Mukesh Chander is a man who confesses he is “stimulated by strategy”. He has a passion for constitutional law and is unmistakably excited as he explains the impressive results of his revenue growth analysis – a reflection of his pragmatic leadership as COO at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM).
A man wearing many hats
Mukesh’s nose for numbers and strictly logical approach may sound like an unlikely fit for the performing arts educational institution, which has a strong reputation for developing some of the most creative and innovative artists in the country. However, having a legal background allows him to wear many hats and his successful strategies have an impact across a range of departments.
Mukesh says his legal experience provides a solid operational basis for the creativity inspired at AIM. “It enhances your decision making,” he explains. “I have a global focus, ensuring all business perspectives – financial, customer service, internal business processes and learning and development – are considered.”
Transformational strategy: people and numbers
Having briefly worked at AIM ten years ago, Mukesh returned in 2009 after the Board was re-established. Feeling more comfortable with an overall commitment to a clear strategic direction and a revised business structure, he has stayed on to put in place the kind of strategy that has positioned AIM as a national leader in performing arts education.
Effecting change through training, empowerment, resource allocation and ensuring the right people are in the right jobs across the organisation, Mukesh has been instrumental in rebuilding the business over the past 7 years.
The input he has had in executing AIM’s strategic plan has translated to revenue increases from less than $12 million in 2009 to more than $28.4 million today. Moreover, Mukesh has seen student growth increase by more than 300%.
Despite Mukesh’s own methodical ways – he describes himself as a strategic and process-minded leader – he quotes Professor Steve Turner of Mississippi State University when he says that in the future, “creativity will rule the day”. Mukesh also knows how to separate the processes from people. The keen swimmer and amateur chef counts his interactions with imaginative and productive people as one of the aspects he finds most rewarding about his work.
In his role as COO and Legal Counsel, Mukesh empowers his colleagues to equip capable artists to make the most of their talents. Mukesh believes this happens through teamwork, transparency and training. He says, “My leadership approach manifests a transformational methodology involving equality, competence, creativity, integrity and honesty.”
Preparing the next generation on Australia’s arts scene
Mukesh sees his role as planning and applying processes that support the preparation of the next generation of Australian artists. He is thinking far into the future about what this means for students seeking to make a living from their art. “It is important to me that we are able to deliver opportunities for all of our students to participate in various creative, management and performing arts activities, and we ensure that we broaden those opportunities to provide experience which includes dramatic arts and musical creation, behind the scenes roles, production in the studio and performance on stage,” he says.
Expanding the scope of what AIM can offer its students and the Australian arts scene is critical to maintaining its role in inspiring rising talent.
Mukesh points out that he has seen enormous challenges and possibilities created by technological advancements, ubiquitous connectivity and a globalised economy.
New ways to read, listen and communicate are chipping away at the idea of education as we know it and the world’s view of who is an artist continues to evolve.
“Students enjoy an ever wider range of choices in the modern education market, with options at home and abroad, including the burgeoning range of online courses available from top rank universities and music schools,” Mukesh says.
More options, more competition
To compete in today’s brave new world, Mukesh knows his strategy must allow AIM to expand in these new markets and that its courses must equip students for leadership roles, as well as those of artist and scholar. “AIM must leverage its existing cluster of creative expertise to explore and exploit new initiatives in convergent media, disruptive technology and online music in the new century,” he says.
One aspect of the digital revolution that doesn’t worry Mukesh too much is the vulnerability of jobs to automation and computerisation. He agrees with many academics and social commentators who believe that jobs in the arts, which require a high degree of creative intelligence, will not be automated in the coming decades.
Mukesh says that the artists graduating from AIM are well placed for securing meaningful careers, based on the skills they learn while students. “Jobs that rely on ‘soft skills’, such as leadership, communication, social intelligence and creativity are just too difficult to digitise and replace with software,” he says.
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