National development, societal improvement, and communal progress – for all these growths education is the only strong base. Despite experiencing phenomenal evolution over the years with around 75% literacy rate, the staid Indian education system still lags behind the standards of the world's best universities. Few determinant educationists today are riding on hopes of scaling up the literacy bar with an education that enhances one’s cognitive, intellectual, social, and personal skills. Leading such a path of transformation in this peregrination is Sunita Gadde, Secretary of Lingaya’s Lalita Devi Institute of Management and Sciences.

Understanding how crucial is education to shape people’s lives, she holds it her duty to empower students to become benevolent contributors to society. In this quest today she is a doyen educationalist in the industry empowering students to be leaders and visionaries. In an exclusive conversation, Sunita Gadde shares interesting aspects of her leadership journey in this dynamic industry.

What Motivated You To Venture Into The Field Of Education?

I have always been passionate about imparting knowledge and impacting the lives of others. What’s a better place to do this than an educational setup? Encouraging active learning and promoting intellectual and moral development was always on my mind. My curiosity and the urge to keep learning new things motivated me to venture into the field of Education.

What Are The Various Roles & Responsibilities That You Currently Shoulder At LLDIMS?

Currently, I look after the end-to-end operations at LLDIMS. Right from Academics to Students Welfare, I am deeply involved with my leadership team to ensure smooth logistics. I certainly maintain a collaborative and inclusive learning environment at the Campus to create a win-win situation for both faculty and students.

What Are Some Of The Most Pressing Challenges That You Face As The Secretary And How Do You Successfully Tackle Them?

As a secretary of such a big setup, you keep encountering various challenges, some are external like lack of resources, interpersonal problems within the organization, and some are internal like lack of Decisiveness and Impatience at times. But the good part with each of these face-offs is, you emerge as a better and a learned leader. I try to keep my calm even in the toughest of situations and am always open to consulting my team for their suggestions. This helps me tone down the challenges and continue my work with the same intensity.

What Are Some Teaching Methodologies And Pedagogies That You Leverage While Facilitating Learning For Students?

I encourage my faculty members to practice Case-based teaching to engage students in the process of making real-world decisions. They create cases that represent authentic workplace situations to further encourage them to apply knowledge gained from the classroom or through additional research to solve the case. Teaching through role-plays is another approach that I ask my Team to follow. This helps students to understand and explore realistic situations and evolve with different strategies to manage the given task.

In Your Opinion What Have Been Some Of The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved So Far In Your Professional Journey? What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Success As An Educator?

Being into academics, Educational Effectiveness has been my main goal. I believe that my success comes by enabling our students to learn through experiential learning, field survey, etc.

In my opinion, good moral values are of paramount importance for the overall development of students. That's why we put additional effort into teaching our students these values through our various events and programs focusing on giving back to society. I believe that understanding the plight and helping people less privileged than you adds to one's character more than anything that can be taught in a classroom.

“Creating a collaborative and inclusive learning environment to create a win-win situation for both faculty and students”

My positive behaviour, passion for work, and my personality are strengths that become my driving force and help me to deal with the problem which eventually results in performance improvement.

How Do You Foresee The Higher Education Sector Evolving In India Going Forward? How Do You Plan To Keep Lingaya’s Lalita Devi Institute Of Management And Sciences Aligned With These Changes?

The current education sector needs to equip young minds with the skills to thrive in tomorrow’s economy. More focus should be on skill-based education instead of theoretical courses. My team and teachers of LLDIMS are also working on providing bridge courses on skill-based education which will make our students future-ready, not just as an employee but also as an employer.

Drawing From Your Experience As A Successful Leader, What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women And Girls Who Also Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?

I would just want to state that fearlessness should be your motto to begin your career as an entrepreneur. There are a lot of hurdles that need to be crushed and move ahead, learn from your past and allow yourself to grow. One should bring social change based on the ethics of equality and mutual respect.

Sunita Gadde, Secretary, LLDIMS

College of Arts, Delhi University. She has worked with the All-India Institute of Management & Science (AIIMS) as a Gazetted Officer in their Media Department. During her long stint with AIIMS, she learned the art of Communicating, Teamwork, and the importance of taking up New Initiatives.

 Lingaya’s Lalita Devi Institute Of Management & Sciences hAn IP University (under Govt. of NCT of Delhi ) Estd. in 2005. LLDIMS is a NAAC Re-accredited Grade ‘A’ and ISO 9001:2015 Certified Institution offering degree courses like BBA, B.Com Hons, BA JMC, BCA& B.Ed. Besides these, LLDIMS also offers UGC recognized On-line Diploma and Certificate courses in the field of Data, Business Analytics, and Digital Marketing.