“The most striking thing about the entire course is it's relativity and the practical nature. Most of the concepts are designed in a way that encourages immediate action and are very easy to apply in the do-ability index. One thing that stuck with me was the clarity - be it on feedback, meetings or HANDs the course gave the exact clarity on what and how. Awesome experience!”

Animesh MishraSenior Manager - Transformation & Excellence, Field Assist

“NMA has helped me deeply reflect on my actions as a manager. After understanding my managerial style, I had a comprehensive list of well researched, easy to apply contextualized practices to go back to. I already am applying so many practices consistently. My managees have shared that they have seen me put in a lot of effort lately to bring more structure and feedback to our team.”

Geetika AroraSenior Manager, Simple Education Foundation

“The New Manager Academy team has done a great job putting together the most valuable learnings and insights about how to be a NorthStar and work through a team. Throughout the sessions, Gaurav highlights methods and tips that seem simple to begin with but can be immensely transformative when applied in day-to-day operations. I have personally learnt a lot from this course and have already started applying the lessons at my workplace - finding these learnings and insights to be quite invaluable.”

Sheenu WilsonSenior Fundraising Associate and Community Mobilizer, Guardians of Dreams

“I liked the way this course was presented. The people management part was the one which I liked the most. In my opinion, this course is great for people who are yet to become managers and even for new managers. Also, it’s a very good course for new organizations to setup their managing processes.”

Juhi VyasManager - Data Management, Fresh Gravity

“This course is perfect for people & organisations that truly believe that a manager's role is of utmost importance in any organisation. It equips you to be the kind of manager every employee deserves and every manager strives to be!”

Khyati DattSenior Manager, National Alumni Impact, Teach for India

“The course sets a great precedent on 'How to be a good manager'.
The structure of the course is well-defined and the team is pretty dedicated to informing us about the basics of how we should lead a team.
I would recommend this to anyone who is going to/wants to become a great manager :)”

Kumar PrakarshAssociate Product Manager, Field Assist

“The New Manager Academy introduced me to some simple, yet powerful practices that are helpful in my journey as a new manager. With a well-curated curriculum and outstanding facilitation, the course unites a group of individuals from varied professions, in their learning journey and enables them to wear the hats of a player, coach, manager, and leader.”

Lakshmipriya RAssociate - Operations, Indus Action

“I deeply enjoyed the nuance that the course brought in, around the situations a manager faces in their day-to-day journey. The experience was full of learning and serves as a guidebook for managers!”

Pratik DaveLead - Growth & Partnerships, Educational Initiatives

“The training was very informative and provided valuable insights on effective management techniques. The instructor was engaging and made the material easy to understand. I appreciated the hands-on activities and real-life examples used in the training. I feel more confident in my ability to implement what I learned in the session in my everyday work as a manager. The session was well-organized and provided a great opportunity for networking with other managers.”

Reena KumariPlacement Coordinator, NavGurukul

“I just wanted to share a quick note and let you know that you guys do a really good job. I have just started building my own team and realized that people management is one of the hardest skills in corporate culture. These workshops have helped me understand that I am not alone who faces problems in being a good leader. The workshops have helped me see things from a different lens.”

Sankalp SinghaniaSenior Research Analyst, GreyB

“I'll learn to think creatively thanks to this course. It makes me consider how to put myself in others' shoes and how to collaborate with my team more effectively. Gaurav expertly outlined the many behavioral types and how each necessitates a unique strategy for management. I am delighted now that I have learned how to significantly increase all of my management abilities, including problem-solving, empathy, and team communication.”

Tony ZachariaManager, Neptunus Power

“The course was nice and crisp. With Gaurav's guidance and examples, it was great learning. Have already started implementing a couple of tools and it is really helpful for me and the team as well. We have started growing and taking on new challenging projects.”

Vinit KachchiSr. Associate Data Analyst, The Souled Store

“Loved everything about the course - content, facilitator, support, resources, iterations after feedback, squad time, and session timing being rightly planned. Would surely recommend this to my peers. Thank you for this amazing programme. Going back with a lot of learnings and confidence to implement these at my workplace.”

Akhila NookalaProgram Designer, Inqui-Lab Foundation

“The content offered as part of the NMA was very well knit together & comprehensive. One lesson led to another which gave a 360 degree view of how to become a better manager and a better team member.”

Harshit TakkarAssistant Director - Strategic Initiatives, Ashoka University

“I have known Gaurav for over a decade now. He has always been a deep learner and thinker. His learning lens is extremely broad—from lived experiences in challenged communities to reading from business, art, philosophy, psychology, history, etc. In addition, he has built exceptional teams throughout to help execute the vision. The teams he led always appeared to have that special energy and gleam that only comes through shared purpose, understanding, care, and ownership. Like others, I feel I learn and grow in his presence. And that’s before we start a conversation, which is always riveting and enlightening.”

Girish BhakooChief Investment Officer, TenCore Partners

“A meaningfully curated course that is relevant to the modern-day manager, created by people who have been on a journey to being excellent managers themselves. The course will give you frameworks which are research-backed and tried and tested by the course curators themselves over a decade.”

Aswathy JayakumarCo-Founder, Ayang Trust

“The biggest learning I would take from Gaurav's sessions is how beautifully he captured the participant's feedback and incorporated it throughout the journey. Extremely consistent in improvising the content and in aligning it to the learning needs. Another piece that I really found enabling was the tools shared with us. Very simple to understand, actionable, and can be used across the realms of our work. A big thank you to Gaurav, Arhan, Saahil, and Monica!”

Yogesh VaradkarAssistant Manager - Programs, Antarang Foundation

“I was lucky to have Gaurav as my manager in the early days of my career. In addition to being an excellent role model, he had an uncanny ability to break down any concept to simple, distilled and easy to replicate steps. What I learned from him helped me manage a range of situations - from being responsible for results through indirect management to directly managing large teams. Gaurav is insightful, full of stories and there's an added bonus of humour. He's helped me learn many of the fundamentals that have informed my approach to managing people and projects to drive results. I would highly recommend this course and the opportunity to learn from a knowledgeable and fun teacher!”

Laxmi NairFreelance Consultant - Program Design & Delivery

“I have learned a lot in these 4 weeks...I have evaluated my skills as a manager and I can say with full confidence that now I have tools and methods which can help me in becoming a better manager and a better team member.”

Sunil KatariaDeputy Director IT, Ashoka University

“I was a successful profesional in the US before I moved to India to work with Gaurav. I learnt more from him in 2 years than I learnt in any other 2 year period of my life. After coming back I have started a successful company & a big reason is I just applied everything I learnt from Gaurav. Gaurav showed me a leadership style that I had seen quoted but never demonstrated. He showed me how to build teams that strived relentlessly for excellence, how to use data for decision making, how to align different teams to a common mission & clear goals & how to innovate when your back is to the wall. I also learnt from him the 2 things which are extremely hard for any leader: how to let people go quickly but respectfully & how to get teams to debate passionately but constructively. He is also one hell of a coach who will show you the best in you & then motivate you to deliver on your potential. I was lucky to work with & learn from him.”

Joshua PrudowskyPraxis Institute - Partner & University of Illinois at Chicago - Faculty

“The course helped me to visualize my role holistically. It was very well structured and it broke down actions and ideas that you can go and implement immediately. I enjoyed all the sessions and always used to look forward to them. I highly recommend that people who manage teams be a part of this course!”

Neha KanojiaProject Lead - Large Scale Programs, Alohomora Education Foundation

“Gaurav Singh is one of my favorite sources for learning about learning. . . and about leadership . . . and about management . . . and about strategic clarity. I’ve been a manager and senior leader at large national and international organizations and networks for over twenty years, and I still call on Gaurav to help me grow and develop. Not only does he keep up with the frontiers of management and leadership research he manages to apply them to his work. Even more remarkable (and rare) is his ability to make them accessible and actionable for others. The best management and leadership advice I can give is that if you have a chance to learn from and with Gaurav Singh, take it.”

Steven FarrExecutive Director, Teach For All’s Global Learning Lab

“All the sessions were great, presented very well, the team is doing a great job, few concepts seem to be extremely relevant and as a manager I have implemented those and seen some positive changes in the team's behavior and it is helping in creating a good team culture. I am glad to attend this program, it has helped me in dealing with some of the personal challenges that I was facing being a new/budding manager for my team. All these learnings are extremely useful and will help me in becoming a good manager. Kudos to Gaurav and the entire team:)”

Jayati BhatiaSenior Manager, Ashoka University

“Gaurav is a treasure trove of insights and wisdom. He has an exceptional skill of pouring through tons of material and then presenting it in the simplest, most intuitive manner. He crystalizes complex ideas from theory, his own experience, other people's experience to share tips and insights that are very valuable. I've had innumerable conversations with him discussing leadership, culture, management and much more. Every conversation has left me feeling like I've learnt something new that has stayed with me, I felt truly heard and understood and I've had a lot of fun. Gaurav has built such strong management and leadership practices at his organisation 321 Education Foundation, that led to some of the strongest culture and performance that I've seen across different comparable organisations. It is a pleasure to learn from him!”

Venil AliSenior Director - Programs & Scale, Antarang Foundation

“I have worked closely with Gaurav for the last few years and took over as CEO of 321 Education Foundation from him. I saw first hand the amazing team & culture he had built at 321. Out of many things he did well, one in particular was how groomed 321’s new managers. His unique gift is that he is able to extract insights from all his readings & experiences & then present them in a simple & relatable manner. I have seen young managers in 321 lap up his sessions and then go on to apply the learnings with aplomb. Now if Gaurav is starting a course in management, I would say just go for it. I wish I had this opportunity when I started out as a manager.”

Gayatri RPCEO - 321 Education Foundation

“In over a decade of working, Gaurav has been by far the most influential manager I have ever had. He was the first person to help my realise my potential as a manager & gave me that responsibility. He invested a lot in me, was very patient as I developed my managerial skills & gave me lots of support & space to grow. Some of the most critical things I learnt from him: how to give quality feedback, building systems that create high performing teams, setting thoughtful goals and how to manage up & sideways. Remarkably he gave this kind of support to not just me but many other young managers like me. I'm able to do what I do today, becuase of all the learnings from our time together. In the 7 years that Gaurav managed me, he gave me learnings that I will apply for the rest of my life.”

Aadi RungtaProgram lead - Education policy @ Govt. of NCT of Delhi, The Education Alliance

“Gaurav is an outstanding leader. He is incredibly good at analysing situations, thinking strategically, creating powerful solutions, aligning people & ensuring implementation. As his manager, I admired the strong learning loops he built for himself which allowed him to get good very quickly. What’s been amazing is to see that he has managed to build teams that do the same. His teams learn from local & global contexts, are reflective, error correct rapidly & produce amazing results. I think a big reason for this is Gaurav’s ability to break down his own practice & teach it to his team. He has the rare combo of being a great leader & a great teacher.”

Tomos DaviesCOO, Frontline

“I have seen 4 kinds of leaders in my life: those who can tell you what good leadership is but can’t do it themselves, those who can do it but can’t explain it, those can do it & explain but not all the time & the rare category who can consistently demonstrate great leadership through their actions but also help new leaders understand & do it. Gaurav belongs in the 4th category. I worked with him for nearly a decade & saw him show great leadership every single day and also teach dozens of new managers how to become capable leaders themselves. I personally never saw myself as a leader. But Gaurav was able to see the potential in me that I couldn’t see myself. He gave me the responsibility to lead a team & then supported me intensely to become the best leader I could. He taught me which weaknesses to fix & which to ignore, how to prioritise when everything seems urgent, how to handle the messiness of people management & how to always keep improving. At 321, I led large scale programs & now in the UK I lead programs which impact people across the entire country. None of this would have happened even I had not been managed & groomed by Gaurav. If there is 1 person I owe most of my professional success to, it is him.”

Rima BistDirector of Program, Brilliant club

“I spent 8 years closely working with Gaurav as my manager & leader, yet I still wish I could get more from him. He played different roles at different times: my manager, my manager’s manager but was always a mentor & role model for me. The key thing he did brilliantly was to absorb the global best practices about management & leadership from the best books, leading experts & self reflection. He then helped all of us at 321 Foundation apply these best practices by putting them in simple systems, communicating them powerfully, constantly modelling them & supporting us all the way. He taught me how to make better decisions, manage complex projects, handle pressure situations & bring out the best in myself & others. Universe-full of gratitude falls short of what he’s given me!”

Harsh SwaminarayanPeople Lead, 321 Education Foundation

“In my two decades of professional journey I have seen the difference good leaders can make. They shape organisations and their people for the now & for the future. I have known Gaurav for a long time & he stands out for his commitment to lead and not just manage, even more demanding for a young social entrepreneur. It has been inspiring to see his commitment, both in word & action, towards people and institution building from the earliest days of 321. Gaurav has approached his own leadership with a keen & curious mind, and always made the time to perfect it in practise!”

Shaveta Sharma KukrejaManaging Director, Central Square Foundation

“Gaurav is a teacher through and through. His ability to simplify complex concepts and make them relevant to a specific context is phenomenal. When I worked with him I experienced first hand what it was like to be led with a no one left behind attitude. He drew on his deep and varied knowledge to ensure each individual was walking with him and could see his vision clearly. Every interaction with him was inspiring and stretched my thinking. I’m so fortunate to have had him as a mentor.”

Gunjali SinghCEO, SVP Mumbai

“I have known Gaurav for a long time & been able to observe his leadership closely. I admire 3 things I have seen him do better than most leaders. Firstly he is able to navigate the difficult decisions & tricky situations that leadership involves through the lens of the big picture mission. This allows him to respond & not react to the multitude of difficult challenges every leader faces. Secondly, he thinks deeply & critically about issues before forming an opinion. So he & his team have deep conviction in their decisions & are comfortable in going against the norm. Thirdly, he has always been at the cutting edge of thinking about management & work. For example, he moved 321 to a remote work setup even before Covid began, he started using modern goal setting methods like OKR before any other non profit in India & has been far ahead of most organisations in making learning a continuous process which scales with their team. He has certainly inspired me to apply these things in my own roles over the last decade, ranging from Senior Leader to CEO.”

Pooja WarierChief Revenue Officer, Apolitical

“Gaurav has a track record of building exceptional teams, driving exceptional outcomes and helping people find their greatest potential, all the while tackling some of the hardest problems facing society. Gaurav taught me how to manage myself so I could manage others, how to be nice while pursing ambitious goals, how to balance accountability & autonomy for my team & how to motivate others to work towards a common mission. The 4 years I spent at 321 working with Gaurav have been the greatest education I have had so far. I attribute a huge part of my subsequent success to Gaurav. Every one I know who has ever worked with him feels the same way.”

AnukshiProgram manager, Upraised

“You won't find a greater expert than Gaurav Singh in leading change, managing people, designing processes, and achieving results. Crucially, he understands the principles, and knows how to put them into practice. And he shares his wisdom with empathy, humility and a hunger for greater learning. Across five years and two totally different jobs, his guidance has been invaluable, and has transformed how I approach my work. You won't regret signing up to learn more from him.”

Harry Fletcher WoodHead of School Surveys, Teacher Tapp

“I have known Gaurav for over 10 years and seen his evolution as a leader. When we first met, he was a guy with a plan, and I was privileged to have a front row seat to see him lead the execution of his plan into a 75-person organization. What I appreciated the most about his journey was the commitment to understanding ideas, sourced from a lot of different fields, and seeing how they could be used in service of improving education for all children. Gaurav is deeply curious, a master synthesizer of ideas with the ability to convey complex thoughts simply, and one of the best teachers/trainers I have met”

Azad OommenCo-Founder, Global School Leaders

“I have never grown more under a manager than I grew when Gaurav was my manager. He is passionate about helping people achieve their potential & I learnt a ton from just watching him lead our team. He is also a gifted teacher who is able to balance explicit teaching with letting you discover the lessons on your own. When I became a manager I just applied everything I learnt from him & that massively accelerated my growth as a manager. Even now when I run into leadership challenges, I ask myself “What would Gaurav do?”. I would highly recommend any opportunity to learn from him”

Arnab DattaSenior Counsel, Employ America