to provide better insights to the Future Leaders. Given what you have seen through the blog, we think it's safe to say mission accomplished!
Reflecting on why we came along for, we now realise how lucky we were to be part of such a group of highly driven and brilliant people who also allowed us to grow and maybe become better at what we do. This was an invaluable experience for them, and for us we hope the beginning of a long term work relationship, and also friendship. Our experience was finalized with a warmer farewell from the team at Tender Heart School; full of hope for the future for ourselves and the school. We rounded the evening out with a visit to Crowne Plaza Greater Noida before our flight back to London. Greeted by Nivesh Bhagtani, a Future Leader alumni in India we were taken on a tour of the hotel Executive room, then joined Mr Greesh Bindra and team in the restaurant for great conversation and delicious food. True hospitality; thank you.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for sharing our experience. We will miss the laughter, sharing our days, and being able to witness the incredible passion, team work and leadership our Future Leaders display.
