Ramanan Rajagopalan_HRLP014_Self Leadership_Sep’11

We have been having sessions on leadership in general for over the last three months or so, but SELF LEADERSHIP sounded something new and out of the box. It is well-known that each leadership-based session at SOIL is a new experience and threw one or more surprises. So, a majority of the class understandably was curious to experience it.  

Snehal Ma’m and Susie Ma’m set the ball rolling on a lighter note with a briefing on Stress Management. The session comprised of various soul-searching exercises. Among other things, we were given an exhaustive list of stress-causing symptoms and asked to identify those that had an effect personally. The symptoms were categorized into Cognitive, Emotional, Physical and Behavioural. A round of self-analysis was followed by a show of hands to identify the most commonly prevailing aspects that caused stressed individuals. Snehal Ma’m then gave an insight on how one can combat the different facets of stress more effectively and get the better of stress instead of vice-versa.

And as things were getting a little monotonous with more such gruelling self-search exercises, Susie stepped on the gas and pulled out a rabbit that she called “Laughter Yoga”. What followed was an exciting, fun-filled, rejuvenating session of various types of laughter-based exercises. Though a few were apprehensive about being watched, the extroversion of the majority grew on the others and even before one could realize, the entire class, shedding all the inhibitions got engrossed so much that they started enjoying every bit of the laughter-yoga session. Take a bow to Susie for revitalizing us with such interactive, energizing activities. The best part about this session was that even those who experienced a similar session as a part of their Wellness curriculum, did not get even the slightest feeling on the lines of “Uffff… Gawd!! There you go! It’s laughter Yoga again..” the enthralling session left us all craving for more.  

The second-half of the day had us back in the class for a session with Anil Sir. This session focussed on the need for change and what were the obstacles that were in the way of changing oneself for his/her benefit. The fulcrum of the discussion was what Anil called an immunity X-ray and the immunity map. He said the primary driving force towards self-leadership was to know oneself better and distinguish what is good or bad for him/her and thereby in the process, progress towards a better livelihood. The process of changing oneself is multi-fold. The constituents of this are the need to change (associated with the intellect), the want to change (associated with the heart) and the actual change (associated with the body). Anil helped us understand this better by putting us through an exercise wherein we were asked to jolt down one compelling thing we wanted to change about ourselves, what stands barrier in our attempts to change into what we want to change and the hidden competing commitment.

So what exactly prevented one from bringing up the change? Anil said it was the hidden competing commitment that caused this. He then prescribed the process of change which could bypass the immunity to change: 
1. Identify what one wants to achieve, the purpose and the commitments that came with it. 
2. Identifying the hurdles towards bringing forth this change. 
3. Understand the reasons for these hurdles and defy them. 
4. The assumptions made that stood barriers to making this change.

The day ended with a discussion on the need for ethics and how ethics can change the way we approach and go about making positive changes in our lives. By the end of the day, each of us had got a fair idea of what self leadership is all about and helped us appreciate it better. As the adage goes, change is inevitable. However, it is up to the ‘self’ to decide what change is required to achieve the ultimate purpose.