An Agenda is a schedule or list of items to be attended to in a meeting. The difference between meetings with and without agendas can mean chaos, tangled viewpoints, misunderstood norms and very few accomplishments. An agenda communicates to attendees that the meeting will be conducted in an orderly fashion and that productivity is the goal. Businesses hold meetings to achieve goals and get things done, share information, develop plans, document progress, provide precision and make decisions. An agenda can ensure that the meeting stays on track and that special projects and routine operations proceed as intended. An agenda can help the board of directors’ function as an effective team. Usually the Board Secretary, who is often the CFO, is responsible for organizing the Board meeting. The Secretary cannot be effective, however, without the active support of the CEO and the Board Chairman.

A well planned agenda gives a greater sense of control. The agenda is often sent out in advance of the meeting so attendees know what to expect and have time to prepare their view points on action points. An agenda gives the person conducting the meeting control over the flow of discussions, the issues covered and the attendees responsible for reporting specific information at the meeting. An agenda also helps keep the meeting within a programmed time frame controlling when issues are discussed. People are less likely to slow the meeting with interruptions if they know that their issue is on the agenda. Each attendee can relax knowing that the meeting is under control and that issues that are important to each are listed on agenda.

An agenda increases productivity at meetings. Attendees of the meeting understand that all items on the agenda must be discussed and are likely to move at a pace that ensures they will cover everything. Agendas make it clear which items need action and who are the responsible people to take those actions. This allows attendees to leave meetings knowing what must be accomplished before the next meeting. The agenda also allows attendees to evaluate actions at the next meeting and receive progress report. The agenda helps attendees zero in on the areas where decisions are needed and clears the way for progress. Attendees can leave the meeting feeling relaxed and with sense of achievement with the agenda to verify their productivity.

Agendas help in maintaining documentation. As meeting progresses, the person taking minutes notes on the agenda, the results of each discussion, which action items were completed or which are newly developed, reports given, issues to be resolved and other documentation of events at the meeting. The agenda notes help while creating minutes that match the flow of the meeting and also provide inclusive documentation of the meeting.

It is standard procedure in most workplaces to record everything that transpires in a meeting. The stupidest thing such as a spat or a quarrel also is recorded. Methods of record-keeping vary from organization to organization. But the most common method is having a secretary take notes. These notes which are called minutes, is usually first circulated in draft form so that all participants have the opportunity to check for accuracy and to make corrections if necessary. This ensures that all participants agree that the record is precise.

Minutes of the meeting: Are the well written record of meeting, particularly in board of directors and shareholders corporate meetings. The names of everyone in attendance at the meeting are usually the first things recorded, the names of absentees is also recorded. This serves two purposes: one, absent members can stay in the loop and keep abreast of what they missed at the meeting, and two, their absence from this meeting becomes part of the public record. If some participants regularly find ways to avoid meetings, they might be more reluctant to skip a future meeting when they realize their repeated absences have been noted.

We often see that human memory is fallible. Some participants are likely to have selective memories and forget whatever doesn’t validate their viewpoint; this particularly happens in case of contentious issues. An open record is a good idea and means to remind everyone what was agreed upon and why. It is especially important to have records to refer back to after a significant amount of time has passed and people are no longer sure what had emerged and why certain decisions were taken in a fashion. New managers find it helpful to review previous meeting minutes to quickly learn how the organization has been functioning and to detect patterns in behavior of the participants.

Recording a meeting and making the record available to absent participants in the meeting is a way to be more inclusive. Even though those absent participants might not have been able to provide their input during the meeting, they can still see how decisions were made. They will have some knowledge about the decision-making process and will know who the key decision makers were. They will be able to approach meeting participants and offer their point of view if they so choose to do so.

Minutes help in taking suitable actions. Meetings tend to become more efficient when participants are aware of their discussions being recorded; they are more likely to stay on topic. The minutes provide a record of decisions made and who is responsible for taking action. There is an increased chance that these actions will be carried out. Without a record, the participants might not remember who is responsible for the next step of the action plan and disputes might arise. With a public record to refer to, those responsible will be held accountable and expected to proceed as agreed. Unresolved issues won’t be forgotten and can be reopened at a successive meeting.

Knowledge of agenda and minutes of meeting helps in holding efficient and effective meetings.  Good meeting in turn helps making projects successful. In a good meeting, participant’s ideas are heard, decisions are made through group discussion and with reasonable speed, and activities are focused on desired results. Good meetings help generate keenness in projects, help in building skills for future projects, and provide participants with techniques that may benefit them in their jobs.

Good meetings require good leaders (chair) and good participants. A good leader understands the purpose of a meeting, he/she makes sure that all participants understand this purpose; it helps keep the discussion on track, and ensures that each participant is involved in discussions. A good leader works with participants to carry out the business of the meeting in the allotted time. These responsibilities require distributing an agenda, minutes of the previous meeting and other written materials prior to a meeting.

Good participants come to a meeting prepared for the business at hand; with reports ready, concerns over key issues thought out, and questions about key issues organized. They don’t come late for the meetings, they are in time. A good leader does not wait for latecomers.   A good meeting starts in time and ends in time. Late entrants disturb the meeting during the middle of a coherent discussion.  Good participants also bring to the table their best listening skills, manners and etiquettes and concise discussing manners. Good participants take turns while talking, stay on the point of discussion, and help to move decisions forward without any quarrels.

I want to quote here James T. Kirk’s thought on meeting in lighter vein “a meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted”.

Academic leadership includes of a variety of positions that involve managing groups of various sizes and compositions such as Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Department Chair and Associate Chair, Dean, Associate Dean, of undergraduate and post graduate schools, Faculties, Senate members, Directors of research centers, Board of studies members, and lots of other positions in the universities.

Knowledge is the driving force in rapidly changing economy. The government of India has been promoting higher education since the past two decades, due to which we are seeing spurt of growth in the higher education institutions in our nation. The surge in educational institutions in India calls for some serious thinking especially in the area of academic leadership. The nature of academic leadership in the education setting is different from business leadership. It calls for profound understanding and outlining the institutional mission, vision and goals which defines purpose and shapes the functioning style. The success of an educational institution cannot be measured by the bottom line of profit alone; it needs to be measured in terms of quality of education and placements of students. Educational institutions require precise governance, which is sharing of responsibility at different level that involves domain expertise for leading the intuition. The delivery of education comprises of complex and variety of mix elements such as teaching, research, pedagogical tools, service, assignments, examinations, assessments and finally diffusion of various programs. The success of education depends upon the teaching-learning process, which is the crux of academic leadership.

 The core mission of an educational institute relates to teaching, research, and grooming of students who contribute in long run to the community welfare. Sadly, in India there are only a handful of institutions which have clearly defined mission statements. Most of the institutions fail to define their vision and mission statements; they are either too complicated or unachievable or they lack direction. Programs are run in a pitiable fashion with no focus on research or further development. Conceptual clarity lacks in the class room sessions. The curriculum lacks pragmatism and common sense completely.

In the private segment of education, majority of the institutions are driven by a singular focus on profits or surpluses, which means that they run purely a business model. Most of these institutions lack the pursuit of learning.

Goals and philosophies are just printed in glossy prospectus, brochures, and on the boards which are lost in practice. The biggest challenge that a private institution faces today is of conflict between academic quality and objectives. The simple formula used by the promoters is of expecting return on investment from the very first year of its existence. This shifts the measures of success from profits made by promoters, to more unformulated ones like peer recognition, rankings, accreditation and prestige. In such institutions, the heads are chosen not by certified norms but personal contact; unfit heads i.e. the Principals or Directors mislay the entire academic orientation. Also, countless growth of institutions is unmanageable by state. The credibility of the academic leadership has become dismal. The state-run Universities have lost the charm; they have become unmanageable because of uncannily filling the headship positions.

The positions of Vice Chancellor, Registrars and Deans of Universities are filled purely with  political motives. You get wrong people sitting at the helm of affairs in the universities and the objective of education is lost; the techniques, process and rationale of education gets diluted. The universities are run in slapdash manner.  While, we are talking about number of universities and colleges to be increased, are we looking at the deserving and trustworthy academic leaders to head these universities and colleges?

The key aspect of academic leadership is visualization. Leaders must have an understanding of core activities of each department; in some cases, they need to have extensive knowledge and the ability to undertake those activities themselves. They must participate in the aspects of running departments that are crucial for the institution’s survival. In my opinion, financial management must be fully understood by the leader. Academic leaders are often chosen based on their success in research. If they are good at research, they command the respect of researchers and they encourage research activities.  Institutions are run by people; hence the leader’s people skill matters. How a leader deals with them, their concerns, requests and development is obviously crucial. Most importantly, leaders are not judged by their own individual accomplishments, such as important publications or teaching awards, although achieving these establishes credibility. Leaders are judged by the successes of their subordinates.  They do not operate in a vacuum; getting advice and feedback from people is an important aspect of academic leadership

Today we need academic leaders who work on programs in accordance with the business environment requirements. Keeping the syllabus updated at regular intervals, giving importance to research, formulating effective policies, and most importantly giving priority to the welfare of students is crucial. Leadership in education generally receives less attention in our country than it should. It is time that the new Government looks into the matter and takes remedial actions.

In most football teams the quarterback is the team leader. Why is that? Is there something magic about that position? Does he automatically become the leader – the guy who makes the team play and achieve goals when he is named quarterback by the coach? No, there’s more to it than that. He is named quarterback because he’s already a leader. He’s already the kind of guy the other players like to follow. And if the coach is wrong about making him the quarterback, he probably won’t stay quarterback very long. If he can’t lead the team, he won’t have much value even if he can hit a receiver at 40 yards. Every successful team must have a leader.

“Your actions are so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying,” observed Ralph Waldo Emerson. Every time a leader sends a message, he or she is providing two mes­sages: one is the content what the leader wants done and the other is the process or style how the leader conveys it. The latter is more important than the former, be­cause it provides the cultural context for the recipients.

In the revolution led by Mandela to transform model of racial division and oppression into an open democracy, he demonstrated that he didn’t shy away from taking up arms, but his real qualities came to the fore when world saw him as an activist — during his 27 years in prison and in the eight years since his release, when he had to negotiate the challenge of turning a myth into a man.

Leaders establish the behavioral realities at the workplace. They establish and embody the real values of the organization and, by extension, its rela­tionships with customers, suppliers, competitors, policy makers, government, and to environmentalists – to all out there. A leader’s canvass has to be large enough to support the details, objectives, methodology, scope and the goals to be achieved. He is required to provide true perspective. He should create a picture of future with lots of colors in it – making it striking for his followers.  Because if the picture of future is absurd no matter how he convinces his subordinates, they will start searching for the truth.

Alfred Sloan was able to take the best of what the theorists could offer. The fact is Sloan had raw guts to revolutionize decentralized bureaucracy, as each General Manager of General Motors was fundamentally bureaucratic. Each Division had a full set of assets and resources, self-directed management principals and practices, designed to meet its unique needs. Each GM could enter into external alliances and business deals. This often saw one division (SBU) in “friendly” competition with other SBUs. Sloan was literally hero worshiped by many as he practiced what he preached. General Motors as a company moved away from vertical integration to a flat organizational model. This gave the world of cars frequently new models with a slogan “building a car for every purse and purpose”. Whilst their competitor Ford was following strict Taylorist systems in building the famous “black cars.” Sloan at General Motors sold cars in all shapes and colors, and occupied leader’s position in the market. This acumen of Sloan kept General Motors in good stead for decades.

No matter what the nature of an organization, no one in it really reads up well or writes or does what he/she means. Each one believes what he/she sees. There is no more powerful shaper of behavior in the organization than the leader of it. In an organization the leader is considered an archetype.

Margaret Thatcher played the catalyst that set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century’s last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world – she   played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any of this would have occurred without her.

Leadership is not a science. Hence being a leader is an adventure, this because the leader himself   can never be sure whether he/she will reach the goal, he may stumble or fumble. If only he is driven by genuineness, serenity and passion he can achieve goals.

“Think Different.” Mahatma Gandhi, in his younger days a sophisticated and Westernized lawyer, did indeed change his thinking more radically than most people do. Ghanshyam Das Birla, one of the merchant princes who backed him, once said, “He was more modern than I. But he made a conscious decision to go back to the Middle Ages.” This is because he wanted to reach out to the millions of poor, uneducated Indians who would accept a leader who could be related with, associated with and represent them. Gandhi changed not only his external appearance but he had the compassion – he changed internally too.

Some people inherit leadership positions, such as kings, or nobles, or heads of family businesses. Some are elected: chairman, governor, patrol leader. Some are appointed, such as a coach, a city manager, or a den chief. Or they may just happen to be there when a situation arises that demands leadership. When a disaster occurs, masses start searching for a leader.

In 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards and hastily Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as the Prime Minister. Prior to this Rajiv Gandhi had not shown much interest in politics. He attended college at Cambridge, England; married an Italian, Sonia Gandhi; and worked as a pilot for the Indian Airlines. But, once he took charge of the Prime Minister’s post his government encouraged foreign investment, and industry boomed with the loosening of business controls. He sought to increase Indian investments in modern technology. He removed many restrictions on imports; India invested in exports thus encouraging foreign investment. He has a extensive vision, a large imaginative canvass to draw pictures of modern India! As no leader is spared of criticism; Rajiv Gandhi was also criticized that he was indecisive as he changed his cabinet members frequently.

As a young boy, Narendra Damodardas Modi helped his dad serve tea in Gujarat’s Vadnagar railway station. At the age of 63, and as leader of India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, he is about to serve the world’s largest democracy as prime minister. Modi built his reputation over the years with his Gujrat Model on economic growth, building an efficient business administration and selling the state to the world: in 2009, the Gujarat government hired the US lobbying and public relations firm, APCO Worldwide, to promote this state as an investment destination. Since Modi took control, Gujarat has led the nation in GDP growth and accounts for 16 percent of industrial output. This western state boasts of uninterrupted power supply and the finest road infrastructure in the country. Modi’s biographer, Mukhopadhyay, describes him as charismatic, an “extremely hard working person” a good administrator. Narendra Modi personifies the “rags to riches” story. He is set to become the 14^th Prime Minister of India on 26^th May 2014.

In the end, it’s the leader’s self-discipline, his truthfulness and the excitement and commitment with which he works. A charismatic and genuine leader I always emulated. His clarity in messaging, his actions, his guiding spirit, his affection towards his team mates, his style, his dressing sense, his diction determine his and in turn his organization success.

Friends, good leadership is indeed the need of the hour.