Dalai Lama to turn management guru at IIM-A

NEW ROLE: Tibetan spiritual guru will take a couple of classes at IIM-A in January 2008.

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New Delhi: After Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, it's now the turn of Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to teach management and leadership qualities at the premier Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

The Tibetan Buddhist leader will take a couple of classes at IIM-A in January 2008. The exact date is to be finalised soon.

"I think, he will be the first spiritual leader to give lectures to our students. Both the faculty and the students are eagerly waiting to hear the Dalai Lama," IIM-A chief communication officer Ashok Shah told IANS.

"His commitment to promotion of human values such as compassion, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline are worth emulation and analysis. These are leadership traits and the spiritual leader will help us in becoming leaders," he explained.

Shah said the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, would "help us learn new frontiers in leadership".

For over four decades, the 72-year-old leader has been living in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala town, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

"In a management set-up like IIM-A, we strive to give students and faculty fresh inputs to lead in their own area of interest. The success story of leaders, their perseverance and their approach are a learning lesson for us.

"This is part of our holistic teaching method and efforts at making our students think differently and ably before entering the tough world of management," he said.

Shah, who was recently in the capital to meet people close to the Dalai Lama, said: "I have interacted with people close to the spiritual leader and the final date for the lecture will be finalised soon."

According to the Dalai Lama's website, since 1959 "His Holiness has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates, prizes, etc (including the Nobel Peace Prize and Magsaysay awards), in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion".

He has also authored more than 72 books, including My Tibet, Kindness, Clarity and Insight and The Union of Bliss & Emptiness.

Last year, impressed with Railway Minister Lalu Prasad's managerial acumen, the institute had roped him in for guest lectures at their campus.