AparnaChowdhry_BLP040_About Me_Oct’11

Oct 8, 2011 – Saturday turned out to be another action packed day with Anil Sir. We started with reviewing our learning so far. One conversation let to another and soon we were on a conference call with Prasad Kaipa, one of Steve jobs close associates (Ex Head of Marketing, Europe Apple). It was wonderful to know about the other side of Steve jobs from a person who had worked with him. Mr. Kaipa shared a number of stories about who Steve jobs was, how focused was he on innovation and how determined was he to get what he dreamt of.

We then dwelled upon the topic of grooming and presenting ourselves to the crowd. Each of us was given the task of highlighting our uniqueness and sharing our purpose and direction in life with the rest of the class.

It was difficult at the beginning to think through the questions Anil Sir had asked, but once I pondered on them a bit the answers flowed. I was pleasantly surprised at the cause and effect analysis I had done and the results I arrived at.

The one that took the maximum time to answer was, “Who am I?” My strengths lie in being self-reliant and independent – and that is precisely who I have grown to be with the conditioning I have had from family and environment. The next 2 questions were, “What am I here for?” and “Where am I going?” These were relatively easier to answer since they have been playing crossword in my mind for quite some time. I am here to leave a mark and be a leader who goes the way & shows the way. That is the path I am going to travel. And it is "important to travel that path" (4^th question) so as to fill my life and the lives of people around me with happiness. The last question about how my strengths can be leveraged to reach my goal got me thinking again about how my strengths have helped me so far. I concluded that the discipline, focus on quality and commitment to the task at hand along with the ability to see the best in people – the strengths I have gained, nourished and stuck by – will help me succeed further in achieving my goal as well.

The one answer I am yet to decipher is – How? How will I get to my goal? What’s the path? The dots are still unclear. But I am sure they will emerge as I move forward in the discovery of self-exploration. 

Chinmay Sharma_BLP051_About Myself_Oct’11

The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

- William Godwin

Looking inside self is probably one of those things that most of us don’t do often and maybe that makes it all the more challenging. But when done, it does wonders. It aligns our actions to our purpose. It builds our focus, develops commitment and drives us.

I tried a similar exercise some days ago and the introspections that resulted are recorded below.

Who am I?

I am a person who likes to create new things, develop and nurture them and watch them grow. It gives me immense satisfaction and motivation to see something, which I contributed in creating, transform into something useful.

Innovation requires knowledge and to gain that I, apart from reading also, like indulging in intelligent conversations about new things or even fresh perspectives for things that I know. This has helped me a lot in assimilating the knowledge that I possess today.

Innovation is the output of challenges. My life has thrown many challenges my way and I am happy that I overcame most of them. I have now begun to love challenges and thrive on them to learn more everyday.

What am I here for?

My family matters to me the most and I believe that my utmost duty is to make them happy and proud. For this I need to live up to their expectations and lead a life that brings peace and a sense of fulfilment to them and me. Everyday I should be able to look myself in the mirror and be proud of my actions that day.

I also understand my duty to give back to the society and my nation in whatever capacity possible for me. Many years from now when I look back I should be content about the way I have lived my life and the lives I have positively impacted.

My life is all about experiencing new things, exploring new dimensions and conquer challenges that lead to the fulfilment of the goal.

Where am I going?

I am walking the path towards becoming a leader who transforms people around him as he grows. My education and experience have been the steps that will help me in realizing my goal. Everyday of my life I am learning new things and developing as a person.

Why is it important?

I have just one life and to make it count, in every way possible and in a way that makes people remember me, is my duty. My life should be meaningful to as many people as possible and in my quest for happiness I should impact many lives and spread the happiness.

How will I leverage my abilities to reach this goal?

I as a person love to build relationships and value them. Through all these relationships I seek to learn and spread happiness. I have an eagerness to learn and explore more everyday of my life and I believe these abilities will help me a lot in pursuing my purpose in life.

Amber_Agarwal_BLP057_Oct11

Who Am I?

I am an individual who strongly believes in fairness. I like to stand against anything that I consider is unfair and hence I have developed a strong sense of equality. It is important that as humans we are fair to everyone around us, be it humans or Animals.

Since childhood, something that I have always been identified as is a sportsman. I think I am a true sportsman at heart and hence possess all the characteristics that one would see in a sportsman. I love taking challenges head on and strive till my last breath to come out victorious. I like getting exposed to new things in life a new setting does not make me uncomfortable.  I have always believed that there are more good people than the “not so good ones” and this belief helps me trust people around me. Since I find it easy to trust people I like to delegate work in a team which has proven very fruitful in my professional life so far.

One thing which is very innate to me is striving for efficiency. I like things around me work systematically like a well oiled machine. Any kind of glitch in the functioning of a system catches my eye and I try to make it more efficient.

What am I here for?

Everyone likes to do what they really enjoy. Freedom and independence to do what I want to is my most important need. Over the period I have always succeeded and more importantly have been very happy even when I have failed to get the desired results.  Satisfaction of knowing I did things my way and I failed because of my mistakes has always been more gratifying than simply achieving a positive result and the main reason has been enriching learning experience gained in the process.

I want to be an entrepreneur. That would give be the utmost freedom to be creative and innovative. Being and entrepreneur will let me live my passion and bring my most important need of being independent.

Where Am I Going?

 The last six to eight years have brought a huge change in the way I think. Considering that I want to be an entrepreneur I have experimented with few aspects of business and have gained key lessons from those experiences.  In my journey to be an entrepreneur I will need to find like minded people and also build a right set of network. I think that is where SOIL is such an important stepping stone in my career.

I am looking to start my venture while at SOIL so that I can leverage the experience of my faculty and staff to the best of use.

Why is it Important?

It would give me immense satisfaction to build my company from scratch. I have seen my father build his small business to great heights. At some level it is my deepest desire to be like him and have the courage to do what he did. I think I will have a sense of achievement if I can successfully create a self sustaining business which would have a greater impact on the lives of people in the sporting arena of our country. It is also important because I will have the flexibility to innovate and experiment at my own cost. It is my innate nature to try new things and experiment and hence my own start up will give me that liberty.

How can I leverage who I am to reach where I am going?

I am passionate about sports and development of sports in India. I believe that my dedication and commitment helps me in tirelessly working for a cause and therefore when I am working towards what I really want, nothing will de-motivate me.

I like challenges and doing well under challenging conditions. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is one of the biggest challenges for anyone and I think it will always be a driving force for me to continue carry on.

Patankar Pramod_BLP041_About_Myself_Oct'11

Log in to a social network site and we know what's new in my friend's life or friend's friend's life. Switch on the TV and yo will know somebody is doing something which either make the country proud or denigrate the reputation. Use your mobile to talk to distant known person asking "Wassup" or "Howz Life".... But wait have we ever tried to introspect...ever?

Let me try answering few questions. Be it a childish one, but let me try:

Who am I ?

• I am the consciousness

• I am Eternal Bliss and Awareness

• I am the inspired leader

What I am here for ?

• I am here to discover myself

• I am here to learn “How to serve”

• And most importantly I am here to learn how to be 

   focused

Where I am going ?

• I have no idea where I am going as I am not sure if this road going to be end…ever?

• But I know this process will make me learn

Why is it important ?

It is important to realize the ultimate purpose that will lead us towards fountain-head.

How can i leverage my strengths to reach where i want to go ?

• I never give up and even for the “Nth” time I never ignore my instincts. I listen to myself very patiently.

Sumit Kamra_BLP009_About_Myself_Oct'11

“Tell me about yourself?”

This looks like a very simple question but the answer is may be very difficult. We all know about ourselves but when we start speaking we don’t know where and how to start and how to structure what we want to communicate. It all depends on the situation what content we need to deliver and in what structure. I will be mentioning here answer from my perspective. This answer is again divided into answers of 5 questions:

Que1. Who am I?

Ans: My name is Sumit Kamra. I am proud to be born in a family where values are very much important and helping others is being taught from childhood. I love to bring a change, to do something different to make job easy for me as well as for others.

Que2. What am I here for?

Ans: Right from my childhood I’ve seen my father to develop a business from scratch and that developed a desire in me to start a entrepreneurship to bring a change in society and to make life easy for the people.

Que3. Where am I going?

Ans: As being a student of “School of Inspired Leadership” I am nurturing my skills while learning the importance of values. I am looking forward to start my own venture to make a difference in the world.

Que4. Why is it important?

Ans: Everyone tries to make their own life better but I am looking forward to contribute to make this world a better place to live. It is also important because it will help others to contribute from their side and speed up the growth of our country.

Que5. How can I?

Ans: As I’ve learnt from my father how to develop an empire after starting from scratch, also I did learn from him time and resource management and how to manage professional and personal life. By focusing completely on my goal, letting other things go I can leverage my strengths and abilities to reach where I want to see myself. 

Sumit Kamra_BLP009_Consulting_09Oct'11

Generally consulting is taken as a career for specialists. But if we go as per definition and general understating then whoever helps us by giving an advice is a consultant like lawyer, teacher etc. Even the mechanic who tells us how to take care of our vehicle is a consultant to us because he knows whats our problem and what solution we are looking for.

          First thing which I learnt from Anil sir class about consulting is how to be authoritative without having any authority. A consultant generally doesn’t implement a solution. Its upto clients how they want to execute the suggestion given by consultant. Client knows whats his departure and whats the arrival, consultant only navigates how to reach there. We first need to take care when we first meet to our client. Most important thing is our body language because its give our first impression. And it includes everything like our way of dressing, walking, talking etc. There are some qualities which a good consultant should have:

1.    Patiently listening

2.    Understanding what client s saying

3.    Communication

4.    Home work – client details before meeting

5.    Structuring content in an impressive manner

If any of the quality is missing then assignments can go to wrong direction which is harmful for both client and consultant.

Next is how to understand a problem. A good consultant has 5 Q’s to understand client’s problem:

1.    What are we trying to do?

2.    How will we know that we are successful?

3.    What would go wrong?

4.    What counter measure do we take responsibility for?

5.    Who, how often, when, where is the review process?

Once all these questions are answered correctly, both consultant and client have proper understanding of the problem and also they know how to tackle the problem and how to work together. Because its about a perfect marriage. If any of the marriage partners is not happy then relationship will never develop.

If a problem is not really understood or there is any kind of confusion then there is another way to clarify ad that’s called role reversal. Here consultant play client’s role and vice versa. In this way both understand that what are they dealing with and how to understand each other.

There are many consultants which talk to people, solve their problem but are not able to make a good relationship. And its all about making relationship with people. Here are some of the key things which needs to be taken care of before when we talk to people. Its called breaking the ice:

1.    Enjoy the environment and the people

2.    Be curious about the people to whom you are meeting with

3.    Be attentive to person who is present in the room, specially to one who is talking

4.    Always ask open ended questions

Once a relation is developed and also problem is understood then the next step is to add values to the work for which client is looking. A consultant can create values for the client but if the values are not realized then its of no use. Consultant should fill the gap between value creation and value realization. One of the factors which is very helpful in this is compassionate authentic behavior. A consultant should communicate what is really happening not what client wants to listen and which can be harmful to both client as well as to consultant too. A good consultant should learn how to say “no” in a perfect manner. Because its not only about giving a solution but also about maintaining relationship. Again there are 3 points to understand the real problem:

1.    What is the problem appears to be?

2.    Whats others contribution to the problem?

3.    Whats client’s contribution to the problem?

Its very essential to find the answers to these questions to understand the real problem. There are 3 types of consulting:

1.    Working as an expert

2.    Working for client

3.    Working with client

Best way to work is to work with client and also make him feel that he is also accountable for the suggestions and solutions. And last but not the least is to accepting feedback. It is very much important to ask client to give feedback and to listen what being said. Feedback tells us where we can improve and make ourselves better. 

Abhishek Kumar_BLP038_Consulting_Skills_5&6_Oct'11

"Who am I?" -- In pursuit of happiness...

I started writing my last blog on self-leadership with a question - "Do I know I?" with no thoughts ever in mind that there are many more questions that are needed to be answered in order to attract the DNA of happiness.

Most people think finding your life purpose means doing something you truly love. It's an area that just seems natural to you and things just seem to fall into place. But what if things aren't so clear for you? What if you're not sure what your gifts are? What if you haven't discovered any particular talent that makes you think it could be your true calling in life? Or what if you're working somewhere and you're good at it, but you just don't feel fulfilled? Is this all there is for you?

To simplify above questions..I can come down to answering the 5 most simple questions of one's life.One should find answers to these below questions whenever he or she thinks that there is a need to change and grow.
1.Who am I?  - (What unique things I possess?)
2.What am I here for? (What is the purpose I am here for?)
3.Where am I going? (Which direction I am going to?)
4.Why is it important? (What values are help me in attaining this purpose and direction?)
5.How can I leverage my uniqueness and strength to reach where I want to?

In my quest of answering above questions,I could realize that inner calling.Being a person with strong family induced values and strong sense of achivement and service,I excercise high self control and am genuine.I consider myself like a "sponge" which absorbs everything that comes,analyse and then leave behind the things that is of less importance.This is a very big indicator of me being open-minded.I also believe in continual self reflection and self analysis.

I always strive for a sense of accomplishment and want to do that bit being a part of this humanity by gaining that self power and belief which can bring change.A wish to gain enough earthly pleasures which gives me confidence to stand among people is not bad.But living consciously and courageously is the other beautiful side of me.

Our purpose comes in the form of our goals, our dreams or our ambitions but we just don't know how to go about achieving them!You may have discovered that knowing your purpose and living it, could possibly create the life you desire, but you have no idea how to even begin to make the plans and take the actions required to make it a reality.Or you may have a vague idea on how to go about finding your purpose, but you're being held back by inner fears, doubts and plain old procrastination. 
 

It doesn't matter what your beliefs are. What matters when it comes to knowing your purpose is knowing which beliefs are holding you back and getting in your way, and which beliefs will work in your favor and help you succeed in living your purpose!
 

We know that our goals, our dreams or our ambitions can put us on the path to discovering and living our purpose.Your purpose doesn't always have to be something that will make you famous. It doesn't always have to be a job or career. It may be something as simple as being at the right place, at the right time to impart information or to lend a helping hand.No moment of life is waste,learn from every moment.So utilize the knowledge and experiences you already have.
 

Eventually,I wish to share that one must live everyday  as a meaningful day in order to develop a character and identity for himself.This will ensure that we don't have any glitches from life and we are able to say "I have lived fully.I have lived, on purpose".

Manu Malhotra_BLP036_Consultingskills_Session3&4

A nice case study simulation in which few of us stepped into the shoes of consultants while other four played clients helped me understand what exactly Contract Meeting is and what should one look up to? I understood that in the contract meeting it is all about understanding the problem thoroughly by

1.        Asking probing questions,

2.       Showing genuine appreciation

3.       Striving for a WIN-WIN

4.       Demonstrating commitments

5.       And Presenting recent credentials

I also learnt how to build rapport when interacting with the client for the first time. One must do a thorough study regarding the professional journey and major achievements of the client you are going to meet. I forgot my MBTI which I should not have so again I learnt what all things should always be with you.  A lot of tables made mistake of providing solutions to the problems right in the contract meeting. The flow diagram explained how one should start from Personal acknowledgement. Commitment and understanding of problem is of utmost importance which takes you to the next step of exploring and bringing clarity about the client wants and offers. Once this is done it might lead you to agreement or else you might be stuck! When stuck think reassess and design new wants and offers. Role reversal comes really handy in situations where you are stuck big time! Hopefully this leads to agreement followed by inquiry regarding concerns about control and commitment.  Probing questions such as - What will make us win your trust? And what has been your best experience with a consultant?, really help a great deal.

Moreover, I also learnt that many a times client himself/herself knows symptoms but does not know the actual problem. In our class we briefly touched upon Kano’s model also. I understood that it is as important to understand the unspoken needs as it is to understand spoken needs. Moving on Anil sir revealed the 5 most important questions for a consultant.

1.       What are we trying to do?

2.       How will we know that we are successful?

3.       What could go wrong?

4.       What counter measures, do we take responsibility for with respect to 3 question?

5.       Who, how often, when and where is the review process?

We delved deeper into the questions which are the actual issues like-Do you really care about your client?, Do you understand the complexity of your client’s situation?, Can you see things through your client’s eyes? What is the problem you are going to work on? Does your client expect magic? How much control does your client want? Do you feel entitled to express your own wants? Are we really in agreement or just acting that way?

Finding answers to these questions by digging out the goal behind them and action to support them gave me a good understanding from ‘personal acknowledgement’, ‘communicating understanding of the problem’, ‘clients wants and offers’, ‘consultant wants and offers’ to’ giving support’.

Also, when a consultant starts praising a client it has to be done carefully so that it does not seem as if you are doing it for the sake of pleasing!

Most important – beware of the magi expectations! Be realistic and practical