IPM Sri Lanka President, Director of PIM and a leading management thinker, Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri recently conducted a special evening seminar on “Essential Leadership Skills for Professionals” organized jointly by IPM Sri Lanka and the Seminars, Workshops and Programmes Committee of the Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA).
The seminar was held at the auditorium of the OPA headquarters in Colombo which was filled to capacity by the professionals representing OPA as well as IPM Sri Lanka.
“I am glad that I am talking about essential leadership skills with professionals because professionals can make a critical contribution to the country’s progress at this critical juncture amidst the numerous challenges that we are facing.
"This I believe is the correct forum to be involved in a discussion on leadership. Leadership is the most vastly researched but least understood phenomenon on earth,” said Prof. Dharmasiri addressing the professionals. He shared a refreshingly new way of presenting a leader, as a “servant”, “synergist” and a “strategist” with global and local examples.
“There are leaders at every layer of an organization and every sphere of life. Leadership is all about taking right decisions at the right time in the right manner achieving right, required results. In different situations, leaders need to adapt and play the role of ‘dealers in hope’ to take the organization forward,” he added.
After an interesting question and answer session where members were able to clarify their thoughts, the evening seminar was followed by networking and fellowship which gave an opportunity for members of both professional bodies to exchange ideas, expand and forge new relationships for the benefit of the industry. The OPA comprises of over 48 professional bodies.