Management Leader with a Magic wand- Expanding horizons and exploring another brand new world. An interesting story of Leadership paradigm &Shifts
Dr.C.N.Naryana, popularly called Dr.CNN who conducted several programs on higher management arena called “Moves that Matter” and “Mantras of Management” when the reporter met him in 2008 for the first time, he was a noted corporate-honcho-turned-academician after two decades of corporate leadership experience. He was making ripples in the PGDM institutions embarking his academia journey with IMI, Delhi as a professor and Registrar and climbing up the rungs to become the COO of IMI group of institutions, then as a Professor and Director of IFIM, KIAMS, SCMS, Director General and Senior Professor of change and OD before becoming the Director General of IIEBM group of Institutions and the Founder Director of Pune Business School. Within a short period of time Dr.CNN had received several national and International awards for Teaching, Research, Leadership and a branded Professor and Leader to reckon with in management education. He was a known name in management education circle contributing to several Business School’s growth in the last 15 years. He is a google scholar with several publications including Case Centre, UK and USA.
During COVID pandemic he took a break from his normal leadership role of Business school to start MBA Pulse (www.mba-pulse.com) a student centric and consulting portal owner to help management education seekers to find a good quality institution and get an opportunity to get mentored by him personally in difficult times of pandemic gloomy atmosphere to come out of mental health problems apart from his consulting assignments for MNCs. He also conducted programs for medical practitioners for mental health and stress management to those doctors who were handling COVID patients with extended duty hours. He also helped various NGO’s during the pandemic.
His recent move is very interesting news – as he is venturing into entirely different field but connected with education, certainly unchartered territory to this strategic leader. Dr. C.N.Narayana is now appointed as the Director Education and Life Skills to a new born baby in the football World- FC Madras. Dr.CNN, has a unique leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems. He always creates value and brings in positive change with the end goal of developing people in the team. His personal telephonic conversation with our editor is very interesting story to share. Dr. CNN, being a strategic thinker, making a right move to contribute to sports world with his vast administration, leadership, academic experience of more than 35 years in almost all fields. No doubt it is a great exploration by a tall leader and will help sports academies in India. He has a strong intellectual agility to dissect and solve problems and provide simple solutions that positively affect the workplace. Promoting a market-oriented team ethos and unique culture are the two pillars he delivered across institutions he was leading. Dr. C.N.Narayana is a known administrator par excellence with an added advantage of being a sports enthusiast apart from knowledge management being his core. He further explained the vision and other details of FC Madras.
FC Madras – Towards Building a great grass root football arena for India in Global stage
India as country of late has realized the importance of multi-sport culture apart from the cricketing craze. There are hundreds of academies coming up, when the individual players from different sports shined at world Level. Better late than never India! We have witnessed individuals bringing sports accolades to the nation barring hockey and cricket as a team sport. The sporting laurels of Badminton, resulted in mushrooming academies to train players for the world stage and little bit of tennis here and there in the country. Cheering for the current trends in sports and moving along with the wave is easy. But cheering for the future of a country with a clear intent to train and develop young footballers by providing world class infrastructure, nutrition, medical facility, best of football turfs in the world with physiotherapists, best of coaches who have a proven record at national and international level is a tough dream in India. Cheering for the future is an investment and very few individuals can dare to do it. That too some passionate people risking their hard earnings for the nation to be a sporting nation. FCM is a real life story everybody should be looking forward, connect with and help them to nurture and support the cause and the purpose the founder Mr. Girish Mathrabootham had envisioned.
FCM has a unique model of 3+1 pillar Football academy to build the Home of FC Madras nestled in a small village near Mahabalipuram, Chennai, India. The first pillar is Football, the second being Education, Third Life Skills and the fourth which is an implied pillar- is the passion of people, dare to dream big for India linking it to the dreams of 1.44 Billion dreams. The choice between education and sports is slowly changing to become- having both through integrated academy like FC Madras. The Next Messi from Madras is the tag line of FC Madras. Dr. Narayana quotes the founder Mr. Girish Mathrubootham’s words “Fortunately, things are changing, and FC Madras is leading the way. We are committed to saving the dreams of the future champions who might otherwise be forced to give up their passions and pursue careers in related field. We believe that vision and passion are a powerful combination, as we have created an integrated, holistic environment where young athletes can take their skills to the next level.”
A world class football academy spread over 23 acres of land with world class facilities of hostels, kitchens, nutrition experts, a swimming pool with modern amenities, 3 different grass turfs one FIFA level Master player grass, natural grass and artificial turf comparable with world standards fully floodlight. FC Madras team is called “Flying Squirrels” and football pitches are resonating with the brand squirrel- Scamper Park, ( India’s first Hybrid pitches), Furry Field, Bushy Tail Meadow. A big gallery to witness matches, a huge Indoor stadium for other sports a few to mention. In addition to this the important differentiating factor with other academies is the second pillar of Education which is technology integrated mapped to the curriculum of National Institute of Open Schooling and Proseedu being the curriculum delivery partner. Life skills taught in the schools of these young players include Yoga, Chess, Creativity workshops, Spoken English and the community Service apart from swimming. Almond Learning Centre (ALC) houses class rooms named, Walnut, Chesnutt, Hazelnut, Pine nut and a post-match video analysis room for strategic planning and learning and a huge tech-enabled auditorium called “Chatter Box” Student Hostel is again creatively named “ Drey Hall” and Cafeteria named “ Acorn Café and Squirrel’s den which has both multiple sports facility and footstalls. Gallery block houses banquet halls, Oakwood Business Centre. Nutshell Fitness center has modern world standard gym, yoga center, and 3 player change rooms.
In a nutshell, Dr, C.N.Narayana says that FCM is committed to become the gold standard for youth training in the country. You cannot create champions overnight. Only passion, perseverance and several years of training, world class infrastructure, nutrition, training and recovery process, physical fitness to become world class Professional Footballers. He further adds with both football and education happening together even when our students don’t become pro-footballers they will emerge as well-rounded individuals with social skills and tem playing abilities to become CHAMPIONS OF LIFE. The diverse backgrounds of these players from across India creates a unique FCM culture in sports. Life Skill Based Education (LSBE) builds self-confidence, improves interpersonal skills, enhances communication skills, and facilitates critical thinking and problem solving. LSBE is now recognized as a methodology to address various issues of youth development and FCM is bang on it while creating the roadmap for these players. He further adds building world-class team from the grassroots level along with community engagement are of great significance for the holistic approach. FC Madras believes in engineering champion with a judicious mix of world class infra, football, education and life skills he adds. FC Madras is not just the name, it is an emotion.
The cultural depth and understanding of an industrious leader like Dr.Narayana will be a great differentiator in many such sports clubs in India and FCM with its unique three pillar model of Football, Education, and Life Skills could be the game changer for Indian football. Who knows? The next Messi could possibly from Madras!
