Bharatiya Engineering Science and Technology Innovation University (BESTIU), in partnership with the India Foundation, has launched the School of Global Leadership (SoGL) in New Delhi, positioning it as an academic initiative aimed at addressing gaps in conventional leadership education.
The launch event, held in the capital on Tuesday, brought together policymakers, former diplomats, academics, industry representatives and young professionals. Discussions centred on the growing complexity of leadership challenges in a multipolar world, where decision-making increasingly cuts across governance, public policy, enterprise, technology and international engagement.
Speaking at the event, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan said leadership education needs to move beyond a narrow focus on tools and techniques. He noted that contemporary leaders are required to operate amid sustained uncertainty and institutional complexity, often with long-term societal consequences. According to him, leadership must be treated as a serious academic and practical discipline, grounded in systems thinking, ethical responsibility and the ability to translate ideas into action.
Jayant Sinha, Chair of the School of Global Leadership, said the institution draws from India’s developmental experience while engaging with global leadership debates. He argued that many leadership lessons today are emerging from societies managing scale, diversity and rapid change, and that institutions rooted in these realities can offer valuable perspectives to the global discourse.
A key feature of the School of Global Leadership is its practitioner-led model. The academic framework brings together former diplomats, policymakers, ministers, entrepreneurs and innovators alongside faculty members, with an emphasis on testing theory against real-world experience.
At the launch, the institution also introduced its flagship Post Graduate Programme in Global Leadership (PGP-GL), a one-year, full-time programme designed as a multi-country academic experience. The programme combines classroom learning with applied exposure through international residencies in India, China, the UAE, the United States, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. The curriculum covers governance, public policy, strategy, innovation and ethics, with a strong focus on experiential learning and engagement with live institutional challenges.
According to the organisers, leadership at SoGL is defined not by authority or position, but by the ability to interpret complexity, exercise judgement and design or reform institutions in the public interest. The learning structure emphasises immersion, reflection and synthesis, with students engaging in global labs, innovation immersions and policy-focused projects.
With its launch, the School of Global Leadership enters a growing space of leadership education initiatives responding to questions around governance, institutional trust and global cooperation—areas where leadership failures increasingly carry systemic consequences.
