I branched off with my own startup last year and I wanted to kind of get that cutting edge advantage which a corporate setup has and things are changing constantly. So you have to change with the changing times and you have to constantly reinvent yourself, learn new stuff, and INSEAD Leadership Programme helps you get that cutting edge leadership qualities, which I feel really would work to handle my company called Your CMO India.

So personally, it's been a great learning experience. The cohort is amazing. It's a great mix of people from different industries, different backgrounds, different levels. So the learning just doesn't happen from the INSEAD faculty. It also happens with the INSEAD cohort members, which is a larger learning because you're getting to understand what's happening in their industry, how they handle issues. You have problem solving, you have a problem, you can kind of discuss it with the faculty, with the professors, you can discuss it with your colleagues. So it's an overall... I think it's a win-win. So it has had a great impact. My business is doing better, I'm able to communicate better with people. And also INSEAD as a brand name has a great value when I'm speaking with people from different industries.

The faculty is amazing. INSEAD has global recognition. It is one of those institutes, the largest business institutes with a global presence. You have a campus in Fontainebleau, you have Singapore, you have your Abu Dhabi now. So it's a great campus, great learning. You get an alumni network of almost 40,000 people, you become a part of the global alumni network. So that's a great leverage in today's day and age, your networking is great. People who they kind of shortlist for the cohort are a great mix. You have somebody from factual analytics, you have IBMs, you have people from Microsoft, Apple. So different industries with great learnings from each person that you kind of interact with.

Because I deal with startups, a lot of time you're dealing with a lot of young people and with negotiations and communication. So there are a lot of things that I've learned from INSEAD, which have honed my leadership skills where I'm more patient with people, I have a deeper understanding of what people want. And I'm able to tackle a lot of financial issues because my core is marketing, but I can talk on financial aspects and operational aspects. So I have a bit to say on the entire business front. So it really works for me. And I've been able to speak with people across industries in a more concrete manner.

So one is, INSEAD is great and if at some point you feel at mid-level that you need to add skill and you need to get to know what is happening in the industry in terms of various industries, it's a great platform to be on. It helps you. So in mid-management, I feel you're more looking at honing your skills, you're developing your skills. But when you look at leadership, you're looking at the people that you're going to work with, how to develop the organization, how to take forward the organization. And of course you as a leader, you're building skills how to... your leadership skills. Very different from mid-management, different set of skills needed, different mindset needed, different abilities needed. So yes, if you're looking at a transition where very few people really become leaders, you are in born leaders for sure, but you need that extra advantage with the changing scenario and the changing environment to be able to compete with such stiff competition. So it's a great platform.

The learning happens over a period of time. So you can learn from your cohort members, you can learn from the faculty, you can learn and implement them in your businesses. So maybe things will work for you, some things may not work for you. So what you take away from this course is completely dependent on how you are able to leverage this.
Simran Thukral