08:55:00
Sourya
For the Sake of Argument catches up with Mr. Aditya Singh, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of The Alexis Group.
Sourya (S): You studied B.Com (Hons.) from University of Delhi. Tell us sometime about life
at DU?
Aditya (A): My
undergraduate academic experience at University of Delhi was very enriching and
I have enjoyed every part of it. Itenabled me to become an independent person,
interact with diverse set of people, understand multiple perspectives, think
out of box and widen my horizon.
I was primarily
exposed to various types of Accounting - financial, corporate and cost &
management, Economics - micro & macro, Statistics and Law. I also chose to
study electives such as Political Science, Ethics & Values, Information
Technology, Business Communication, Auditing and Marketing which have equipped
me both personally and professionally to create value for the society.
My most
preferred subject was Law. Law is a subject where you can develop a range of
skills and explore many aspects of human life. I studied four papers related to
law during my undergraduate studies - Business Law, Corporate Law, Income Tax
Law & Practice and Auditing. It helped me to understand the basics of
contract and also the complexities of company management. Studying Law as an
undergraduate student gave me the chance to strengthen my understanding, deepen
my experience and develop my critical thinking.
Alongside with
studies, I have also been involved with the National Service Scheme throughout
the three years in college. During these years, I held several leadership and
advisory committee positions. I was instrumental in organizing Blood Donations
camps, Cleanliness Campaign, Each One, Teach One Campaign, CWG Games 2010
Volunteer Induction Campaign, Career Counseling and Personality Development
programs. The main challenge I faced during this time was investing people in
the idea of social service as mostly students wanted focused only on their
studies.
However, I
overcame this challenge through one on one conversations and motivating fellow
students by introducing incentives and recognition system. The system worked
and college NSS unit enrolled 60% students of the college thereby creating
significant impact on projects we undertook and communities we engaged with.
This was an immense fulfilling and great learning experience for me.
(S): You followed that up with MSc in International Management from University of
Strathclyde. Was Management something you had always been interested in from
childhood, or did it just come along the way?
(A): My postgraduate learning experience was more about reflective learning, learning
from peers and putting critical thinking into action in different projects I
took up. Studying with peers from 25 nationalities was indeed a great learning
experience. International Management also taught me a lot about, people,
culture, leadership and diversity apart from different functional areas of
management such as Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management,
Entrepreneurship, and Strategy with the International component in all of them.
Both
my parents are Professors and I grew up in IIM Lucknow Campus, so Management
was something very natural I got attracted to. Though I have vast and varied interests in Art and Culture,
Architecture, Cinema History, Music and Philosophy.
(S): Tell us something about the Alexis Foundation.
(A): Alexis Foundation is currently India’s leading and most diversified youth-led
think tank. It conducts
research and provides consultancy in areas such as economics, information
technology, law, management, public policy and strategy.From
March 2015 onwards, we have started accepting foreign interns as well. Our aim
is to expand globally in next 2 years and become one of world’s leading youth
led think tanks. With the team I have currently, I can say with confidence that
we are on the right track.
Q)
Did some particular incident motivate you to start the Alexis Foundation?
(A): My team at Alexis Society was very much focused on ground level work and
events. Furthermore, I thought that it would be right to separate the do-tank
and think-tank so that they can have separate organization level strategy in
terms of key decisions. In the hindsight, I think I took the right decision
because both the organizations have different focus areas, approach towards
work, leadership team and strategic direction now. It has provided growth and
expansion opportunities to both organizations and individuals associated with
them.
(S): You are a Hesselbein Fellow. Kindly share some of your experiences regarding
the same.
(A): Every year,
Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at
University of Pittsburgh, USA selects 50 top student leaders from across the
world and mentors them to be effective, ethical, and innovative leaders at the
Summit. I was selected as a Hesselbein Fellow in 2013. At the annual summit, I
met student leaders from more than 25 States from USA and 15 Countries around
the world. This experience has helped me understand the concepts of leadership,
entrepreneurship and diversity practically.
(S): What was your proudest moment regarding Alexis Group till date?
(A): It has been a long and adventurous journey of 6 years till now, therefore, very
difficult to choose one moment. During this journey, I have witnessed
transformational changes in lives of some people, few people have achieved
remarkable feats academically, and few people have developed themselves as
leaders. All these moments fill me with pride and remind me to work harder.
(S): Being a dynamic student leader, mentor and entrepreneur, do you aspire to enter
into politics as such to serve the society better?
(A): Yes, I am very much keen to join active politics at the appropriate time. For
me, Politics is an instrument to bring about socio-economic change and
inclusive development.
(S): What do you think about the current class of politicians and politics in India?
(A): Currently,
the situation is not ideal. However, I can see some positive changes emerging
in our political system. Having said that, we still have personality driven
politics rather than ideology/policy driven and this needs to change. Media,
Youth and Civil Society are willing to be part of the Policy formulation
process and Government must try to encourage their participation. In this
regard, I would like to commend the efforts of honourable Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi ji.
(S): Any word of advice for potential future leaders reading this?
(A): If you wish to be in public life, always uphold a very high moral character, be
humble, never sacrifice with your principles, and always be honest with
yourself. Different people may perceive you differently based on their life
experiences. You may or may not have a good reputation or image at a particular
period of time, but these things are temporary. Your character is permanent,
once that is lost, everything is lost. You may still become successful, but you
will never attain satisfaction and self-respect that way.
