TED Talk Seminar by Secondary Section, WIS Pawan Baug (19-20)

TED Seminar – Creative Leadership

At Witty International School, we recognize the imperative of imparting an educational experience that is world-class in every respect and which prepares children for global citizenship. In keeping up with this philosophy, Witty International School, PawanBaug organized its first TED seminar by motivational speaker and entrepreneur MrDaneshKanagaraj on Creative Leadership for the AS and A level students.

MrDaneshKanagaraj is Founding director of Aclude Foundation which is a nonprofit initiative that works towards rights of person with disabilities through Awareness, Advocacy and Action to foster the practice of inclusive equality in both personal and professional spheres. He has also served as the Vice-Chair for Technical United Conference, delivered Guest Lectures and significantly 4 TEDx talks on his journey.

MrDanesh spoke about creativity being one of the most important qualities of a modern business leader. When leaders approach goals from a creative point of view, they gain the ability to reach goals more easily. A creative leader sees unique paths to reach these goals. Whether it is how to increase profit or expand product offerings, the creative leader has the ability to map out a path to reach new levels of success that other leaders within the company can’t see. He also mentioned about confidence being the stepping stone to a great leader.

He pointed out, “Confidence is, in part, a result of how we have been brought up and how we've been taught. We learn from others how to think about ourselves and how to behave - these lessons affect what we believe about ourselves and other people. Confidence is also a result of our experiences and how we've learned to react to different situations.If you believe that you can achieve something then you are likely to work hard to make sure you do if, however, you don't believe that you can accomplish a task then you are more likely to approach it half-heartedly and therefore be more likely to fail. The trick is convincing yourself that you can do something - with the right help, support, preparedness and knowledge.”

During his talk, MrDanesh also highlighted how fear is the root cause for low self-esteem. Confronting your fear instead of backing down brings about a sense of accomplishment and empowerment. Every time you confront your fear, you gain power while your anxiety loses strength. Every time you confront your fear you accumulate evidence of your ability to cope  with a difficult situation.

Our Principal, MrBijo Kurian added, “Leadership is about the art of motivating, influencing and directing people so that they work together to achieve the goals of a team or broader organisation. It’s important for students to experience leadership opportunities during their schooling, to learn the art of building relationships within teams, defining identities and achieving tasks effectively. It also provides an opportunity to learn to identify and display effective communication and interpersonal skills”