KAMALNAYAN BAJAJ FELLOWSHIP : THE PROGRAMME

Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship Initiative Fellows are men and women who are undertaking a programme of advanced leadership seminars and individual leadership projects under the direction of experienced Aspen Institute-certified moderators and senior local mentors. The 18 month curriculum has been designed specifically for the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship and comprises four seminars and leadership development activities. The program requires a commitment by each Fellow of about 23 days for seminar meetings plus the time allocated for individual leadership projects and periodic informal gatherings. Three of the seminars will be held in India, and the Globalization Seminar either is U.S. or India or another part of the world.

The Challenge of Leadership Seminar

5 day convening focusing on the qualities of leadership necessary to master the forces of change.

The Aspen Seminar

7 day convening focused on refining each Fellow’s definition of the good society including the respective roles of government and business in building that society and the society challenges of economic growth.

The Leadership in an Era Globalizaion Seminar

6 day convening exploring the political, economic, technological, cultural and ethical challenges of globalization and the skills necessary to meet them.

The promise of Leadership Seminar

5 day convening exploring the concepts of “the good life”, legacy and life balance and laying the groundwork for continuing interaction after the formal programme is concluded

Leadership Projects

In addition, each KBF Fellow is required to undertake a leadership project, which reflects their own passion and interest and provides an opportunity to apply their vision of a ‘good society’ and the values inherent therein in tangible ways. Many of the projects have become long term companies/programmes that are self-sustaining.

  • The Challenge of Leadership Seminar : A seminar which asks Fellows to think about their own role and responsibility as leaders as they are exposed to a range of leaders offering different leadership styles and models. Among them are Ricardo Semler of Semco (Brazil), Mahatma Gandhi, Jean Monnet, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Lee Kwan Yew. The Fellows produce a personal handbook of the attributes of effective, enlightened leaders and of what such leaders do and do not do.

  • The Aspen Seminar : Is the Aspen Institute’s flagship seminar. During this seminar Fellows build their own vision of the “good society” by reading, discussing, debating and relating the writings of a wide range of thinkers to their present-day conditions. Thinkers include Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Hobbes, Milton Friedman and others. The Fellows share their personal thoughts on the proper role of government in society as well as on the sorts of trade-offs they are willing to accept in the name of economic growth.

  • Leading in an Era of Globalization : A seminar in which the Fellows explore a wide range of ways globalization is influencing their world — economic, political, scientific, cultural and ethical. Fellows also look at what globalization means for their leadership and where there might be opportunities to harness the forces of globalization for good and asks them to think about where they might draw the line its influences.

  • The Promise of Leadership : Is the final seminar in the series of four and is the most introspective. In this seminar Fellows share the results and lessons learned from their Leadership Projects and explore issues of balancing work and family, community engagement and personal legacy. They are poised from here to engage in the next phase of their leadership and have begun their journey from success to significance.

Selection Criteria

The Programme

The Impact

Fellows in Action