Building your Influence Personality- by Shohrat Shankar

08:35

Today Influencing as a skill is becoming more and more important and critical. Where earlier people or departments would work in Silos and were more hierarchical; today that has changed to a lot of cross functional dependence and flatter structures where authority or position doesn't always get the desired response from people .

The ability to effectively Influence is needed in many scenarios:

• Presenting a new idea , initiative or plan in a conference or board room
• Discussing and persuading others during a meeting
• Convincing peers
• Convincing the supervisor for something new
• Gaining commitment and ownership from reporters

Influence doesn't happen in vacuum, many people complain that nobody in their group listens or pays heed to what they are saying.  Many of us generally face the same problem time and over again.

How many of us can relate to a time when we were trying to share a view in a group, repeatedly trying to speak, starting a few words... and somebody else kept butting in and acting as if you were, either not there or not saying anything of consequence.

Often when that happens we react in one of 2 ways:

• By keeping quiet and feeling that nobody cares about what we have to say. This leads us to reduce contribution in discussions and avoid presentations or just always believing the "boss is always right"
• By getting angry, raising our voices and demanding to be heard. Leading to conflict with our peers, getting into arguments with managers or becoming an autocratic or dictatorial leader.

What upsets us even more is that within the group there will be some who will be given the attention of all, without them having to make much of an effort to be heard. In fact, people will look to that person for a view, even when he/she doesn't want to share one.

So what is it that makes this person an  influencer without even trying that hard? 

How do I get people to sit-up and pay attention when I speak?

Like many others I used to be one in the crowd who faced just the same issues. Below are some things that worked for me and each one of us can do to build a personality that gets people to sit up listen!!

1. Be credible

The important thing to remember is that my credibility and trust within the group is the first thing people subconsciously refer to when I speak. Thus, if I have built an image of being trustworthy, reliable and dependable then de facto my views suggestions and ideas are looked at in the same way.
So what affects my credibility and makes me trustworthy, reliable and dependable?

• During day to day interactions do I give thought before speaking
• Do I follow through and fulfill my commitments
• Can people depend on me

2. Grab opportunities

Building an influential personality is more than just credibility, it is also about grabbing opportunities that come up and showing ones influence on situations and events around. Very often we wait for opportunities to come to us and many valuable opportunities pass us by. It is critical to keep our eyes and ears open for areas, situations and events where we can influence the outcome and thus make others aware of us and what we can do.

It could be an opportunity to deliver a presentation, arrange an event, organise and chair a meeting or an open forum to share your idea or view points. The challenge is many of us shy away from such opportunities and then wonder "why people don't sit up and listen to us"

3. Take responsibility & ownership

At times when I need to work with others, In situations when someone else has grabbed the opportunity or stepped up; the ownership or responsibility I take for a team goal reflects on my character and connect with the bigger picture. How hard I work to support others, how involved I get even if someone else might get the credit, shows others that I care more for the team goal and bigger picture than just my own interests. That will get me an element of respect from the group that automatically translates into an ability to influence the group more easily where & when required.

4. Step up

Often there are situations where no one is willing to "bell the cat". This is an ideal situation for a person to Step up and take the initiative on something. It is a chance to step into the spotlight and shine. Of course there are risks involved, there will always be questions that we ask ourselves.

What if it fails? What if things don't go according to plan? What if I make a fool of myself in the bargain?

The point is ....Those who have the courage to Step up and work out ways to give it their best shot will always be looked up to. Sometimes they will succeed and at other times fail. However, people will always look up to them for the courage they showed when others were unwilling.

So when are you going to STEP UP!!

The Beauty of Procrastination - By Namita Parikh

Procrastination is often considered a shoddy and tardy habit that, one is advised to lose immediately. We are constantly told that procrastination doesn’t make life easy for us and it just increases our stress levels.  Generally, I would grudgingly agree because yes, it does make sense. Except, you see, I am a procrastinator and I feel sometimes I work splendidly because of that.

You may say I am defending my habit of procrastination but I would like to show you that I might be right. Being a psychologist and content developer, I know all about the theories proving procrastination doesn’t help anyone. It is a waste of time and money. However, it’s a fact that not everyone has the same attention span. For example, my attention span is lesser than most people. So when I am assigned a task, I start working diligently but say 30 – 45 minutes into it, I need to stop or divert my attention from the fear of being saturated with the topic and not be able to give my best. With my attention diverted, I will invariably wander to the “treacherous and dangerous depths” of internet distraction or a good novel. One link always leads to another and at least 10 - 15 minutes are wasted.

But, here is the thing, no information can be good or bad, it’s what you do with it gives it power. You never know what information your brain retains. Unconsciously or through subliminal perception, our brain takes in information and creates new pathways of divergent thinking. It questions the stupid and random. Sometimes the questions in itself are stupid but you still get answers. 

Now you are wondering, how is any of this relevant? So after 20 minutes of procrastination, when you go back to work, you have a fresh outlook to what needs to be done.  As Bluma Zeigarnik (a Russian psychologist) found, that we tend to remember unfinished work better than completed tasks. We tend to work more efficiently when we leave a task midway and get back to it. Moreover, your jaunt into procrastination, refreshes your mind and sometimes gives you a fresh perspective.

 I see how my present argument makes procrastination as the ‘hero’ to my success but like most concepts not all forms of procrastination are healthy. Like almost everything these days, there are degrees to procrastination. You could be any of the following:

• Passive procrastinator: A person who puts off the tasks and doesn’t do anything in the interim. Ex: Important article to write but chooses to laze in bed. (Unhealthy)
• Chronic procrastinator: An individual who procrastinates in all walks of life. It could be at home, work, school, booking tickets for vacations, movies, music concert. (Severely Unhealthy)
• Active procrastinator: Someone, pushes a task because, s/he needs to prioritize other work. You may have to push a said task because other stuff is more important. (Healthy)

What I am stressing on is active procrastination. The right kind of procrastination actually results in:

• Divergent Thinking

While rummaging through the internet/ music and any other distractions, youcome across a varied mass of information. This creates divergent thinking pathways in the brain. To be more clichéd, it assists “out of the box” thinking. Often, I have come up with activities for training sessions because of my habit to procrastinate. An idea once popped up because I was watching, the “Friends” episode, where the girls lose their apartment to the boys over a quiz.

• Realising one’s Passion

Generally, if you evaluate and observe the tasks that usually one procrastinates, you will find a pattern. There will be set of tasks that you always procrastinate. This will help you identify where your passion doesn’t lie. Sometimes, it can assist you in recognizing tasks that you feel least confident about which then can lead to you creating an action plan on how to boost your confidence.

• Importance of a task

Sometimes, we tend to push a task to later as something is more important urgent. It might just happen that the task isn’t as important urgent as it would have been a couple of hours.

While I don’t deny that, procrastination doesn’t always help. But, like everything, we can monitor procrastination. Recently, I read an article, “Why I taught myself to procrastinate?” in the Sunday review of the New York Times written by a journalist who claims to be a pre-crastinator. The journalist had an excellent way of creating threats for you as a tool of monitoring procrastination. He suggested, as a form of control, try telling yourself if you procrastinate a task beyond a pre- decided point then your action will promote something you hate. For instance, you abhor the idea of fur coats, then you can say if I don’t do this by 5:00pm then my account would have automatically bought a fur coat as form of punishment. The guilt of going against what you strongly believe in, can make you do wondrous things.

So like Calvin, you could accept the way you work and become an active one. Stop feeling guilty and embrace it. You could try making it your super power and wield it to create something beautiful and diverse.

Is Something Missing In Our HR Departments? - By Shamika Khatawkar

Dear Reader,

I am sure most of us on reading the title of the blog will be curious to find out as what is really missing in our HR departments…hold on for a while…as we proceed we will surely uncover what it is
. 

Change is inevitable! Every field no matter which it is, undergoes a series of change as it evolves; it is this change which broadens the scope and applicability of the field. The same goes for the field of Human Resources as well.

If we trace its development, we can broadly see that the field emerged as the ‘welfare department’ within factories, which then transformed to the ‘personnel department’ and finally to the ‘Human Resource Department’. With every transition, the focus of the field has been redefined.

If we see HR departments today, there is a considerable shift, where employees are not merely employees; but more of a ‘Resource’ and their ‘Performance’ is not merely performance in quantitative or qualitative terms but ‘Something beyond that’.  

So what is ‘something beyond that’, which organizations crucially consider along with an employee’s performance? 

Give it a guess…it’s not that difficult. 

 OK

…here it goes, it’s an Employee’s Behavior!

Yes, It is! 

Now if we relate back to the field of Human Resources, we can certainly identify that today, organizations are laying heavy emphasis on ‘Measuring Behavior’ along with one’s performance.

Organizations are recognizing the importance of mapping behavioral competencies across roles and levels and are also making competencies a part of their Performance Appraisal Systems. 

Organizations are also relying on using ‘psychometric tools’ for ‘n’ number of reasons. Attitude Surveys, Climate Surveys, Engagement Surveys have become a common practice.

They are striving hard to identify why employees behave in a particular way; what are the factors that motivate positive behavior and so on. Along with that they are also tackling several behavioral as well as psychological concerns of their employees within the workplace, such as low level of satisfaction, motivation, low morale, boredom etc.

Keeping all this as a background, now the question arises that: Does an organization or the HR department have someone certified, qualified or trained in the Behavioral Sciences.

Someone who is trained to know, what to look for and how to look for it, within an organization? One who has studied human behavior and the psyche; hence is well equipped within the organizational context to deal with areas pertaining to Behavior. 

May be a few organizations would state that they do have a behavioral specialist to cater to this need. However, I am sure there are many more who will acknowledge that, “This is what is missing in our HR departments.” 

What do you feel? 

   

Powering Up For That All Important Interview !! - BY ROHIT MANOHARAN

Like it or not, there have to be efforts put in for ensuring that your interview goes off well and a lot of it is to do with preparing your mind and body rather than going through tons and tons of syllabus based text material, etc.

One of the most commonly made mistakes is the last minute reading up on the technical subjects which one is expected to face in the interview. We tend to completely or at least partially ignore the behavioral aspects which actually play a very important role in the way we deal with situations and pressures in the interview process. As a matter of fact, a lot of us forget that who we are is what plays a very important role rather than worrying about what we tend to show we are !!

A very famous saying goes like this : "Our financial condition is determined to the tune of 85% basis our ability to present, communicate, impress and command, just about 15% of it is determined by which college or school we attended and what our technical expertise might be."

However, due to our old school thought process of trying to prepare for interviews we tend to ignore the behavioral aspects for which we end up paying a heavy price in the interview. Here's what we can do for starters to ensure that we look and feel good and are aligned to the right thought processes during the interview :

* Know your personality type, enough of web sites available out there which can help you with that piece of information

* Understand how you react to various negative situations, do a quick SWOT Analysis of yourself. Friends and family can help you with that

* Ensure that all the features which are listed as your Weakness and Threats are well shadowed during the interview process, these things can impact your decision making and can weaken the interview to a large extent

* Learn to manage anger and frustration, this is important because each and every person has a different way to deal with these emotions basis their personality types

* Listen to yourself speak by recording your voice and try voice modulation basis what sounds or does not sound good to you

* Focus on mirror techniques to know your body language (refer to my previous articles on this)

* Take feedback positively and DO NOT try to justify your weak points

If you follow the pointers given above rigorously, there's a very high chance that you would be able to overcome your weak points and be able to deliver the results in a positive manner. Knowing yourself is the best way to ensure that you do what's required to be done rather than waiting for someone else to point out and improve you.

Go for this improvement drive and I'm sure you will emerge a changed and a highly improved person over a period of time !!

Letting go of Control - By Eva Chawla

When you try to control everything, you enjoy nothing, sometimes letting go actually means having control. I’m sure the moment you have read this, you feel confused; how can letting go of control actually mean having it? Surrendering to what is, letting go of what was and having faith in what will be is the crux of our blog today.

Each person’s level of control differs and is primarily based on Extrinsic factors: The person your environment has molded you into or Nurture has endowed you with. This environment can be your family, friends, education, culture or your own interpretation of past life events. Based on these factors we design our own reality of control. For most of us this reality is kept in check when we believe a situation is working towards our expectations. However the real trouble come’s when we set expectation (whether real or unreal) about the present or future that does not seem to materialize. Its then that the little control monster living inside comes alive and decides to take measures that end up making the situation worse.

Let’s take a step back to evaluate why this happens; why do we hold on to things thinking ‘if I hold tight enough, it will come true’? Holding on to things and not surrendering to what is only creates a future that’s more messed up and validates your need to control eve n further (then we have a nervous breakdown).  It’s when we reach the absolute bottom and our life has spun so much out of control (control being the very thing we were trying to do in the first place) that we realize, things can’t be pushed or controlled. 

Say today I had the power to get whatever I wanted and all I want is an elephant, but the room I have is just big enough to sustain me and I’m not aware of that. What do you think would happen to me, my room and the elephant if this desire came true just because I wished it? Well I would get crushed and my house would be in shambles and in all probability I would blame the confused elephant for all my troubles. In reality I can’t wish things into existence, so I end up controlling my life and thoughts so much just to bring that elephant into reality. My control ends up tunneling my vision and clouding my judgment. All good things do happen with time and everything does happen for a reason. So there could be a reason behind me not getting my elephant that I may currently not be aware of.

Control is basically persistence without evaluation or introspection. So if you feel like things are not working out and people have started calling you obsessed or a control freak, you need to step back and evaluate yourself. When one door closes another opens, but if I’m so fixated on that one door I don’t see the opportunity of two elephants waiting for me behind the next.

So let me tell you 4 facts that a control freak like me accepted in order to become a recovering control freak:

• Fact 1: no one has control over the outcome of any situation 

• Fact 2:  No one can control how the other person feels, thinks, says or behaves

• Fact 3: Fear, uncertainty, self-doubt, ego/pride and lack of trust is food to

the controller inside.

• Fact 4: You only have control over what you feel, think, say and behave

Steps to becoming a recovering Control Freak:

1. Address the Causes of control taking over: Having working parents, I was

taught long ago to be self-sufficient. I started working after the age of 15 and looked after myself more often than never. Where on the positive side it made me a grown up faster and progress in my career at a very early age, it also showed me that I was the only one who could get the work done. It made me believe that ‘it was me against the world’ and only I could make my own reality. This actually made me lose trust in people and exponentially increased my pride and self-worth. So along with that, my fear of being obsolete increased as well; I used to think to myself ‘If I let go, what’s my purpose’. Each one of us would have experiences that made us into control freaks we are today. But its only after I addressed the causes of my insecurities, that I realized most of it was in my head

2. Ask yourself what would happen if…: My husband who then

was my boyfriend of many years asked me ‘What would happen if you let go?’. So I narrated a list of situations that would happen if I surrendered my control. His only response to most of them was “Really?”. I was still not convinced that my control was wrong. But when you have someone asking you ‘Really?’ enough number of times, you start asking yourself the question “What would happen if..?” before taking an action. Hence m y next step becomes really important: A buddy to remind you that you would still be valued even if you let go. Life carries on and your reality expands from a tunneled view to something that actually helps you grow as a human being.

3. The buddy system: It has taken me 5 plus years to become a recovering

control freak. This recovery would not be possible without a great support system who reminded me regularly to let go. It was not just my husband that helped me; my boss and even my team. I am sure any manager reading this must be wondering, ‘How can your team help you let go of control’. It is difficult only for 2 reasons: 1. Perception of losing one’s position and respect 2. Perception of not being required. At the end of the day, it’s a perception that stops you, because if it were a reality we would not have teams, organizations or the need for friends and family. But let me tell you one thing through experience: respect, position and being required is earned and not forced upon. The moment I allowed myself to let go, they stopped fearing me and we actually could call ourselves a team.

4. Identify the positives of letting go: This last step is an affirmation on

the reasons to continue letting go. Make a note of all the positives you have received personally, emotionally and mentally with letting go. Writing things down affirms your reasons for reformation.

There you have it my friends, the recipe to Letting go of Control and truly experiencing life.

Trivializing Training: BY LATIKA KAUL

Imagine this:

Your friend gets a brand new car and invites you for a drive. When you reach his house, you are awestruck at the sight of his brand new car. It’s shiny, black spotless paint is almost blinding and the smell of the interior leather is immensely inviting. You both finally sit in the car and your friend puts his key in the ignition. The roar of a new car. Wow! You relax and stretch yourself on the passenger seat and casually ask your friend.

“You didn’t even tell me, you were learning to drive and now suddenly a new car and license”

“I don’t have a license.”

“You don’t have a license?”

“No bro. Don’t know how to drive only, how will I get a license!!”

“WHAT?? You don’t know how to drive?”

“Nah. But I have played enough GTA, so don’t worry”

What will you do next?

If you will not leave the fate of your life in the hands of an untrained driver, why risk the life of your company?

Even though my experience in the training field is very limited, I often wonder why organizations even conduct trainings in the first place….

• Is it because while recruiting, employees were promised growth and development?

• Or, because they have some funds allotted for L&D, which need to be utilized?

• Or better yet, because of certain mandates?

The answers to all these questions should be a big NO, but sadly it isn’t.

Today, many organizations conduct trainings largely for the above reasons and in doing so they rob themselves and their employees of the many benefits an effective training program can offer. 

 Training will develop your employees’ skills. Skilled employees:

- Make lesser mistakes

- Require minimum supervision 

- Are better equipped to handle challenging situations. 

 Training can not only become a recruitment tool but also an effective retention tool. The youth today is not satisfied with a big paycheque. They want to develop and grow. As an employer, this trait can actually make your work even simpler. These employees will be more eager to attend training workshops, which will develop them and your organization. 

 An effective training program can help build trust of your employees in you. This, in turn, increases their job satisfaction, loyalty and reduces attrition. 

 Training can also add flexibility and efficiency. Employees can be cross-trained to become proficient in the different aspects of the organization. This will help keep them interested and will be extremely useful during times of vacant positions or absenteeism. 

 Training has become essential for knowledge transfer. In-house training, or trainings conducted by an experienced member of a team will ensure that there are enough people to take charge if the particular experienced person leaves the company. Mostly, trainings assure that both employees and organizations are not stagnant but always emerging and growing.

These benefits might provoke you to conduct trainings for the right reason. But that is not enough.

Trainings will be of no use until they are executed perfectly. This execution begins from initial planning but does not end at the completion of training. Yes, there is more to training than just arranging for a trainer and holding a two-day training workshop. Training continues even after the workshop is over, but not many organizations help in driving the post workshop training.

Even during training, employees face challenges such as:

- Urgent calls or emails

- Arriving late or leaving early due to work commitments

- Sudden meetings or clients that need to be attended to

- Attending programs which are not relevant for their particular roles

Training needs to be planned keeping the employee’s roles and competencies in mind. They need to be prioritized and arranged well so that the employee can attend the program without any baggage from work. Another important point that needs to be addressed is that of management and staff support. An employee can harness all the benefits of training only when his colleagues and his supervisors support him. These employees can be supported by:

 They should be able to focus on the training with undivided attention. This means no work related calls or emails.

 The management has to support the employees in practicing what they have learned in their training. This could mean giving them assignments that will help them inculcate their learned skills or behaviours. They need to be given time to effectively apply all that they have learned.

 Employees can be assessed on how well they apply their learned skills. This well help in keeping them motivated and can also provide a chance for the organization to assess how cost-effective the training was.

By considering the above points, a training program can be made more successful and valuable to the employees and to the organization. 

So, let us not trivialize a training program by conducting substandard TNA’s and hiring unqualified trainers.

Let us not trivialize a training program by randomly selecting a date for the workshop or by completing it as a compulsion.

 Let us definitely not trivialize a training program by trivializing its importance. 

Conducting an effective training program is a huge responsibility which if shouldered correctly will reap your organization a sizable yield. This responsibility will obviously require a great deal of effort. There is a 100% certainty of headaches and maybe some ulcers and perhaps what organizations avoid the most- “spending money”. But, once again please imagine this situation:

CFO asks the CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?”

CEO: “What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”

Starting Off With A Great First Impression !! - By Rohit Manoharan

While the process of interviewing depends largely on the independent approach of the interviewer, there are few things that would make an immediate impact in case if you were to follow the same. 

Here are some handy tips on how you could make the interviewer think about giving you an upper edge over the others :

You need to make a conscious effort to smile when you enter the room and greet the person or people sitting in the room.

If possible try and get an understanding of how many people are there in the room.

This will help you decide sequence in which you would go ahead and greet them and also help you with the relevant eye contact

DO NOT sit down unless and until you are requested to, this shows good manners and etiquette

Hold out your hand in an open gesture for shaking and ensure that the hand is straight, at a 90 degree angle to the floor.

DO NOT tilt your hand inward or outward as that can reveal things about your personality which might begin to influence the interviewer even before you have started with the interview process

Once seated, thank the interviewer and ask him / her if you may share a copy of your CV with them ? Depending upon their answer take the next step.

DO NOT keep shuffling papers for long and make too much of noise around that activity as that might distract the interviewers and also lead to  certain level of irritation within them.

Once all of this is done, you are now ready to actually start with the interview process, keep your cool, stay steady, take a deep breath and start off with the process.

If you believe in yourself, you are bound to make a great impression, all the very best for that very important 1st interview of your life !!

Search 4 Excellence Consulting Services Inc.

Visit us @ www.search4excellence.com

Your "Attitude" Defines Your "Altitude" by Rohit Manoharan

Attitude is Everything !

A very old saying but it always drives the point home. There's none other than your attitude which defines how far you go in life. Interviews and the selection procedure hence are no different when it come to this magic word known as "Attitude". People feel that attitude is a negative word because of the commonly used phrase "This guy throws a lot of attitude man", etc. However, on the contrary, attitude is the way you look at life and how you deal with the situations around you.

In simple terms, your attitude in the interview process can be clearly understood via the following methods and trust me interviewers are constantly on the lookout for such hints which help them understand whether you carry a positive attitude or not. Let's take a look at some of the most important factors which help you define the right attitude in an interview :

Greeting : the way you open up to a person and your first impact or impression can speak volumes about what your attitude towards life is

Dressing : a person who is rightly dressed for the occasion can make quite the impact which none other can, focus on this very important aspect when you step in for the interview

Eye Contact : people who are clear of heart and conscience will always encourage and believe in eye to eye contact, go for this style even though you might not be confident of an answer, it can make things work in your favor in most of the cases

Language : a very commonly made mistake is the usage of slangs which can really put off interviewers. You would rather say stuff like "I would want to believe in . . ." rather than saying "I would wanna believe in . . ."

Energy : While a lot of people believe this is not very important if the other qualities exist, I would tend to dis-agree. It's because your energy and that too pure positive energy can make people get up and take notice of what's happening around you, I would say that this is the key to make a huge difference to the overall scenario

Responses : whenever a query is thrown at you, if your responses are vague and lack the required energy, it makes people feel and believe that there isn't much that you have to offer. Be crisp and to the point, you can make a lot of difference that way

Tone : the intonation that you use is very important in order to convey the required message with the right attitude. You can sound over assertive, aggressive, humble or adjusting depending upon the pitch that you modulate during the conversation

Remember, that each of the above need to be used in a fair combination with each other rather than being used in a sequential manner. You would need to exhibit these aspects during all stages of the interview in order for the interviewer to understand your attitude and fall in tune with it.

The interviewer needs to understand also that this is not a made up attitude and actually is a natural one which you display at all stages in time. If you don't convince the interviewer of this, you stand the chance of risking the interview itself as you might sound made up.

So, get out there and do your best to put up the right attitude because that's all you really have which is in your control in order to ensure that you leave that long lasting impression on your audience !!

Search 4 Excellence Consulting Services Inc.

Visit us @ http://mycampusgear.blogspot.in/

Things your work can teach you - BY SHRUTI NAIR.

“The Secret of Change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”

-Socrates

This happens to be my last contribution to the blog of Search 4 Excellence. My stay here has been a stepping stone in my life. The worth of an emotional reaction to something is defined by the people who induce it. Hence, I want to take this opportunity to write a letter to my 15 year old self, specifically telling her of what all she is going to experience in this particular phase of her life.

To,

Dearest Shruti,

You must’ve just completed your 10^th board exams recently. Don’t worry about not knowing yet what to do with your life, things take course in a way such that they always take you where your heart lies; even when you don’t know where your heart lies. You will move on to study some great works of mankind and eventually find your passion in it.

This passion of yours will make you meet some amazing people. You will meet these people in your ‘professional life’ and they will teach you way more than skills to work better or how an organization functions.

They will teach you things you will remember all your life. You will learn that sometimes people put in a lot of hard work in getting to know you, and that they will never show you. So, think twice before leaving someone.

You will learn that when things are not looking good for you, when life hits you with a crisis, you will find the most random people who will get you through it. They might do it knowingly or unknowingly but you will find them. So, hold tight during the roller coaster ride.

They will prove to you that people, who are genuine and honest, during an interview, actually go on to add more value than people who are smart with witty answers. So, always look for truth, more than money, more than love.

You will begin to realize a beautiful truth: The most overwhelming personalities are, sometimes, the softest at heart. So, give everyone the benefit of doubt.

Everyone has one thing that the world needs. You will learn that if you didn’t find something special about someone, change your perspective, and give them a chance to show you.

 Most of all you will learn that it’s okay to be weak. It’s even better to know your weaknesses because then you can focus on your strengths.

Remember to let them know that they are amazing and that the company they run is developing more than great employees.

Yours truly,

Shruti.

Let’s Nurture ART throughout Life ! - By Shamika Khatawkar

Every Child is an Artist. The problem is staying one when you group up!

We all are blessed to stay on this beautiful planet. Every second, on this magnificent planet, a life is conceived; and at every other, a new life is born. As these seconds pass by, these new born lives; grow, develop and they start witnessing what we call ‘Life’. 

These newly born, are then given the prettiest names by their creators ‘their parents’ and they begin their journey of: exploration, creation, invention and experimentation. As they grow, each parent invests enormous efforts in their upbringing and ensures that the little one gets the best of everything. These tiny tots then learn to speak a language. They learn to converse and express their random thoughts, feelings and emotions to the best of their ability. They begin their schooling; where they learn the fundamentals of every subject: vocabulary, numbers, science or even Art for that matter. 

Initial years of schooling for most children are super fun, as there is a greater emphasis on imparting education in a holistic and fun way. Learning is colorful in all terms, it is more visual, auditory and kin aesthetic in nature. Children get several opportunities to express their creative and Artistic edge. They acquire, observe and grasp things with ease; and are open to commit mistakes.

It is in these years, that kids develop a very strong bond with Art.Further, the school environment and family members also facilitate the bond by providing encouragement to these young minds; so that they experience the different shades of Art while learning at school or elsewhere. Hence, we can see children explore the domain of Art through drawing, painting, sculpting, clay work, play or even dance and music for that matter.

While at home, the walls of the rooms become nothing but large canvases to draw and scribble. Newspapers become more useful for making airplanes, paper boats and origami, than for reading. Used bottles, card boards, buttons and tins become raw material for most school projects. Life for them becomes truly experiential in all terms. It revolves around actually creating things and learning from them.

As kids grow, keeping Art alive is no longer the focus as it was before. The reason being, other subjects are given more importance by the school and parents. Kids often hear every one saying, “Now other subjects such as math, science and computers should be your priority; as these subjects are going define your future; so you better focus only on them”.

This situation is further worsened when the teaching methodology becomes more academic and children have to learn everything the ‘Rote Way’. An element of experiential learning is now, nowhere even close to existence.  As kids climb the  grade ladder, from 7^th to 8^th, 8^th to 9^th and so on,rote learning becomes  even more dominant at every grade;and there comes a time,

when these kids are no longer in touch with the Art which lived in them before. These kids have simply forgotten the strong bond they shared with Art! They have forgotten that Art was something which made their life so colorful and learning so much fun. Unfortunately, this is a personal loss for these kids and that too unknowingly!

So, who is to be held responsible for this loss? Who is to be blamed for this separation of kids from Art?

Is it the educational system? The parents? Or the kids themselves? 

Bridge the Gap between Skills Acquired and Skills Needed : By Latika Kaul

Psychology in India is finally on the verge of receiving the recognition it deserves. It has been studied since time immemorial. It may not have been a specific, singular subject, but studying human behaviour has been a fascination of many, including mine.  And so I did. For seven long years. Finally, I completed my Post Graduation in psychology and started my very first job. After six months of

working I have come to the realization that there is a huge difference between the psychology that I have studied and the psychology that I am currently using, which amounts to almost nothing.

This has led me to wonder how many more people face this issue of being unable to apply their education to their work. Since, I have no experience in other fields; I will stick to Psychology and try to put forth reasons as to why this is happening. To understand this better, dear reader, you first need to understand my subject. So, I will try to sum it up briefly as sadly there are still many who are unaware of the relevance of this subject.

For those who have little or no idea about psychology, psychologists cannot read your minds, (that territory belongs to the psychics). We definitely cannot make your children more intelligent or your personality more attractive. And unfortunately, in most cases we are not those stylish men and women who use this behavioural science to catch criminals like they might show in popular television series like Criminal Minds or CSI (“In most cases”, there is still hope!!!).

Psychology actually comes from the Greek words, ‘psyche’, meaning life, and ‘logos’, meaning explanation or reason. Psychology can be defined as the science of human and animal behaviour; it includes the application of this science to human problems. (Morgan et al). Studying human behaviour, as you may have guessed encompasses a lot. So naturally, psychology is divided into branches or specialities and not limited to treating mental patients as many perceive it to be. These specialities or areas extend from child psychology to geriatrics (elderly) psychology, from cognitive to neurosciences, educational, clinical, industrial etc. The last branch, Industrial and Organizational Psychology is my area of work.

The APA (The American Psychological Association) defines Industrial and Organizational Psychology as:

The specialty of industrial-organizational psychology (IO Psychology) is characterized by the scientific study of human behaviour in organizations and the work place. The specialty focuses on deriving principles of individuals, groups and organizational behaviour and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work.
I hope by now my readers have the very basic idea of what psychology is and isn’t.  At last, I come to the crux of my article.

In my experience the issue that I and many face in regard to not being able to apply psychology to their work is because of the following reasons. 

Awareness: Lack of awareness is a root cause of many problems faced by society and unfortunately psychology is a victim of it too. Even in our so called modern times, taking help from counsellors is considered a taboo by many. So many of my own friends and relatives are unable to comprehend- “Exactly what am I studying?” or “What jobs will I get?” Let me tell you, this is very frustrating and infuriating.

Having said this, the future may not be so bleak. Many psychologists in India are doing extremely well, great researches are being conducted and various beautiful therapies are being practiced. This trend has started in a few cities and now it’s upon us to carry it forward through more advanced courses, social media, workshops, sensitization programs etc.

Educational Institutes: Let be begin by saying that we are not all together bad in this front. India has many renowned institutes that are doing great work in this field. Delhi  University, Banaras Hindu University, IIPR (Indian Institute of Psychology and Research), Nimhans (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) to name a few.

These are like the IIM’S of Psychology and hence it is not possible for everyone to attend them. Largely, however, there is a dearth of good institutes that have psychology courses. This problem not only creates lack of qualified graduates but also teachers.

The novelty of this field means not many are studying it or are inclined towards it, many go abroad to study it and then settle there. The few experienced and passionate professors available opt for the big institutes leaving the rest with the less qualified faculty.

Another issue that I have personally faced is the syllabus. From the time I began studying Psychology in my 11th to my Masters which is almost 7 years, there has been almost no advancement in the syllabus. I am not saying that I have studied the exact same thing but a large number of topics have been repeated throughout these years. Some of course have been more detailed as my classes advanced but some of the subject matter has been identical in all these years.
Largely, colleges do not have the resources or the faculty to offer students the various areas of psychology as subjects. Therefore, the most common psychology course one will find will be clinical psychology, industrial and counselling taking the second place. Some may provide diploma courses in child psychology and few therapies and that’s about it.

This according to me is the biggest problem that we are currently facing. Due to this we are unable to be the cool, stylish people who solve crimes by studying the criminal’s behaviour or provide the much needed psychological assistance to our soldiers, or children with cognitive disabilities, or a married couple who wants to give their marriage a second chance. All of this and more only because a select few colleges actually provide these courses.

The gap between learned skills and required skills: Is teaching and providing courses enough? Certainly not. Application is what is important.  Now, this is the problem most of my classmates and me faced this year. I must have learnt over 3 dozen theories if not more during my post graduation. I have been working for 6 months now. How many theories have I used? Probably ten or less. This is

not because I am not well versed with them. But, mainly because the application of theories was something we never practiced. This becomes a critical problem in psychology as the subject is cramped with theories without actually understanding how to practice them. I am not saying that studying has been a waste.

Many concepts like TNA, performance management, recruitment etc have been very useful in my job but I was still not prepared for the intricacies of it all. For example, we studied training but never really learned how to make a lesson plan or design the content. We were not aware of the specifications that are needed in today’s market. Yet, we were still in a better position to handle things as our professors went out of their way and the syllabus to inform us about a lot many things. Other college students were not so lucky.

has been almost no advancement in the syllabus. I am not saying that I have studied the exact same thing but a large number of topics have been repeated throughout these years. Some of course have been more detailed as my classes advanced but some of the subject matter has been identical in all these years.Largely, colleges do not have the resources or the faculty to offer students the various areas of psychology as subjects.

Therefore, the most common psychology course one will find will be clinical psychology, industrial and counselling taking the second place. Some may provide diploma courses in child psychology and few therapies and that’s about it. This according to me is the biggest problem that we are currently facing. Due to this we are unable to be the cool, stylish people who solve crimes by studying the criminal’s behaviour or provide the much needed psychological assistance to our soldiers, or children with cognitive disabilities, or a married couple who wants to give their marriage a second chance. All of this and more only because a select few colleges actually provide these courses.

Health and Neurosciences) to name a few. These are like the IIM’S of Psychology and hence it is not possible for everyone to attend them. Largely, however, there is a dearth of good institutes that have psychology courses. This problem not only creates lack of qualified graduates but also teachers. The novelty of this field means not many are studying it or are inclined towards it, many go abroad to study it and then settle there.

The few experienced and passionate professors available opt for the big institutes leaving the rest with the less qualified faculty. started in a few cities and now it’s upon us to carry it forward through more advanced courses, social media, workshops, sensitization programs etc.

Another problem arises in job opportunities. Since psychology can still be considered a new field, my classmates and I did not expect millions of job opportunities. However, most of us found jobs in the first three to four months of finishing our Masters. What we have realized, rather I have realized is that the real world is much more different from our cosy classes.

I suppose this is true for every student that makes the transition from campus to corporate. And so I don’t want to talk for everyone, even students of psychology but only from my own experience in I/O psychology. What I have identified is that there is virtually no recognition or understanding of I/O to most people. Most big companies or MNC’s may have a vague idea or some even complete knowledge of I/O but still the level of acceptance is very low. This results in fewer job opportunities for IO psychologists especially over MBA students. 

 The industries are not solely to be blamed. The root cause could be the little or complete absence of a bridge between companies and colleges. I cannot stress enough the significance of this partnership. My batch mates and I learned this the hard way. Our final year dissertations and practicum’s were a nightmare, especially for IO kids. No company was ready to give us internships or opportunities for research and data collection, even if it meant a free analysis of their company or employees. Not that it stopped us; we were quite determined to convince people about the value of our field.

We all managed to finish our dissertations and practicum case load, presented our research papers in international and national conferences and won college to state level competitions. Our clinical batch mates did not disappoint either and came up with some unique researches that were also recognized in many national and international conferences.

Besides our amazing professors, the credit for this goes to the handful of individuals and companies who were willing to accept and work with our field. One of my classmates even got an internship opportunity, wherein she got to learn a great deal and also put forth her own thoughts from various psychological perspectives.

This is exactly what is needed. If the gap between the skills acquired by students and the skills needed for the jobs are not filled, then the companies will face the problem of finding the right candidates and the students will not find jobs. Therefore, for the perfect job fit the companies and colleges need to work hand in hand. This will help in aligning the college curriculum with the current job market place, thus solving the problems faced by the students and the companies. Once, these problems are tackled there is no stopping psychology.

Psychology is slowly but steadily making progress. Many colleges are now giving psychology its due credit. And, like I said the fact that almost my entire class got jobs indicates a bright future for this subject. There is a lot of hope and scope for budding psychologists. However, now the responsibility of taking psychology further is on our shoulders.

The proverbial baton/torch has been handed to us and now it’s our duty to run our course and hand it safely and proudly to the next generation. So let’s promise ourselves that from this coming New Year we will do our best to further the future of psychology in every little way we can. As Frost said (of course my rendition of it), 

Psychology is lovely, dark and deep,

We have promises to keep,

And miles to go before we sleep,

And miles to go before we sleep.