Just a year after graduating from business school, I went back to teach a course in Information Technology to the upcoming batch of young managers in my institute – The K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies (SIMSR).  It was at the time, and continues to be, one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. 

I had promised myself back then, that I would return to it, as and when time permitted.  But Life, as we all know, is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.  Priorities at work would take up most of my time in the years to come. And soon, I found myself at the other end of the decade, wondering what happened to my plans of going back to school and teaching?!

As a young student myself, I remember that a handful of teachers had left an impression on my mind, in a span of a few hours of their delivery, that would last me a lifetime!  I could not help but think, if I could give even a little of that to the next generation of students, it would be well worth the journey…

So, in that spirit, I have once again embarked on an effort to engage with the young leaders of tomorrow.  For the moment, it has taken the form of guest lectures in select business schools, since my schedule still limits the time available at my disposal.

A month ago, I addressed a batch of about 65 students in their final year in NMIMS’ dual-degree MBA (Tech) course on the topic of “Change Management & Business Process Reengineering“.  Last week, I had the opportunity to return to SIMSR as an alumnus and guest faculty, to speak on “Six Sigma & Process Excellence” with a class of more than 120 eager beavers. 

Both topics required a fair bit of work to create a presentation that is appealing and informative.  And, keeping the students engaged has been an interesting challenge too.  But, if the feedback I have received via feedback forms, on email and on LinkedIn is any thing to go back, I seem to be doing something right…