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Excerpts from article - the full text is in copies of India Abroad on the newsstand.

It is not software programs alone that India's best known IT company Infosys Technologies is creating these days. Infosys has embarked on a unique project to create what it calls "quality leaders" with a global perspective. The company has set up the Infosys Leadership Institute on a 200-acre stretch of land in Mysore in Karnataka with an investment of $7.3 million. Hereafter, Infosys managers including CEO N R Narayana Murthy, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Nandan Nilekani (IIT Bombay - BTech EE '78 ), selected employees from senior levels to drivers and peons will undergo extensive training to improve their leadership skills and emerge as thought leaders. The first batch of 150 high-profile potential Infoscians being trained at the ILI include Narayana Murthy, Nilekani, a dozen senior managers, software engineers, a number of secretaries, a security guard, a driver and an attendant.

To begin with, only Infoscians would undergo training from December. The institute has a team of teachers who will incubate in the students various leadership development elements. The emphasis will be on customizing training programs to suit the special needs of each participant However, not every employee can go for leadership training at the institute. ILl management has put in place a rigorous system to select the right Infoscians to be trained. Department heads are asked to appraise employees by bench-marking them with some of the best core competencies practiced in some of the world's best-managed companies. Those who possess the best traits of leadership are then selected to embark on the training sessions-in Mysore. The training program offers courses on developmental relationships, sharing and transfer of knowledge, creating a bond between one another and inculcating an Infosys culture an& community empathy. The community empathy program, according to Jayaram, is to nurture and enhance the social conscience of employees.

ILl is the first such institute that an Indian company has come up with. Infosys insiders claim the idea for setting up the institute came from Narayana Murthy, who is credited with setting new standards in work culture and employee-employer relations in India's corporate history. The Infosys chief feels as the company witnesses growth over the years expanding its businesses to across the four corners of the world, it is time for the company to create a vast number of high quality leaders with a global perspective.

Narayana Murthy, thus, conceptualized the idea of the institute that should cater to the leadership needs of each employee in the company. Expounding his theory of leadership, he said in an answer to an India Abroad query: "A true leader is one who leads by example and sacrifices more than anyone else, in his or her pursuit of excellence. It is our vision at Infosys to create world class leaders who will be at the forefront of business and technology in today's competitive marketplace." He said the institute has been launched "to instill in our employees creativity to bring new ideas to fruition, make transition to new paradigms and embrace change. I am sure the institute will play an instrumental role in equipping Infoscians with expertise to be leaders, contributing to the advancement of the IT industry." But will all 150 Infoscians in the first batch sit together in one classroom? Jayaram says in some classroom sessions Narayana Murthy and Nilekani will sit together with the drivers and attendants. "The course is highly individualized to each person's professional skills and potential. But in some classes, all of them will rub shoulders", Jayaram added. That, however, is not all. Next year, the institute plans to start exclusively packaged courses for families of Infoscians because Infosys strongly believes the influence of families on an employee's career growth is a key barometer.

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