Molding Conscious Leaders

Abstract

Innovation in education is important for developing the next generation of business leaders who also have to be innovators, creative thinkers and managers who will be more responsible towards society. The role of a company is to serve other stakeholders such as staff, clients, suppliers and society besides increasing the wealth of shareholders. In an era of continuous erosion of natural resources due to the progress of mankind, doing business following the path of conscious capitalism may create a competitive edge. The challenge is to orient the mindset of management students to mold them as conscious leaders. In 2009, Dr. Raj Sisodia and Conscious Capitalism Inc. asked Dr. Ernie Cadotte to create a new simulation to illustrate and reinforce the key tenets of the Conscious Capitalism movement. Business managers have a broad variety of conflicting issues to deal with, including product sustainability and reliability, environmental concerns, employee morale and corporate responsibility. The challenge for Cadotte and Sisodia was to develop a new pedagogy for learning to manage a full-enterprise business while addressing the conscious opportunities, situations and problems. In 2011, Cadotte created a game ( Conscious Capitalism in the Marketplace) that simulates the challenges a business manager has to face in today’s world. It is a ‘unique pedagogy’ and an innovative teaching practice that works on the ‘learning-by-doing’ method. This article will be an evidence-based case study of that simulation and its use with the next-generation managers.