TRAINING THE LEADERS

B-SCHOOLS ARE MAKING EXECUTIVE MBAS FLEXIBLE, PERSONALISED AND TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN

- BY MAMTA SHARMA

WHEN GENERAL ELECTRIC launched its legendary Crotonville Leadership Centre in 1956, it became a global symbol of corporate learning. For decades, it shaped some of the world's most influential CEOs. But in 2024, when GE split and the centre closed, it marked not just the end of an era but the beginning of a new one with leadership learning moving beyond classrooms and case studies into a world defined by AI, geopolitical flux, and generational diversity.

The new business landscape demands more than credentials; it calls for adaptability, empathy, and digital fluency.

As B-schools design immersive, shorter programmes and corporations reimagine in-house academies, the real question is: who can nurture the most agile, future-ready leaders capable of leading through change, not just managing it?

India faces a unique dual challenge serving first-generation entrepreneurs building global enterprises from scratch, alongside third-generation family business leaders navigating succession.

LEADERSHIP PARADOX

Many Indian entrepreneurs have scaled up through instinct and relationship networks. Now, they seek frameworks to institutionalise decision-making and governance to ensure continuity beyond the founders charisma.

“Executive education in India must bridge intuition with structure—helping leaders formalise what has so far been instinctive,” says Pallavi Jha, Chairperson and Managing Director, Walchand PeopleFirst Ltd and Dale Carnegie Training India.

That shift is visible in how business schools are evolving. “Over the next five years, programmes for working professionals must move beyond knowledge and skills to become catalysts for applied strategic action,” says Sunill Sood, Executive Director—Executive Education & Digital Learning, Indian School of Business (ISB).