The GBC Leadership, Training and Assessment Committee designed this six-day course in conjunction with the Vaisnava Training and Education (VTE) Ministry for all devotees with responsibility for managing, guiding and caring for others. For temples, it is particularly relevant for Department Heads and Temple Presidents. It is also helpful for congregational leaders, preachers, educators indeed, anyone interested in the leadership, management and interpersonal skills required to lead effectively within Prabhupada's mission.

The course facilitator will place particular emphasis on the understanding and assimilation of the principles and values behind effective Vaisnava leadership.

Aprreciations from those who have taken the Leadership and Management Course:

Jayadvaita Swami:
This is a first-class professional course in knowledge and skills that every effective leader and manager ought to have. It's not a plea for better management, disguised in the form of a seminar. It's not touchy-feely New
Age stuff. This is a high-quality professional-level course, full of knowledge, skills and insights that will prove invaluable for any devotee serving as a leader or manager, either in ISKCON or even in the material world. Far more than just lectures, it includes lots of experiential learning--you learn by doing. Even experienced ISKCON managers will find it worthwhile.

Though this course will be valuable for all ISKCON leaders and managers, I recommend it particularly to young devotees, "second generation" either by birth or otherwise. Old dinosaurs like me will have to endure the fact that we spent several decades as managers and leaders without the benefit of the systematic education this course offers. Young devotees can do a whole lot better.

Syamasundara dasa:
As a Senior Manager working for a large international company I have been on programmes of a similar kind and the course that you are presenting is very much in the mould of a mini MBA programme. This kind of programme is very much needed as a general management toolset in our ISKCON temples and Srila Prabhupada must certainly be very pleased.

In my opinion, the course has given all temple managers and leaders the necessary tools with which to properly manage ISKCON's temples in South Africa. It is a course that has been needed for a long time. Even though many of the temples had started applying various methods to address their specific needs and requirements, this particular course has now consolidated all the right techniques and strategies into a programme that certainly adds value to ISKCON.

(Syamasundara dasa is Co-President of ISKCON Pretoria, South Africa and Senior Divisional Manager of Group Audit Services for Daimler Chrysler - South Africa)

Guru Prasad Swami:
I would like to express my appreciation for the Leadership course in Mayapur. I found it both enlightening, providing essential tools and skills indispensable for my service; and entertaining, it was a wonderful presentation.

I lament that I did not have these tools before. They are all logical, simple to understand and easy to put into practice. There is no doubt in my mind that had we taken more care to emulate the unique qualities of Srila Prabhupada in his dealings and command of the devotees, we would have deemed it crucial to train our leaders in the same skills.

I would not only recommend this course for every devotee who has leadership responsibilities, but emphasize it as a must. Even those who are not directly involved in management or leading others will find this course useful in everyday interactions in a world where decision-making is a must.


Prahladananda Swami:
Anuttama dasa and Hanuman dasa along with the assistance of some of the most experienced managers and leaders within ISKCON have expertly put together a course that is both instructive and inspirational.  Their team work during the presentations serves as a practical example of the seminar's teachings.

The theoretical as well as the interactive and practical aspects of the course are well integrated and serve as a foundational stone to continue to build the dynamic and responsible ISKCON management and leadership that
Srila Prabhupada displayed himself and encouraged others to follow.

I highly recommend the seminar and will personally try to apply the teaching they have generously and warmly imparted in their efforts to serve the devotees within ISKCON and to make ISKCON more attractive to others.


Gopinath dasa:
I attended the VTE "Leadership and Management Course One" from 10-13 October 2004 held in Washington, D.C. I have found this course the most practical aspect towards day-to-day management. I have just now completed my Masters Degree in Marketing from Mumbai University with 67% marks, but what my entire masters could not give was punched inside this VTE course by Anuttama Prabhu.

I studied many management theories and big names of management gurus in the college, but finally what it should boil down to is the practical application of everything we learnt - that was taken care of only by this VTE course. I would like to proudly say that the VTE handbook serves all my strategic purposes all the time and I carry it always with me as an integral part of my computer bag.

(Gopinath dasa manages Share Your Care - Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai.)

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