Training Program

The Training program consists of 5 modules:

  1. Spiritual Excellence (Hearing; Chanting; Vaishnava etiquette; Devotee care; Outreach, etc.)
  2. Personal Effectiveness (Time management; Balancing work, service, family life; etc.)
  3. Relationship Effectiveness (Supportive communication; Team building; Conflict resolution; Coaching and mentoring; etc.)
  4. Organizational Effectiveness (Leadership; Goal setting; Building effective systems; Team Building; Strategic planning; Performance measurement; Project management etc.)
  5. Functional Effectiveness (Legal and compliance; Temple administration; Accounting; Budgeting; Financial management; Risk management; Facility management; Deity worship standards; ISKCON laws and GBC resolutions; ISKCON’s organization structure and systems; Farm communities; Child protection; etc)
  1. Classroom Learning (Residential Sessions)
  2. Distance Learning

Classroom learning: Classroom learning would comprise of a couple of residential sessions – a couple of weeks each in March and in September/October. Residential sessions comprise of workshops & classes on essential leadership topics by top ISKCON leaders as well as devotees with professional experience in leadership principles. The first residential session will be held from the 8th to the 20th of March at the Govardhan Ecovillage, a farm community on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Distance learning: Distance learning involves online courses and action learning projects. Online courses would involve watching some videos, reading some handouts and taking some simple tests. Action Learning Projects are live projects where candidates would be actually applying the skills learnt in the Residential sessions to a real life problem or situation. The project should ideally include one or more of the following four aspects of spiritual leadership:

  • Prema– Creating systems to ensure that devotees in the temple/ yatra are doing their Sadhana & Svadhaya nicely, providing them resources, training and support.
  • Maitri– Devotee care systems, training programs at all levels. Empathizing and understanding the needs of different devotees and trying to implement devotee care system.
  • Kripa – Preaching & expansion programs- book distribution, congregation development, youth preaching etc.
  • Upeksha– Minimizing the Restraining forces like conflict, external threats etc. so that the Driving forces can take the temple/ yatra ahead.

The candidates would have to pick up a system/ project which is not already in place or in basement level in their temple/ yatra (in consultation with their GBC Zonal Secretary and should be in alignment with ISKCON’s 7 purposes).

Following is a pictorial representation of the course timeline:
Training_doc_picThe training program would run for a year with two complementary delivery methods:
After the first year, it will be evaluated if and what additional training will be required.