IIMB students shadow industry leaders for hands-on experience

For a long time now, educators have been advocating to bridge the gap between industry and academia. To provide students with hands-on experience of professional set-ups or meet industry leaders, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) launched a unique initiative called ‘Shadow a leader’ earlier this month in this regard. 

This idea, conceived by Manaswini Bhalla, Chairperson, PGP & PGPBA, and Sourav Mukherji, Dean Alumni, provides students with an opportunity to shadow an industry, government, or civil society leader for a day. Most of these leaders are also alumni members of IIMB.

“Students at IIMB step out of classrooms and into boardrooms, policy chambers, and decision-making arenas as part of our ‘Shadow a Leader’ initiative. They will be part of meetings where high-impact strategies unfold, conversations where ideas collide and moments of pressure and precision,” IIMB said.

Speaking about his experience with the programme, Aman Priyaraj, a student, said, “I had the opportunity to spend a day alongside CEO Shashi Kumar and CFO Toni Pinto of Akshayakalpa Organic. The exposure to senior leadership gave me a firsthand look at how strategic decisions shape a company’s vision and operations.”

“Later, I sat in on a Profit and Loss meeting and witnessed high-level discussions on financial planning, operational efficiencies, and business strategy,” he added. 

These experiences of students do not entail just board room meetings in sectors like finance and renewable energy but also include a learning experience at social institutions. One such opportunity was provided to Vishakha Ghadi, another student, to visit Saahas, a not-for profit organisation that works in waste management and shadow its CEO Archana Tripathi.

“I paid a visit to Saahas Zero Waste, I observed their efforts in product development from collected waste, refurbishing e-waste, and tackling the operational challenges posed by India’s complex bureaucratic landscape. Over conversations, Ms. Archana reinforced the importance of holistic waste management, which goes beyond technical solutions to address societal dimensions such as gender and caste dynamics,” Ms. Ghadi shared. 

The learnings of the students were not limited to management, finances and operations and many of them reported feeling motivated and inspired by the various facets of the leaders’ personalities. 

For instance, Vedika Manek, who shadowed Karthik B. Reddy, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures, said her biggest takeaway from the experience was that “a good sense of humour makes for a great leader.”

So far, around 17 students have had the opportunity to shadow leaders under this programme, while a few more are scheduled to get the experience in March in organisations like Brigade Group and Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd.