Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, has a strong reputation for success, and its high potential students are being coached to help them achieve their goals
I belong to the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India’s premier technology institute. Lots of students vie for a place every year. The brand is so strong, that just entering the institute means you have made it in life! In fact we are told we are the cream of the nation. The 500-plus acre campus is lush green, almost a jungle within the very busy city of Mumbai, with its own flora and fauna.
Yet, once you enter the campus, the illusion breaks. You are competing with the best of the best across India; somebody will always come out on top and somebody bottom. There’s a constant need to find out ‘where am I?’ in this world. The pressure is on to figure out your real strength as everybody is the best academically. Expectations of family and friends are also high.
When I went back to campus after leaving the corporate world and getting into coaching, I started interacting with students. I realised nothing much has changed. The students needed someone to talk to, just as we did.
We launched a two-day coaching intervention with the students just before they started on campus – when they are under maximum pressure and stress. We put together a panel of 10 coaches, allowing one hour per student for a coaching conversation, covering 80 students over the two days.
The response was overwhelming. The students found a confidential space to open up with someone who won’t judge them, who is there just for them, to talk about anything and everything they were fearful to speak about, even with their close friends. The topics covered were around selfishness, girlfriend/boyfriend, career, fears of interviews, home pressure, peer pressure and many deeper issues. The high response rate prompted us to run four more till now, covering 400+ students.
This paved the way to include it in a financial aid programme, run as part of our institute’s alumni association for students unable to fund their studies. They pay back the money once they get jobs.
This hugely successful programme has been running for eight years, with a 95% rate of return of aid.
The students come from humble backgrounds and this is their chance to make it big. They come with very low self-confidence, no clarity on goals in life, unable to communicate and express themselves, low levels of self-awareness, etc. These create larger issues for them when they start attending job interviews. In order to get them on a par with the other students, we started a year-long coaching programme.
They work with a coach on self, clarity of goals, confidence and other areas, while a mentor helps them understand the domain they’re looking at, their communication styles, their ability to present themselves, their brand management, and prepare them for the future job environment. We also take them through a values assessment, strengthfinder tool and a series of webinars on topics that can support them further.
We’re measuring the movement of these students and plan to provide both qualitative and quantitative results. We wish to grow this concept across India, working with various institutions to help and support the students in their journey. Fortunately, I’ve found like-minded coaches for such interventions.
For me it’s been a dream come true as I find this is the best way to give back to the institute that made me who I am today.
Find out more
- Rajat Garg is part of the executive board of Indian Institute of the Technology Bombay Alumni Association.
An ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC), his ICF roles include sitting on the Independent Review Board (taking care of unethical conduct in coaching), ICF assessor and running the ICF India Community of Practice on ethics.