The Leadership Academy will be a continually evolving organization with a dynamic set of initiatives that will help uncover in people from different walks of life - students and executives, - their inner courage & self-confidence to engage with and address increasingly complex, multi- disciplinary issues with particular attention to ethics, equity and ecology, - in a holistic and inclusive fashion. Centered at IIT Kharagpur, the academy will have national and global reach to develop leaders who could draw on the best of Eastern (including Buddhist, Confucius, Persian, Shinto, Sun Tzu and Vedic) and Western (including Aristotle, Plato through John Lock, Kant, Modern business schools) philosophies (Exhibit 1), - in developing and fine tuning their problem solving skills from multiple perspectives and in leading organizations that could explore frontier challenges and opportunities in a compassionate and environmentally friendly fashion.

Exhibit 1: The Academy draws on both Eastern & Western Philosophies The Partha Ghosh Academy of Leadership Programs build on both Eastern and Western thoughts

Aristotle / Plato John Locke Emmanuel Kant Issac Newton Max Muller Peter Drucker Western Business Schools

Buddhism Confucius Persian & Arabic thought leaders Japanese Business Shintoism Taoism Vedic Philosophy (Upanishads, Vedas & Bhagavad Gita)

It is our hope that at the core of our vision the academy will be viewed “as a pilgrimage” to help development of leaders worldwide, who will “dedicate their lives towards higher purpose” and draw on their inner courage to “illuminate the nature of man and the world which he lives in”.

Two quotes from two great Leaders Swami Vivekananda from the East and President John F Kennedy from the West capture the spirit of the Academy,