Bhubaneswar, Feb. 16: Major General S.V.P. Singh, a veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war and a defence and strategic expert, visited Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) on Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Singh, who has five decades of experience in key leadership roles at both conceptual and directional levels in the Indian Army, addressed the students of the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), SOA’s faculty of engineering and technology, on the subject ‘Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience in Leadership—Lessons from the Military.’
He delivered an inspiring speech exhorting the youth to served in the armed forces.
“I grew up in a military family and wanted to serve the armed forces. I was chosen to join the Rashtriya Indian Military College, a feeder institution for the National Defence Academy. I became an officer after nine years of training,” he said.
Maj. Gen Singh exhorted the undergraduates to lead by example, take decisions and avoid unnecessary display of authority as monitors and house captains. “Leadership is about actions, not titles,” he said.
Sharing his experiences, he said that military leaders faced life and death situations frequently. He advised students to address difficult issues openly which will foster trust and growth while pointing out that honest communication helped build resilient teams.
“Values drive purposeful leadership,” he said adding leaders must articulate a mission so as to ensure that everyone understood their role. He said it was necessary to understand that leadership transcends uniform and extends to every sphere of life.
Maj. Gen. Singh subsequently called on the SOA Founder President Prof. (Dr.) Manojranjan Nayak and had wide ranging discussion with him.
Maj. Gen. Singh had conceptualized and executed the Indian Army’s largest firepower demonstration as the overall Commander in-charge of Army including Artillery, Mechanised Forces, Infantry and Attack Helicopters including the Air Force at Pokhran in Rajasthan in 2001. He is a member of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) and United Service Institution of India (USI).
