Soft skills training becomes essential for India Software Inc
Suraj grew up in a small town in Haryana from where he did his schooling before obtaining admission in IIT Delhi. On completion of his MTech, he joined one of the leading software giants of the country and within two months was sent to Santa Clara on an onsite project. And that was when Suraj’s nightmare started. Having been educated in a vernacular medium school, he was neither too fluent in English nor was he at all comfortable with girls, having studied in a boys-only school. After landing in an open society like the US, where boys and girls mix freely, the shy and coy Suraj had a major adjustment problem, he turned into an introvert and finally fell into depression.
This is not a tale of fiction, but a real-life incident, and the saddest part is that it keeps happening again and again with Indian software companies. Reasons are not far to guess: most companies send a huge workforce to alien shores, and many of these people coming from non-urban backgrounds are subjected to a major culture shock which can cause major mental upheaval. So what are the solutions to this problem? Imparting training that inculcates communication and culture skills amongst all employees. And it is here that the companies need to come to the forefront to take the responsibility for providing this training, especially considering the number of people they send abroad every year. But, are Indian IT companies performing this role? Sadly, apart from a handful like TCS, Infosys, Wipro or NIIT, no companies are taking care to train employees on these so-called softer skills. It is true that many other organisations do train people on technical skills, but unfortunately this vital part remains neglected.
However, an independent study conducted on CEOs, by Stanford Research Institute and Carnegie Mellon in the US, found that long-term job success depends 75 percent on people skills and only 25 percent on technical knowledge. Another study done by Harvard University had even more startling results—85 percent of jobs and promotions happened because of the candidate’s attitude and only 15 percent due to the facts and figures he packed under his belt. In fact, companies lose almost 10-15 percent of possible business due to their inability to meet the perceived level of services linked to soft skills.
But why do most IT companies desist from providing training on these softer skills? Many experts opine that this is due to the huge expenditure involved in setting up the entire infrastructure required for making available this sort of training. This effectively means that apart from the giants, most other companies think twice before investing such sums on people, especially when the attrition rate is one of the highest in the software sector. Take the case of TCS, which claims to spend six percent of its revenue on this sort of training in the sprawling training centre they have set up in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram. Considering the company’s revenues, this translates into a sum of Rs 300 crore.
What is the sort of training these majors provide? In case of TCS, it is mandatory for every new entry-level recruit from all over the country to spend three to four months in the Thiruvananthapuram training centre. The centre has the capacity to hold about 600 people at one time, which roughly translates into about 2,400 employees going through it every year. With Reveals R Narayan, vice president-education and training, TCS, in charge of the training centre, “It is mandatory that every professional with us should have 20 days of training in one year, which can be at the centre or in emergency cases, even at the worksite. We also try to bring the professionals down here for a de-briefing session on their live experiences for six to eight weeks.” Is it imperative that there should be some official recognition of this training too. According to Narayan, Canada has recently experimented with certification for soft skills training, while the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge is also attempting to give some recognition to it.
The Infosys management tries to build leaders at all levels. The company has leadership training programmes called ‘Pravesh’ for aspiring leaders. Specific actions in Wipro include weekly communication on vision and business plans, continuous communication and Web training to new recruits, extensive verbal and documented communication to line managers and intensifying efforts to add to the current robustness of people processes.
Make no mistake! You may be an MCA, MBA-IT or even a PhD, but one thing is certain, besides technical skills, it’s the softer skill-sets that make a difference if you want to move up the ladder. A survey of IT recruitment advertisements reveals that for 60 percent of entry-level jobs, technical skills are most important. Soft skills like “the ability to work well in a team” become more relevant as one moves up the ladder and would start assuming importance for candidates with over two to three years of experience. For positions like those of team leaders that demand experience and supervisory skills, it is almost impossible to find even a single advertisement which does not have phrases like “excellent communication skills”, “strong interpersonal skills”, etc.
But are these training in soft skills going to help the companies in the long run? R Vidyasagar, head, HR, i-flex solutions, reveals that corporates in India spend more than Rs 600 crore a year in direct training costs. “A recent survey revealed that the IT industry spent more than 40 percent of its training budget on skill building. Training was always high priority on the IT manager’s agenda, but amid project completion deadlines, hectic travel schedules and long teleconferences, skill building took a backseat. With the slowing down of the sector, this spending could be better utilised now, with techies having more time on their hands.” Clearly, soft skills are being increasingly recognised for their true worth. And with an increasing number of organisations training their personnel towards it, it can only augur well for the IT industry towards making India Inc globally competitive.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
COSMIC RELATIONSHIPS
COSMIC RELATIONSHIPS
When two humans meet,
They communicate
In vocal or silent companionship
Or mutual animus.
Each bundle of energy, vibrates with
Its own brand of thoughts,
To discuss, dismiss or demonstrate.
A word, a glance, a gentle touch with love
Warms the soul to ecstasy.
A stinging word,
A stare, a violent thrust,
In all consuming anger or distrust
Could souls destroy.
Is it a matter of choice or chance
Such relationships take place?
Do souls meet and part at will?
Or do they, guided by some unknown consciousness,
Forever wander the cosmos,
Pausing briefly on earth, to bump into one another;
Seemingly without design,
Attracting or repelling,
To leave their mark and be marked
By each passing atma?
And in this endless process be tutored, honed and tempered
With slow and painful precision,
To perfection and nirvana?
Few know.
Most don’t care.
When two humans meet,
They communicate
In vocal or silent companionship
Or mutual animus.
Each bundle of energy, vibrates with
Its own brand of thoughts,
To discuss, dismiss or demonstrate.
A word, a glance, a gentle touch with love
Warms the soul to ecstasy.
A stinging word,
A stare, a violent thrust,
In all consuming anger or distrust
Could souls destroy.
Is it a matter of choice or chance
Such relationships take place?
Do souls meet and part at will?
Or do they, guided by some unknown consciousness,
Forever wander the cosmos,
Pausing briefly on earth, to bump into one another;
Seemingly without design,
Attracting or repelling,
To leave their mark and be marked
By each passing atma?
And in this endless process be tutored, honed and tempered
With slow and painful precision,
To perfection and nirvana?
Few know.
Most don’t care.
Ignited Minds - A review
“Ignited Minds: Unleashing the power within India”, by APJ Abdul Kalam, Viking (Penguin Books India ), 2002, Rs. 250/-.
“From Rameswaram to Raisina” might soon replace “From Log cabin to White House”. A poor fisherman’s son has risen to become the President of India, along the way adorned the mantle of being the “undisputed father of India’s Missile and Nuclear Program”( as a full page advertisement in a South Indian newspaper recently claimed) and awarded all possible honors including the Bharat Ratna. But prior to moving to Raisina Hill, Mr. Kalam spent almost a year meeting with thousands of school children all over the country and trying to “ ignite their minds so that India turns into a developed nation by 2020”. This book is a chronicle of his thoughts and ideas in this period.
The year 2020 comes from his earlier book, “India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium”, based on a report prepared by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment council (TIFAC) which gave a blueprint for achieving a developed nation status by 2020. The report was essentially a technocratic vision of development without any reference to societal and political constraints. The report’s (and the book’s) prescriptions were totally devoid of any realistic assessment of our polity and society. It is to this that Mr. Kalam now turns with his new book.
Recently there was a bit of controversy when the latest Human Development Report ranked India slightly above sub-Saharan Africa. The venerable Minister for Human Resource Development, Prof. M.M. Joshi rubbished the report saying that it only measures material well being, while we Indians are far superior spiritually! If this had not come after 4 years of similar idiotic statements by functionaries of this government, it would have provoked some reaction. But by now, we are so used to politicians and bureaucrats, especially in the field of education saying bizarre things that such pronouncements pass unnoticed.
Let us face it: by any measure that one can think of, we as a nation fare poorly in the global community of nations. Our GDP per capita is pathetic, our infant mortality rates are alarming, and we have the largest number of illiterates in the world and so on. But if one were to read Mr. Kalam’s latest book, one would think that all that is missing for us to vault into the community of developed nations is an aspiration to do so and confidence in ourselves. In his amazingly simplistic understanding, he suggests that “there is nothing mysterious about the abundance in developed nations. The historic fact is that the people of these nations believed over many generations that they must live a good life in a strong and prosperous nation and the reality became aligned with their aspirations”. How wonderfully simple! Alas, the reality is a bit more complex.
Mr. Kalam is of the opinion that we Indians have a unique characteristic of belittling our achievements and this trait may even be genetic! ( an appalling statement coming from the most well known scientist in the country) In reply to an innocent question asked by a child about whose weapons are stronger, India’s or Pakistan’s he asserts “ India can design, develop and produce any type of missile and any type of nuclear weapon…. You remove all doubts from your mind”. At this, the child gave a very satisfied look, as he reports!
What is one to make of such a statement? Notwithstanding the self congratulations and paeans sung to our new-found scientific heroes, the recent expose in a newspaper of the terrible state in which India’s missile programme is in, is illustrative of the kind of self delusion we are capable of. At one point, Mr. Kalam talks about “Transparency being the cornerstone of development”. This coming from a person who spearheaded projects, the accounts of which were not even disclosed in the Parliament, leave alone a public debate on accountability!
This is not to say that everything that he says is superfluous. Mr. Kalam talks about the necessity of role models for a child, something which is obviously important. He also talks about the need for self reliance and a search for solutions which are specific to our conditions rather than imported or transplanted from other countries. He discusses the need for improvements in agriculture, education, health etc. He also warns against becoming a provider of cheap labor in areas of high technology and the pitfalls of getting carried away with the success of a few in the software industry. No one can quarrel with him on these issues.
For instance, in a long chapter on “Learning from Saints and Seers”, he talks about his meetings with holy men of various hues. All of them, including Mr. Kalam are of the opinion that spirituality must be integrated with education. Then follows the inevitable singing of paeans to the knowledge contained in our ancient scriptures (including constructions of airplanes!), in a way which will certainly gladden the hearts of the likes of Mr. Rajput and Mr. Joshi. No critical understanding here of the nuances of integrating spirituality in a multicultural, multiethnic society such as ours. Just the proffering of “gyan” by charlatans who produce Seiko watches out of thin air or Swamis with immense political clout who use it to play politics with emotive issues like Ayodhya.
There is also a strange naiveté with which Mr. Kalam writes. Take for instance his statement that we could “easily accomplish three times what we do, in half the time we normally take , if we were to operate in mission mode with a vision for the nation”. Missions to develop missiles may be successful ( or not, if the Times of India is to be believed) but missions for social and political problems are a different ball game. Think of the National Literacy Mission; was it an unqualified success? Did it achieve the results which were commensurate with the expense and the hoopla? Or did it only generate pretty reports made by high powered consultants? All these are issues which one needs to grapple with before pontificating on the solutions to our complex and interrelated problems.
Or take his solution of creating a ring of villages, connecting them with high quality transport and communication systems, giving them Internet connectivity, encouraging reputed specialists to locate schools and hospitals and marketing this to attract industry and commerce! As he puts it, high bandwidth rural connectivity is the minimum requirement to transform India into a knowledge superpower! In a country where the rural telephone penetration is so abysmal, and the rural literacy rates are so low, it can only be naiveté which makes a distinguished and experienced person like Mr. Kalam to make such statements.
Another theme repeated in the book is his obsession with making India strong militarily. The old argument of some countries having the Bomb and hence we need to have one is repeated. But what provides insight into the mind of our Ex-President is his pontification to an anti-nuclear activist that “he should first go and demonstrate in front of the Kremlin and White House before he protests in front of the Parliament House”. Surely a dangerous mindset for a Head of State.
The constant use of first person singular throughout the book is another irritant. Mr. Kalam might be “the father of our missile programme” but it is certainly a bit much to say “when I first launched a rocket it failed”. Surely he is not suggesting that he launched the rocket single-handedly?
No one doubts the need for a vision for a people. Especially so in times like now when the world is changing so rapidly. But the vision has to be rooted.
“From Rameswaram to Raisina” might soon replace “From Log cabin to White House”. A poor fisherman’s son has risen to become the President of India, along the way adorned the mantle of being the “undisputed father of India’s Missile and Nuclear Program”( as a full page advertisement in a South Indian newspaper recently claimed) and awarded all possible honors including the Bharat Ratna. But prior to moving to Raisina Hill, Mr. Kalam spent almost a year meeting with thousands of school children all over the country and trying to “ ignite their minds so that India turns into a developed nation by 2020”. This book is a chronicle of his thoughts and ideas in this period.
The year 2020 comes from his earlier book, “India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium”, based on a report prepared by the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment council (TIFAC) which gave a blueprint for achieving a developed nation status by 2020. The report was essentially a technocratic vision of development without any reference to societal and political constraints. The report’s (and the book’s) prescriptions were totally devoid of any realistic assessment of our polity and society. It is to this that Mr. Kalam now turns with his new book.
Recently there was a bit of controversy when the latest Human Development Report ranked India slightly above sub-Saharan Africa. The venerable Minister for Human Resource Development, Prof. M.M. Joshi rubbished the report saying that it only measures material well being, while we Indians are far superior spiritually! If this had not come after 4 years of similar idiotic statements by functionaries of this government, it would have provoked some reaction. But by now, we are so used to politicians and bureaucrats, especially in the field of education saying bizarre things that such pronouncements pass unnoticed.
Let us face it: by any measure that one can think of, we as a nation fare poorly in the global community of nations. Our GDP per capita is pathetic, our infant mortality rates are alarming, and we have the largest number of illiterates in the world and so on. But if one were to read Mr. Kalam’s latest book, one would think that all that is missing for us to vault into the community of developed nations is an aspiration to do so and confidence in ourselves. In his amazingly simplistic understanding, he suggests that “there is nothing mysterious about the abundance in developed nations. The historic fact is that the people of these nations believed over many generations that they must live a good life in a strong and prosperous nation and the reality became aligned with their aspirations”. How wonderfully simple! Alas, the reality is a bit more complex.
Mr. Kalam is of the opinion that we Indians have a unique characteristic of belittling our achievements and this trait may even be genetic! ( an appalling statement coming from the most well known scientist in the country) In reply to an innocent question asked by a child about whose weapons are stronger, India’s or Pakistan’s he asserts “ India can design, develop and produce any type of missile and any type of nuclear weapon…. You remove all doubts from your mind”. At this, the child gave a very satisfied look, as he reports!
What is one to make of such a statement? Notwithstanding the self congratulations and paeans sung to our new-found scientific heroes, the recent expose in a newspaper of the terrible state in which India’s missile programme is in, is illustrative of the kind of self delusion we are capable of. At one point, Mr. Kalam talks about “Transparency being the cornerstone of development”. This coming from a person who spearheaded projects, the accounts of which were not even disclosed in the Parliament, leave alone a public debate on accountability!
This is not to say that everything that he says is superfluous. Mr. Kalam talks about the necessity of role models for a child, something which is obviously important. He also talks about the need for self reliance and a search for solutions which are specific to our conditions rather than imported or transplanted from other countries. He discusses the need for improvements in agriculture, education, health etc. He also warns against becoming a provider of cheap labor in areas of high technology and the pitfalls of getting carried away with the success of a few in the software industry. No one can quarrel with him on these issues.
For instance, in a long chapter on “Learning from Saints and Seers”, he talks about his meetings with holy men of various hues. All of them, including Mr. Kalam are of the opinion that spirituality must be integrated with education. Then follows the inevitable singing of paeans to the knowledge contained in our ancient scriptures (including constructions of airplanes!), in a way which will certainly gladden the hearts of the likes of Mr. Rajput and Mr. Joshi. No critical understanding here of the nuances of integrating spirituality in a multicultural, multiethnic society such as ours. Just the proffering of “gyan” by charlatans who produce Seiko watches out of thin air or Swamis with immense political clout who use it to play politics with emotive issues like Ayodhya.
There is also a strange naiveté with which Mr. Kalam writes. Take for instance his statement that we could “easily accomplish three times what we do, in half the time we normally take , if we were to operate in mission mode with a vision for the nation”. Missions to develop missiles may be successful ( or not, if the Times of India is to be believed) but missions for social and political problems are a different ball game. Think of the National Literacy Mission; was it an unqualified success? Did it achieve the results which were commensurate with the expense and the hoopla? Or did it only generate pretty reports made by high powered consultants? All these are issues which one needs to grapple with before pontificating on the solutions to our complex and interrelated problems.
Or take his solution of creating a ring of villages, connecting them with high quality transport and communication systems, giving them Internet connectivity, encouraging reputed specialists to locate schools and hospitals and marketing this to attract industry and commerce! As he puts it, high bandwidth rural connectivity is the minimum requirement to transform India into a knowledge superpower! In a country where the rural telephone penetration is so abysmal, and the rural literacy rates are so low, it can only be naiveté which makes a distinguished and experienced person like Mr. Kalam to make such statements.
Another theme repeated in the book is his obsession with making India strong militarily. The old argument of some countries having the Bomb and hence we need to have one is repeated. But what provides insight into the mind of our Ex-President is his pontification to an anti-nuclear activist that “he should first go and demonstrate in front of the Kremlin and White House before he protests in front of the Parliament House”. Surely a dangerous mindset for a Head of State.
The constant use of first person singular throughout the book is another irritant. Mr. Kalam might be “the father of our missile programme” but it is certainly a bit much to say “when I first launched a rocket it failed”. Surely he is not suggesting that he launched the rocket single-handedly?
No one doubts the need for a vision for a people. Especially so in times like now when the world is changing so rapidly. But the vision has to be rooted.
CT Workshop - Oct 9th - S3 Chem
40th workshop of CT...Thanks to all the participants for your prayers..
We went without much expectations..And it turned out to be very energetic, positive and fulfilling workshop..The feedbacks are
"We never imagined like this..Best thing was our caliber. We learnt how to respect each other’s views and coordinate for success, Feeling so great and enjoyed to the core. As a group, all participated, no tension, no more fear, no compulsion, It all came natural and the silly games increased our confidence and Fun and learning can always go together, complementing each other.."
" Cooperation led to success. All were at higher energy. Team can transfer a low energy person into high energy person and contribute for success,.Cooperation was best. All can deliver the best at the last minute and it was so joyful experience that brought in satisfaction to us. Initially tensed about CT. When things started with 3 games, we became relaxed and learnt about unity, cooperation and how participation can come from all to make the team win..."
" I had no clue how things will shape up before 30 min. Looked at the opposite team doing fast, tension increased. But all of them gave more ideas to make our tableau successful. It was a great memorable occasion in our life as our college life will be over in another 35 days."
" Initially felt lille nervous to work with my students , but now iam feeling great as my self consciousness got removed, iam free enough to mingle. Thanks to my students who made me let go this. Good bonding has developed between us. It was really a good experience and quite different from my first CT as a student of ASB with paul sir. Now iam a faculty here. Iam happy to say that all of us participated and I learnt the importance of change management today, as I had to change my characted to a beggar in the last 2 minutes( theme: pickpocket in a railway platform). Good team work can always lead the team to success. To grow in life, we need the support of others too. Thanking everyone for this great opportunity."
CT turning 40 became more memorable and we got to understand that staying healthy for delivering the workshop is so important..3 CHEERS to CT
We went without much expectations..And it turned out to be very energetic, positive and fulfilling workshop..The feedbacks are
"We never imagined like this..Best thing was our caliber. We learnt how to respect each other’s views and coordinate for success, Feeling so great and enjoyed to the core. As a group, all participated, no tension, no more fear, no compulsion, It all came natural and the silly games increased our confidence and Fun and learning can always go together, complementing each other.."
" Cooperation led to success. All were at higher energy. Team can transfer a low energy person into high energy person and contribute for success,.Cooperation was best. All can deliver the best at the last minute and it was so joyful experience that brought in satisfaction to us. Initially tensed about CT. When things started with 3 games, we became relaxed and learnt about unity, cooperation and how participation can come from all to make the team win..."
" I had no clue how things will shape up before 30 min. Looked at the opposite team doing fast, tension increased. But all of them gave more ideas to make our tableau successful. It was a great memorable occasion in our life as our college life will be over in another 35 days."
" Initially felt lille nervous to work with my students , but now iam feeling great as my self consciousness got removed, iam free enough to mingle. Thanks to my students who made me let go this. Good bonding has developed between us. It was really a good experience and quite different from my first CT as a student of ASB with paul sir. Now iam a faculty here. Iam happy to say that all of us participated and I learnt the importance of change management today, as I had to change my characted to a beggar in the last 2 minutes( theme: pickpocket in a railway platform). Good team work can always lead the team to success. To grow in life, we need the support of others too. Thanking everyone for this great opportunity."
CT turning 40 became more memorable and we got to understand that staying healthy for delivering the workshop is so important..3 CHEERS to CT
CT - Sep 17th - EE
CT creates a big change in all of the participants...
Sep 17th was EEE's day.....
30 min stroke was so powerful with good timing and all had this we can do it attitude. If we try and do it, we can always achieve anything in life. This we learnt thru CT,Even though the start was little slow during the 30 min preparation, we staged a good comeback in creating the sets, costumes and good timing was there and managed well for the team to succeed. Thanks to CCR, All conveyed with good clarity and team effort, together Everyone achieved more today, all were complimenting and initiating things properly, CT is exactly applicable to our daily life. We need to stay happy inside and face the toughness outside with a smile everyday.
The application of team work in life is quite essential..
CT taught me the basics of managing myself and my team more...CT also saw in everyone how the phase of a manager to leader evolves..Manager is someone who makes others to work and a leader is someone who makes everyone to perform...
Leadership is all about
- Knowing yourself
- Knowing others
- Knowing the system
- Knowing your authority
- Developing traits for leadership...
Leaders come with situations...and the trend keeps changing too...
Sep 17th workshop stands tall in our experience as a facilitator as we had fond memories of this workshop
God bless everyone to reach their goals in life
Sep 17th was EEE's day.....
30 min stroke was so powerful with good timing and all had this we can do it attitude. If we try and do it, we can always achieve anything in life. This we learnt thru CT,Even though the start was little slow during the 30 min preparation, we staged a good comeback in creating the sets, costumes and good timing was there and managed well for the team to succeed. Thanks to CCR, All conveyed with good clarity and team effort, together Everyone achieved more today, all were complimenting and initiating things properly, CT is exactly applicable to our daily life. We need to stay happy inside and face the toughness outside with a smile everyday.
The application of team work in life is quite essential..
CT taught me the basics of managing myself and my team more...CT also saw in everyone how the phase of a manager to leader evolves..Manager is someone who makes others to work and a leader is someone who makes everyone to perform...
Leadership is all about
- Knowing yourself
- Knowing others
- Knowing the system
- Knowing your authority
- Developing traits for leadership...
Leaders come with situations...and the trend keeps changing too...
Sep 17th workshop stands tall in our experience as a facilitator as we had fond memories of this workshop
God bless everyone to reach their goals in life
CT Workshop - Sep 16th - EC
Well..
EC ians are always very much charged for any team activity. Lot of talented bunch with individual brilliance to the sky...
Corporate Theatre was one more feather added to their kitty...Feedbacks are :
Team work converted the impossible to possible. First sight made us think that tableau was impossible. As time went, we worked as a team to bring changes in the production. This is applicable to our contribution to the society too..Energy level brought success and it was such a nice experience in college life.. First of all, we planned, assigned roles and then split into groups to do something beneficial for the team and the end product was the tableau where TRUST played a key role in success, Workshop took us to childhood memories and we can do wonders if we have a childlike attitude. Limited resources were managed effectively with a relaxed state of mind to bring in the best in us.. No expectations were there when I entered CT. 30 minutes was a magic of my life, everyone’s life too. Experienced the Power of Team work in high intensity,Together each other achieve more. First time I felt crazy. All have the child in us to grow, we can complement each other. Thank all of us and all of them did their best,Thank CCR , CT inspired me and everyone inspired me. We are in team to work and inspire each other and motivate to success, Nice experience working together, Power of Cooperation was felt with sharing of work, critical support from everyone. Experienced our true self today with CT..Broke the shells, topic was given, roles got automatically divided, with lot of mutual understanding andmaximum utilization and team work at its greatness,32. 30 minutes of memorable college life filled us with positive attitude and now my confidence level has rised so much that I can turn the entire world upside down
Well...Again...What a workshop it was ...to look back and see the participants and the change they had brought to them and in the facilitators make it much more memorable and rewarding
EC ians are always very much charged for any team activity. Lot of talented bunch with individual brilliance to the sky...
Corporate Theatre was one more feather added to their kitty...Feedbacks are :
Team work converted the impossible to possible. First sight made us think that tableau was impossible. As time went, we worked as a team to bring changes in the production. This is applicable to our contribution to the society too..Energy level brought success and it was such a nice experience in college life.. First of all, we planned, assigned roles and then split into groups to do something beneficial for the team and the end product was the tableau where TRUST played a key role in success, Workshop took us to childhood memories and we can do wonders if we have a childlike attitude. Limited resources were managed effectively with a relaxed state of mind to bring in the best in us.. No expectations were there when I entered CT. 30 minutes was a magic of my life, everyone’s life too. Experienced the Power of Team work in high intensity,Together each other achieve more. First time I felt crazy. All have the child in us to grow, we can complement each other. Thank all of us and all of them did their best,Thank CCR , CT inspired me and everyone inspired me. We are in team to work and inspire each other and motivate to success, Nice experience working together, Power of Cooperation was felt with sharing of work, critical support from everyone. Experienced our true self today with CT..Broke the shells, topic was given, roles got automatically divided, with lot of mutual understanding andmaximum utilization and team work at its greatness,32. 30 minutes of memorable college life filled us with positive attitude and now my confidence level has rised so much that I can turn the entire world upside down
Well...Again...What a workshop it was ...to look back and see the participants and the change they had brought to them and in the facilitators make it much more memorable and rewarding
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Corporate Theatre with EEE - Sep 10th
Facilitator's Note :
Truly rewarding performance and electrifying experience with EEE students. Students didn’t want to leave after the tableau was over. Facilitators were given 3 loud cheers of applause after the workshop was over. We remembered our first workshop with EEE on may 9th 2008.
I take this opportunity to bow down before my EEE participants.. Feeling very proud...Here are some of the feedbacks from participants...
Team work, Innovative ideas, collective work of everyone gave success,2.Team work was the best thing that can happen today. Energy was created by the facilitators which gave us success as a team.
Roles were taken by everyone and contribution from all of them made it important for success. CT is a different programme. Feeling so happy and elated. Feeling more calm and relaxed after CT. Proud to see that everyone participated and gave their best ..Cooperation is the key to success of the team,.. After CT, now I feel like doing anything..Feeling like a child to take on challenges spontaneously. There are no boundaries now. We can do any project and take on more challenges. Thank you CCR and Iam feeling proud to be an Amrita student.
All ideas were accepted and every person was a leader in their own way. Automatically , things got together and success came as everyone did their roles beautifully.
Amount of commitment all of us put was great. Simple ideas looked so beautiful. We now realize the value of being relaxed. We all came out of our comfort zone and Nothing in this world is impossible, when we are all united.
Enjoyed this 3 hours so much. Normally we always come to the stage and make a speech. CT is different. I normally feel lethargic and tired , but today I feel so energetic and enthusiastic after CT. I discovered the child in me and CT is learning through playing. Team Work, Energy level played the key role in success. I wish I can come for the next workshop as well. Thru CT, I went to the pre-primary school level. No tension, feeling of one-ness was strongly felt and we all had a great time...
CT made us realize the various aspects of team like unity, acceptance, breaking the ‘iam something’feeling. We can progress in life only when we think that iam nothing and we need to learn and work…Contribution was 100% and we all enjoyed CT to the core.Stress got reduced. Mind is cool and calm and high energy.
Got a chance today to express my self. Creativity, Confidence level, Spirit of unity, Team work, Coordination were the key things and all these would not have been learnt without the support of facilitators and you people drove us to success.All were positive. High energy, Excitement, We were out of our comfort zone, not at all thinking about ourself, but thinking only about team only. No one laughed at the role of the other person and disturbed their comfort or freedom. Felt so elated as a TEAM.
TRULY POWER PACKED CT WORKSHOP WITH EEE ians...
Self-Confidence, Trust in others can always take us forward and EEE are one among the best examples for TEAM-WORK and TALENTS...
Truly rewarding performance and electrifying experience with EEE students. Students didn’t want to leave after the tableau was over. Facilitators were given 3 loud cheers of applause after the workshop was over. We remembered our first workshop with EEE on may 9th 2008.
I take this opportunity to bow down before my EEE participants.. Feeling very proud...Here are some of the feedbacks from participants...
Team work, Innovative ideas, collective work of everyone gave success,2.Team work was the best thing that can happen today. Energy was created by the facilitators which gave us success as a team.
Roles were taken by everyone and contribution from all of them made it important for success. CT is a different programme. Feeling so happy and elated. Feeling more calm and relaxed after CT. Proud to see that everyone participated and gave their best ..Cooperation is the key to success of the team,.. After CT, now I feel like doing anything..Feeling like a child to take on challenges spontaneously. There are no boundaries now. We can do any project and take on more challenges. Thank you CCR and Iam feeling proud to be an Amrita student.
All ideas were accepted and every person was a leader in their own way. Automatically , things got together and success came as everyone did their roles beautifully.
Amount of commitment all of us put was great. Simple ideas looked so beautiful. We now realize the value of being relaxed. We all came out of our comfort zone and Nothing in this world is impossible, when we are all united.
Enjoyed this 3 hours so much. Normally we always come to the stage and make a speech. CT is different. I normally feel lethargic and tired , but today I feel so energetic and enthusiastic after CT. I discovered the child in me and CT is learning through playing. Team Work, Energy level played the key role in success. I wish I can come for the next workshop as well. Thru CT, I went to the pre-primary school level. No tension, feeling of one-ness was strongly felt and we all had a great time...
CT made us realize the various aspects of team like unity, acceptance, breaking the ‘iam something’feeling. We can progress in life only when we think that iam nothing and we need to learn and work…Contribution was 100% and we all enjoyed CT to the core.Stress got reduced. Mind is cool and calm and high energy.
Got a chance today to express my self. Creativity, Confidence level, Spirit of unity, Team work, Coordination were the key things and all these would not have been learnt without the support of facilitators and you people drove us to success.All were positive. High energy, Excitement, We were out of our comfort zone, not at all thinking about ourself, but thinking only about team only. No one laughed at the role of the other person and disturbed their comfort or freedom. Felt so elated as a TEAM.
TRULY POWER PACKED CT WORKSHOP WITH EEE ians...
Self-Confidence, Trust in others can always take us forward and EEE are one among the best examples for TEAM-WORK and TALENTS...
Corporate Theatre - Sep 9th With EC
Well...What a workshop it was....Elegant EC were at their natural best...Facilitators were at ease after delivering the workshop. The participants were raring to go from the first minute till the last 30th minute of the production...Be it, Problem wedding or bank robbery..Participants found themselves in their roles right from the time they started preparing for the production...
As facilitators, we were feeling the positive vibrations through out the workshop. We were quite amazed at the feedbacks given...
'Actors were very natural, expression was natural, props were perfectly managed automatically. Nobody instructed others to do it. People took on responsibilities on their own to prepare everything and eventually time got managed too.'
'High confidence level and recognition of hidden talents came through CT.'
' Blocks, Inhibitions, Defensiveness and Self-consciousness were totally removed and that really motivated us to take Active part in tableau to bring a great success. Very memorable event of our college life. '
'Time mgmt, Brilliant tableau, team work for success. CT is a great inspiration for students of Amrita University.'
'Each one had a very big role. All took the initiatives, reduced shyness and there was no inferiority complex. All were equal. CT brought in leadership, Time mgmt, Cooperation and increased our self-confidence.'
' Enjoyed the session every minute. All were at the same level – Equal. All of them performed right from quiet to talkative people in the same manner. I was quite unconscious of the fact that there were even faculties in the workshop. Faculty trainers and students were treated equal in such a way that everyone seemed to be equal. Feeling very happy for CT.'
' Coordination, Commitment – key things for a team to succeed.Calm, relaxed mind can reduce stress. Wonderful 30 minutes which witnessed lots of ideas, views and success.'
Thanks to the Elegant EC...Sekharji, Vishnu and myself were really on top of the world after the workshop was over....Memorable workshop....
As facilitators, we were feeling the positive vibrations through out the workshop. We were quite amazed at the feedbacks given...
'Actors were very natural, expression was natural, props were perfectly managed automatically. Nobody instructed others to do it. People took on responsibilities on their own to prepare everything and eventually time got managed too.'
'High confidence level and recognition of hidden talents came through CT.'
' Blocks, Inhibitions, Defensiveness and Self-consciousness were totally removed and that really motivated us to take Active part in tableau to bring a great success. Very memorable event of our college life. '
'Time mgmt, Brilliant tableau, team work for success. CT is a great inspiration for students of Amrita University.'
'Each one had a very big role. All took the initiatives, reduced shyness and there was no inferiority complex. All were equal. CT brought in leadership, Time mgmt, Cooperation and increased our self-confidence.'
' Enjoyed the session every minute. All were at the same level – Equal. All of them performed right from quiet to talkative people in the same manner. I was quite unconscious of the fact that there were even faculties in the workshop. Faculty trainers and students were treated equal in such a way that everyone seemed to be equal. Feeling very happy for CT.'
' Coordination, Commitment – key things for a team to succeed.Calm, relaxed mind can reduce stress. Wonderful 30 minutes which witnessed lots of ideas, views and success.'
Thanks to the Elegant EC...Sekharji, Vishnu and myself were really on top of the world after the workshop was over....Memorable workshop....
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Corporate Theatre - An Insight
HAPPY ONAM!!!!!!!!!
We ( Myself and Sekharji) are indebted to our mentor Shri. Paul Mathew in this regard. The comments below were mailed to me and sekhar to be shared with the recipients of CT Workshop..
* One of the comments of Mechanical Workshop said , "I is a bad feeling. We is a feeling of joy, happiness . . " - When a comment like this we always applaud the person for the sharing, and thank them. Facilitators Reaffirm that what they have stated is valid. At the same time, we gently sensitise them to the fact that 'We', 'society', 'community' are only concepts. The reality that you can touch, feel, and work with is only the individual. This being so, the Individual is not 'bad'. A good team or a good community is made of up of individuals positively aligned to a common cause. Similarly, in a typical corporate environment we do not expect people to 'surrender'. That would be unrealistic in an environment where every individual legitimately seeks to become a CEO. Rather, it is more to do with ALIGNING individual egos to the team ego in a way that the individual can win only if the team wins. This is the challenge of top leadership and the policy makers. Once you have done this, there is no need to MAKE people work. They will WANT to work. And that is real motivational leadership.
* Another comment said, "I used to be an introvert . . ". Facilitators always Encourage the sharer to drop all labeling. We Make them aware that within the personality cage we are 'products'. Once we drop it, we are 'processes'. As a product, labels apply. As a process, yesterday I may have felt introverted. Today I have the freedom to experience myself differently and respond differently. I am in a state of constant flow, adaptation and response. Labels don't apply.
Happy Onam....Corporate Theatre opens its account in September with Sweet ECs and Electrifying EE...
We ( Myself and Sekharji) are indebted to our mentor Shri. Paul Mathew in this regard. The comments below were mailed to me and sekhar to be shared with the recipients of CT Workshop..
* One of the comments of Mechanical Workshop said , "I is a bad feeling. We is a feeling of joy, happiness . . " - When a comment like this we always applaud the person for the sharing, and thank them. Facilitators Reaffirm that what they have stated is valid. At the same time, we gently sensitise them to the fact that 'We', 'society', 'community' are only concepts. The reality that you can touch, feel, and work with is only the individual. This being so, the Individual is not 'bad'. A good team or a good community is made of up of individuals positively aligned to a common cause. Similarly, in a typical corporate environment we do not expect people to 'surrender'. That would be unrealistic in an environment where every individual legitimately seeks to become a CEO. Rather, it is more to do with ALIGNING individual egos to the team ego in a way that the individual can win only if the team wins. This is the challenge of top leadership and the policy makers. Once you have done this, there is no need to MAKE people work. They will WANT to work. And that is real motivational leadership.
* Another comment said, "I used to be an introvert . . ". Facilitators always Encourage the sharer to drop all labeling. We Make them aware that within the personality cage we are 'products'. Once we drop it, we are 'processes'. As a product, labels apply. As a process, yesterday I may have felt introverted. Today I have the freedom to experience myself differently and respond differently. I am in a state of constant flow, adaptation and response. Labels don't apply.
Happy Onam....Corporate Theatre opens its account in September with Sweet ECs and Electrifying EE...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Corporate Theatre with ME - Royal Mechz - Aug 21
Welcome to the most dynamic and memorable Workshop with ME - Aug 21
Facilitator’s Note : We put in 200% of our capabilities as facilitators as students were at 100. Right from 9.40 am till 1.10 pm , every moment in still greenish, wonderful, brilliant, stunning, amazing, fabulous and truly rewarding workshop. One among the best workshops which have ever had earlier. Electrifying, racy, fast, Ultra- energetic…. Mechanical students at their awesome heights of performance.Positive vibrations throughout the workshop
The feedbacks of the workshop are as follows :
"Acceptance is the key for a team’s success. In the end, appreciation and dropping of our ego led us to win. Its all about love within the team that make things happen.We are all capable of doing big things. This we can apply to our projects. "
"We could collaborate, focus in the same direction and achieve beyond our expectations. There was a positive pressure on us today for 30 minutes. We were very passionate about doing our roles. Positive energy supported us to move ahead and succeed."
" More important is the responsibility taken by every team member. Individually all were responsible and collectively we delivered it to taste success as a team. Stretched ourselves to a maximum limit to make the team win."
"Ability is not confined to one or two people, but to all in the team. With ability we should never build a wall of ego and inertia around us. We need to go beyond this wall, to experience growth. Wall is 18 piles of stones , by breaking this wall, the ego is removed. CT opened our eyes, our mind and brought to the stage our capabilities."
"Love the team. Think positive, do everything possible. Try to bring in all together creates an ideal platform for united performance and it makes the team stronger than before."
" Power of coordination was deeply felt. We put our heart and soul into it. Even a single appreciation was enough to climb one step."
"FIRST time in my life, iam experiencing such a workshop that had made my life look different, wonderful, energetic. I got to know the meaning of friendship, brotherhood and everyone were courageous enough to take the challenge of a role. I do my role, if I fail,my team fails. Each one had to work in a team. Each one’s role is pretty important to make the team win. Important thing I learnt is flexibility. When the situation came, directors, actors, make-up man automatically sprang together. All participants were delivering their duties properly and iam happy to be a part of the team.."
" If we can join hands and work together, we can take anything forward and succeed in life. "
Truly said, Feedbacks are the breakfast for champions.....
We thank the IT, MCA, CS and ME students for coming with mind blowing, charismatic and powerful learning experiences.
One thing I understood is that if we tightly hold the feet of the GURU, and we push ourselves more and more beyong our comfort zones, we can lead a meaningful life always WITH HER GRACE. Love you AMMA.
Myself and Sekhar with the support of Mr. Vishnu, CCR Team are getting ready for the workshops in september for EC and EE batches..
Till then, prayers for all of us to labor more and succeed...
Jai HO, MECHZZZ...
Facilitator’s Note : We put in 200% of our capabilities as facilitators as students were at 100. Right from 9.40 am till 1.10 pm , every moment in still greenish, wonderful, brilliant, stunning, amazing, fabulous and truly rewarding workshop. One among the best workshops which have ever had earlier. Electrifying, racy, fast, Ultra- energetic…. Mechanical students at their awesome heights of performance.Positive vibrations throughout the workshop
The feedbacks of the workshop are as follows :
"Acceptance is the key for a team’s success. In the end, appreciation and dropping of our ego led us to win. Its all about love within the team that make things happen.We are all capable of doing big things. This we can apply to our projects. "
"We could collaborate, focus in the same direction and achieve beyond our expectations. There was a positive pressure on us today for 30 minutes. We were very passionate about doing our roles. Positive energy supported us to move ahead and succeed."
" More important is the responsibility taken by every team member. Individually all were responsible and collectively we delivered it to taste success as a team. Stretched ourselves to a maximum limit to make the team win."
"Ability is not confined to one or two people, but to all in the team. With ability we should never build a wall of ego and inertia around us. We need to go beyond this wall, to experience growth. Wall is 18 piles of stones , by breaking this wall, the ego is removed. CT opened our eyes, our mind and brought to the stage our capabilities."
"Love the team. Think positive, do everything possible. Try to bring in all together creates an ideal platform for united performance and it makes the team stronger than before."
" Power of coordination was deeply felt. We put our heart and soul into it. Even a single appreciation was enough to climb one step."
"FIRST time in my life, iam experiencing such a workshop that had made my life look different, wonderful, energetic. I got to know the meaning of friendship, brotherhood and everyone were courageous enough to take the challenge of a role. I do my role, if I fail,my team fails. Each one had to work in a team. Each one’s role is pretty important to make the team win. Important thing I learnt is flexibility. When the situation came, directors, actors, make-up man automatically sprang together. All participants were delivering their duties properly and iam happy to be a part of the team.."
" If we can join hands and work together, we can take anything forward and succeed in life. "
Truly said, Feedbacks are the breakfast for champions.....
We thank the IT, MCA, CS and ME students for coming with mind blowing, charismatic and powerful learning experiences.
One thing I understood is that if we tightly hold the feet of the GURU, and we push ourselves more and more beyong our comfort zones, we can lead a meaningful life always WITH HER GRACE. Love you AMMA.
Myself and Sekhar with the support of Mr. Vishnu, CCR Team are getting ready for the workshops in september for EC and EE batches..
Till then, prayers for all of us to labor more and succeed...
Jai HO, MECHZZZ...
Corporate Theatre - Aug 19th - CS Batch
Corporate Theatre - Teaming Thru Theatre Welcomes everyone...
Aug 19th - Bright sun shine - a good morning to wake up early by 4 am and get to the venue to make it much more comfortable to do the workshop. We had the CS students coming up at 6.45 a.m. in the morning...It was a great start with the first two games rolling in terrific performances from the audience. Individually brilliant and stunning performance from the batch. Then came the team activity in game 3, which was quite challenging for the group...its a natural process which as facilitators found it quite different and we went ahead accepting the process of the team members.
A journey from inhibition to freeness, shyness to openness, blocked mind to a relaxed mind, self conscious state to childlike mindset...CS students took up the challenge in game 3 and displayed one of the best theatre productions.
Participants gave a powerful feedback like
" We learnt three pillars of success – Hard work, Dedication, Equal participation from all team members." "We enjoyed the most and happy that it transformed our personality.""Wonderful experience that we had today, normally we were never so interactive. But through CT, we worked together as a team where we accepted the way others are .."
The entire team is viewed as a process with the team becoming the leader. It throws open lot of things like level of (competency, freedom, commitment, energy)
Leadership is lot to do about knowing ourself, others and the system they create. The last 30 minutes went in a racy way where they could manage changes and time in their own inimitable style.
Above all as facilitators, we were once again blessed to deliver it for CS(See-yes) students. Thanking the almighty for everything and praying for hearing success stories from CS programmers..
Wish you good luck, CS
Aug 19th - Bright sun shine - a good morning to wake up early by 4 am and get to the venue to make it much more comfortable to do the workshop. We had the CS students coming up at 6.45 a.m. in the morning...It was a great start with the first two games rolling in terrific performances from the audience. Individually brilliant and stunning performance from the batch. Then came the team activity in game 3, which was quite challenging for the group...its a natural process which as facilitators found it quite different and we went ahead accepting the process of the team members.
A journey from inhibition to freeness, shyness to openness, blocked mind to a relaxed mind, self conscious state to childlike mindset...CS students took up the challenge in game 3 and displayed one of the best theatre productions.
Participants gave a powerful feedback like
" We learnt three pillars of success – Hard work, Dedication, Equal participation from all team members." "We enjoyed the most and happy that it transformed our personality.""Wonderful experience that we had today, normally we were never so interactive. But through CT, we worked together as a team where we accepted the way others are .."
The entire team is viewed as a process with the team becoming the leader. It throws open lot of things like level of (competency, freedom, commitment, energy)
Leadership is lot to do about knowing ourself, others and the system they create. The last 30 minutes went in a racy way where they could manage changes and time in their own inimitable style.
Above all as facilitators, we were once again blessed to deliver it for CS(See-yes) students. Thanking the almighty for everything and praying for hearing success stories from CS programmers..
Wish you good luck, CS
Sunday, August 16, 2009
CT Workshop with ME - Aug 14th
Aug 14th marked an eventful day for the royal mechz...We had given them something very strong food for thought....my team members aji and rohitpandey were there to add more colour to our workshop...
The participants came with some beautiful feedbacks as follows
"Team work was the best thing that can happen. We all need love and trust in a team. We felt the warmth working with each other and we cared for everyone’s performance. When there is love in the team, trust comes automatically. We all trusted each other in arranging the sets of the tableau. Roles got divided properly and everyone was working in pace with the time. It is the spirit of “We”.
We could see how better we utilized our resources optimally. In every workplace, there is something that we don’t get. We should drop our personality ego and take on challenging roles and deliver it in a great way.
In a team, there are people with different talents and potentials. We need to always keep the team’s goal in the front and succeed by picking the right people and deliver the best.
Collection of lot of ideas shared by team members. Just like a light which gets On when two potential work hand in hand to give good results. Three people wanted to go for the same role and eventually, two people sacrificed their personal interest at the interest of the team and went ahead with the goal of the team in mind. We should always sacrifice to make things work in a team."
In end it was a Very Powerful , Vibrant and Memorable Workshop. Lot of energy being Mechanical engg students . Good support from Aji and Rohit (CCR team). Team Work was brilliant and stunning performances from the participants. Very innovative ways of designing the guns, sword, cockpits, fight among MPs, catchy sets. Sekhar was at his best. Participants saw a Sekhar in a different role today( as they have always seen him as their tutor). As facilitators, we gave one of the stunning performances in the 3 silly games. A very fast paced, energetic 3 hours from 10.30-1.30. Aug 14th will live long in our memories for this workshop.
The participants came with some beautiful feedbacks as follows
"Team work was the best thing that can happen. We all need love and trust in a team. We felt the warmth working with each other and we cared for everyone’s performance. When there is love in the team, trust comes automatically. We all trusted each other in arranging the sets of the tableau. Roles got divided properly and everyone was working in pace with the time. It is the spirit of “We”.
We could see how better we utilized our resources optimally. In every workplace, there is something that we don’t get. We should drop our personality ego and take on challenging roles and deliver it in a great way.
In a team, there are people with different talents and potentials. We need to always keep the team’s goal in the front and succeed by picking the right people and deliver the best.
Collection of lot of ideas shared by team members. Just like a light which gets On when two potential work hand in hand to give good results. Three people wanted to go for the same role and eventually, two people sacrificed their personal interest at the interest of the team and went ahead with the goal of the team in mind. We should always sacrifice to make things work in a team."
In end it was a Very Powerful , Vibrant and Memorable Workshop. Lot of energy being Mechanical engg students . Good support from Aji and Rohit (CCR team). Team Work was brilliant and stunning performances from the participants. Very innovative ways of designing the guns, sword, cockpits, fight among MPs, catchy sets. Sekhar was at his best. Participants saw a Sekhar in a different role today( as they have always seen him as their tutor). As facilitators, we gave one of the stunning performances in the 3 silly games. A very fast paced, energetic 3 hours from 10.30-1.30. Aug 14th will live long in our memories for this workshop.
CT Experience with Aug 12th Workshop
It feels great to be a facilitator..
In one of the workshops held earlier this week, charismatic CS batch had come up with a good point regarding TEAM during the last few sharing moments. They are as follows :
1.Team effort – There are two kinds of people in a team. One is individually brilliant with false ego and other one who wants to dominate unwantedly. A leader cannot be artificially created. He needs to know that it is a natural instinct within everyone and it comes out during challenging time. Today we learnt that if we can shed our ego and work as a team, we can achieve anything in life.
2. Now I strongly feel that if we communicate well within a team, we can improvise things faster and make it more practical. Team work certainly makes a difference in everyone’s life.
3.Right from the time I got the paper script, it looked to me as a jigsaw puzzle where everyone had to contributed. Time was managed properly and the resources were utilized well and we got to know the bigger picture of team work. It was a natural process where team work was a like a RAINBOW. If we take on individual colours, they don’t look so good, but if we put all the colors together, we have a beautiful rainbow.
It came on the right moment to have had a workshop with this charismatic team of cs..
We really enjoyed the process and it was once again worth remembering as facilitators. Sekhar and myself were amazed at the brilliant performances of the team.
Praying for CS Batch to achieve more glory.....
In one of the workshops held earlier this week, charismatic CS batch had come up with a good point regarding TEAM during the last few sharing moments. They are as follows :
1.Team effort – There are two kinds of people in a team. One is individually brilliant with false ego and other one who wants to dominate unwantedly. A leader cannot be artificially created. He needs to know that it is a natural instinct within everyone and it comes out during challenging time. Today we learnt that if we can shed our ego and work as a team, we can achieve anything in life.
2. Now I strongly feel that if we communicate well within a team, we can improvise things faster and make it more practical. Team work certainly makes a difference in everyone’s life.
3.Right from the time I got the paper script, it looked to me as a jigsaw puzzle where everyone had to contributed. Time was managed properly and the resources were utilized well and we got to know the bigger picture of team work. It was a natural process where team work was a like a RAINBOW. If we take on individual colours, they don’t look so good, but if we put all the colors together, we have a beautiful rainbow.
It came on the right moment to have had a workshop with this charismatic team of cs..
We really enjoyed the process and it was once again worth remembering as facilitators. Sekhar and myself were amazed at the brilliant performances of the team.
Praying for CS Batch to achieve more glory.....
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Cornerstone Soft Skills Foundation
Well..
They say ' catch them young and train them '...That is what precisely we have done...We have gone ahead starting the Cornerstone Soft Skill sessions with the first years and you could see people with more energy, ideas and a better attitude. These sessions where students are put into TEAMS pay well. Its a natural process for a team to have both inhibited and open people. And when we have a team of this mixture, things move in great pace.
The option of having them together makes a big difference to the way an approach is taken, discussed, the points noted and spoken are stunning examples of a powerful team. Every student in the first year gets a chance to speak every week. Credit goes to the tools used by the facilitators powerfully.
Students are always told that - the more they play in college life, life plays with them after college. Our job as a facilitator is quite challenging as you have the goal of motivating students to stay in the race..Its more about working with the mindset of the people...The very objective of having a collegiate education is to see themselves as better leaders for future and that happens when they really consider the fact that "College is a better investment for future ".
Facilitators are also in the hunt for pursuit of Excellence. To join the bandwagon are the Btech, MCA, MSc, BBM, BCom professionals. By introducing Soft Skills in the first year, we have created a road map for a successful career by emphasizing more on the how to convert their qualities into Skill Sets for making them survive in the outer world. Competing with the situation than within the team.
An open mind to learn, a good acceptance level, hard work and an attitude to share and help others also to reach their goals are some of the main ingredients of guaranteeing success in college life and that happens through Cornerstone Soft Skills Sessions.
Praying for all to reach their goals in life....Sound Mind..Sound Body...
Jai Ho...
They say ' catch them young and train them '...That is what precisely we have done...We have gone ahead starting the Cornerstone Soft Skill sessions with the first years and you could see people with more energy, ideas and a better attitude. These sessions where students are put into TEAMS pay well. Its a natural process for a team to have both inhibited and open people. And when we have a team of this mixture, things move in great pace.
The option of having them together makes a big difference to the way an approach is taken, discussed, the points noted and spoken are stunning examples of a powerful team. Every student in the first year gets a chance to speak every week. Credit goes to the tools used by the facilitators powerfully.
Students are always told that - the more they play in college life, life plays with them after college. Our job as a facilitator is quite challenging as you have the goal of motivating students to stay in the race..Its more about working with the mindset of the people...The very objective of having a collegiate education is to see themselves as better leaders for future and that happens when they really consider the fact that "College is a better investment for future ".
Facilitators are also in the hunt for pursuit of Excellence. To join the bandwagon are the Btech, MCA, MSc, BBM, BCom professionals. By introducing Soft Skills in the first year, we have created a road map for a successful career by emphasizing more on the how to convert their qualities into Skill Sets for making them survive in the outer world. Competing with the situation than within the team.
An open mind to learn, a good acceptance level, hard work and an attitude to share and help others also to reach their goals are some of the main ingredients of guaranteeing success in college life and that happens through Cornerstone Soft Skills Sessions.
Praying for all to reach their goals in life....Sound Mind..Sound Body...
Jai Ho...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
My Thoughts on Manual of Warrior of Light
I happen to purchase Paulo Coelho's Manual of Warrior of Light last weekend..
Awesome experience reading the book from first till the last..
The book has more philosophical thoughts with stories delighting the readers. It throws open an invitation for each of us to live our dream( Just like in Alchemist - where he chases dreams) , to embrace the uncertainity of life and always trying hard to rise to the occasion where we meet our unique destiny.
Paulo Coelho's style is inimitable and he helps us re-discover the warrior of light in all of us. Passages in the book are more inspiring and we are invited to bank on the experiences of the warrior.
Warrior is one person who can appreciate the fact of life - the miracle of being alive, accepting failure and the one whose aspiration , dream of launching a quest to become the person he really wishes and wants to be...
A person who really lives his life with his principles to achieve his goal..
Powerful book that has more shades of Zen buddhism...267 pages of manual is a great asset for us..
Awesome experience reading the book from first till the last..
The book has more philosophical thoughts with stories delighting the readers. It throws open an invitation for each of us to live our dream( Just like in Alchemist - where he chases dreams) , to embrace the uncertainity of life and always trying hard to rise to the occasion where we meet our unique destiny.
Paulo Coelho's style is inimitable and he helps us re-discover the warrior of light in all of us. Passages in the book are more inspiring and we are invited to bank on the experiences of the warrior.
Warrior is one person who can appreciate the fact of life - the miracle of being alive, accepting failure and the one whose aspiration , dream of launching a quest to become the person he really wishes and wants to be...
A person who really lives his life with his principles to achieve his goal..
Powerful book that has more shades of Zen buddhism...267 pages of manual is a great asset for us..
Saturday, August 1, 2009
STRESS . . . . . Something to do with Attitude
Hi all.....Just wanted to share something which my Dad told me last week..This is what he narrated - --
A lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?" The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm.
"It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is Ok. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it,
the heavier it becomes."
"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier." "What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."
We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.
So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can. Pick it up again later when you have rested....
Rest and relax..Life is short
Don't Make it Shorter.
Enjoy it!!
Praying for all to reach their goals in life...
A lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?" The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm.
"It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is Ok. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it,
the heavier it becomes."
"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier." "What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."
We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.
So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can. Pick it up again later when you have rested....
Rest and relax..Life is short
Don't Make it Shorter.
Enjoy it!!
Praying for all to reach their goals in life...
PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE
PRIDE OF PERFORMANCE
Pride of performance does not represent ego. It represents pleasure with humility. The quality of the work and the quality of the worker are inseparable. Half-hearted effort does not produce half results; it produces no results.
Three people were laying bricks. A passerby asked them what they were doing. The first one replied, "Don't you see I am making a living?" The second one said, "Don't you see I am laying bricks?" The third one said, "I am building a beautiful monument."
Here were three people doing the same thing who had totally different perspectives on what they were doing. They had three very different attitudes about their work. And would their attitude affect their performance? The answer is clearly YES.
Excellence comes when the performer takes pride in doing his best. Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it, regardless of what the job is, whether washing cars, sweeping the floor or painting a house.
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME. The best insurance for tomorrow is a job well done today.
Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well it was done.
"If a man is called to be street-sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Beethoven composed Music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, "Here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well"
- MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr.
The feeling of a job well done is a reward in itself. It is better to do small things well than do many things poorly.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Pride of performance does not represent ego. It represents pleasure with humility. The quality of the work and the quality of the worker are inseparable. Half-hearted effort does not produce half results; it produces no results.
Three people were laying bricks. A passerby asked them what they were doing. The first one replied, "Don't you see I am making a living?" The second one said, "Don't you see I am laying bricks?" The third one said, "I am building a beautiful monument."
Here were three people doing the same thing who had totally different perspectives on what they were doing. They had three very different attitudes about their work. And would their attitude affect their performance? The answer is clearly YES.
Excellence comes when the performer takes pride in doing his best. Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it, regardless of what the job is, whether washing cars, sweeping the floor or painting a house.
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME. The best insurance for tomorrow is a job well done today.
Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well it was done.
"If a man is called to be street-sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Beethoven composed Music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, "Here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well"
- MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr.
The feeling of a job well done is a reward in itself. It is better to do small things well than do many things poorly.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Corporate Theatre Experience - Jul 23rd
CT – Jul 23rd – S5 IT Batch – B
Today's Corporate Theatre Session was one among the best workshop which we had experienced. S5 IT batch is having so much of love, passion and energy for team work. Iam sure once they are channelised properly , they will set an example to all in our campus. Sekarji and myself were at our best and best in our delivery with higher comfort level and freedom, which we experienced after a gap of so many workshops. This is our 31st workshop today with 40 participants - Grace of AMMA that we were able to carry out the workshop in a powerful way.
Today's workshop saw an Extra-ordinary performance from Innovative Techies where they were able to manage roles , create sets with optimal resources, portrayed situations in a brilliant way. Feedbacks are - - - - -
[ Participants said that they never expected earlier that this CT will change everyone's life. "CT is Truly amazing". Participants said that We came to know the importance of each person in a team. Everyone is brilliant in some area or other. We tasted success today because of good coordination in each and every step of the process. My confidence level has grown so high to take any challenge in life. No more mental barriers and shyness. It was a great platform to showcase our talents. Team work created magic. There was proper communication in our team that made us succeed. It was beyond my expectations. I learnt more about time management, Collaboration and the kind of response we need to give for changes in life and manage time to execute a task. So let us all get a plan, start working on it and execute it with the things learnt from CT. Really fantastic. Nobody will forget these 3 hours of college life. And CT will be one thing , which will remain in our heart even after college life. No shyness, No ego and we enjoyed to the core. Relaxed state of mind is great. It helped me learn about my talents. Nothing is impossible in this world. You made us so vibrant. Fabulous time of 3 hours, breath taking performance from everyone. Through CT, i have changed myself to an Extrovert. We thank you from the heart for making us realise our true abilities and success often comes to those who dare and act. ]
One thing , i would really compliment these IT ians for their acceptance level and the energy they created for a meaningful workshop. We thank them deeply and pray to Almighty for this batch to give more opportunities for exhibiting their core strengths
Today's Corporate Theatre Session was one among the best workshop which we had experienced. S5 IT batch is having so much of love, passion and energy for team work. Iam sure once they are channelised properly , they will set an example to all in our campus. Sekarji and myself were at our best and best in our delivery with higher comfort level and freedom, which we experienced after a gap of so many workshops. This is our 31st workshop today with 40 participants - Grace of AMMA that we were able to carry out the workshop in a powerful way.
Today's workshop saw an Extra-ordinary performance from Innovative Techies where they were able to manage roles , create sets with optimal resources, portrayed situations in a brilliant way. Feedbacks are - - - - -
[ Participants said that they never expected earlier that this CT will change everyone's life. "CT is Truly amazing". Participants said that We came to know the importance of each person in a team. Everyone is brilliant in some area or other. We tasted success today because of good coordination in each and every step of the process. My confidence level has grown so high to take any challenge in life. No more mental barriers and shyness. It was a great platform to showcase our talents. Team work created magic. There was proper communication in our team that made us succeed. It was beyond my expectations. I learnt more about time management, Collaboration and the kind of response we need to give for changes in life and manage time to execute a task. So let us all get a plan, start working on it and execute it with the things learnt from CT. Really fantastic. Nobody will forget these 3 hours of college life. And CT will be one thing , which will remain in our heart even after college life. No shyness, No ego and we enjoyed to the core. Relaxed state of mind is great. It helped me learn about my talents. Nothing is impossible in this world. You made us so vibrant. Fabulous time of 3 hours, breath taking performance from everyone. Through CT, i have changed myself to an Extrovert. We thank you from the heart for making us realise our true abilities and success often comes to those who dare and act. ]
One thing , i would really compliment these IT ians for their acceptance level and the energy they created for a meaningful workshop. We thank them deeply and pray to Almighty for this batch to give more opportunities for exhibiting their core strengths
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Corporate Theatre Experience
Reflection of Corporate Theatre Workshops
CT workshops stress more on Team Building, Self Expression and Self-Confidence.
Well...Jul 16th and 20th workshop did bring in lot of difference to many participants. There was an occasion where the participants got to feel how better they can work in a team when they played game 3...The nuances of competency- energy level - planning were effectively drawn in comparison by the facilitators.
After the workshop was over, we had many people who conveyed in silence that it was a beautiful experience where they had the exhilaration at the peak..And of course, there were some participants who came and thanked us for working a magic in their life through the work
Majority of them stressed on the importance of energy level, team spirit, innovation and how ego can be removed. Many people felt the same experience which we had felt when we took the workshop 4 years ago.
Its all about love in a team. When you live with the team's goal, you could always see vibration that sounds so positive, where each and every individual's brilliance comes to the fore in contributing to the success of theme. There are so many people with hidden talents and CT brings them together as a TEAM.
Thanks to all IT and MCA participants who gave a powerful learning experience for the facilitators.
CT workshops stress more on Team Building, Self Expression and Self-Confidence.
Well...Jul 16th and 20th workshop did bring in lot of difference to many participants. There was an occasion where the participants got to feel how better they can work in a team when they played game 3...The nuances of competency- energy level - planning were effectively drawn in comparison by the facilitators.
After the workshop was over, we had many people who conveyed in silence that it was a beautiful experience where they had the exhilaration at the peak..And of course, there were some participants who came and thanked us for working a magic in their life through the work
Majority of them stressed on the importance of energy level, team spirit, innovation and how ego can be removed. Many people felt the same experience which we had felt when we took the workshop 4 years ago.
Its all about love in a team. When you live with the team's goal, you could always see vibration that sounds so positive, where each and every individual's brilliance comes to the fore in contributing to the success of theme. There are so many people with hidden talents and CT brings them together as a TEAM.
Thanks to all IT and MCA participants who gave a powerful learning experience for the facilitators.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Successful People
Often we get caught in the mental trap of seeing enormously successful people and thinking they are where they are because they have some special gift. Yet a closer look shows that the greatest gift that extraordinarily successful people have over the average person is their ability to get themselves to take action. It is a gift that any of us can develop within ourselves. After all, other people had the same knowledge. People other than Ted Turner could have figured out that cable had enormous economic potential. But Turner and Jobs were able to take action, and by doing so, they changed the way of many experience the world.
We all produce two forms of communication from which the experience of our lives is fashioned. First, we conduct internal communications; those things we picture, say, and feel within ourselves. Second, we experience external communications: words, tonalities, facial expressions, body postures, and physical actions to communicate with the world. Every communication we make is an action, a cause set in motion. And all communications have some kind of effect on ourselves and on others.
Communication is power. Those who have mastered its effective use can change their own experience of the worlds and the world’s experience of them. All behaviors and feelings find their original roots in some form of communication. Those who affect the thought, feelings, and actions of the majority of us are those who know how to use this tool of power. Think of the people who have changed our world – John F Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi. In a much grimmer vein, think of Hitler. What these men all had in common was that they were master communicators. They were able to take their vision, whether it was to transport people into space or to create a hate filled Third Reich, and communicate it to others with such congruency that they influenced the way the masses through and acted. Through their communication power, they changed the world.
In fact, isn’t this also what sets a Spielberg, a Springsteen, an Iacocca, a Fonda, or a Reagan apart from others? Are they not masters of the tool of human communication, or influence? Just as these people are able to move the masses with communication, it’s the tool we also to move ourselves.
Your level of communication mastery in the external world will determine your level of success with others – personally, emotionally, socially, and financially. More important, the level of success you experience internally – the happiness, joy, ecstasy, love, or anything else you desire – is the direct result of how you communicate to yourself. How you feel is not the result of what is happening. Successful people’s lives have shown us over and over again that the quality of our lives is determined not by what happens to us, but rather by what we do about what happens.
You are the one who decides how to feel and act based upon the ways you choose to perceive your life. Nothing has any meaning except the meaning we give it. Most of us have turned this process of interpretation on automatic, but we can take that power back and immediately change our experience of the world.
This article is about taking the kinds of massive, focused, congruent actions that lead to overwhelming results. Producing results! Think about it. Isn’t that what you’re really interested in? May be you want to change how you feel about yourself and your world. May be you’d like to be a better communicator, develop a more loving relationship, learn more rapidly, become healthier, or earn more money. You can create all of these things for yourself, and much more, through the effective use of the information in this book. Before you can produce new results, however, you must first realize that you’re already producing results. They just may not be the results you desire. Most of us think of our mental states and most of what goes on in our minds as things that happen outside our control. But the truth is you can control your mental activities and your behaviors to a degree you never believed possible before. If you’re depressed you created and produced that show you call depression. If you’re ecstatic you created that, too.
We all produce two forms of communication from which the experience of our lives is fashioned. First, we conduct internal communications; those things we picture, say, and feel within ourselves. Second, we experience external communications: words, tonalities, facial expressions, body postures, and physical actions to communicate with the world. Every communication we make is an action, a cause set in motion. And all communications have some kind of effect on ourselves and on others.
Communication is power. Those who have mastered its effective use can change their own experience of the worlds and the world’s experience of them. All behaviors and feelings find their original roots in some form of communication. Those who affect the thought, feelings, and actions of the majority of us are those who know how to use this tool of power. Think of the people who have changed our world – John F Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi. In a much grimmer vein, think of Hitler. What these men all had in common was that they were master communicators. They were able to take their vision, whether it was to transport people into space or to create a hate filled Third Reich, and communicate it to others with such congruency that they influenced the way the masses through and acted. Through their communication power, they changed the world.
In fact, isn’t this also what sets a Spielberg, a Springsteen, an Iacocca, a Fonda, or a Reagan apart from others? Are they not masters of the tool of human communication, or influence? Just as these people are able to move the masses with communication, it’s the tool we also to move ourselves.
Your level of communication mastery in the external world will determine your level of success with others – personally, emotionally, socially, and financially. More important, the level of success you experience internally – the happiness, joy, ecstasy, love, or anything else you desire – is the direct result of how you communicate to yourself. How you feel is not the result of what is happening. Successful people’s lives have shown us over and over again that the quality of our lives is determined not by what happens to us, but rather by what we do about what happens.
You are the one who decides how to feel and act based upon the ways you choose to perceive your life. Nothing has any meaning except the meaning we give it. Most of us have turned this process of interpretation on automatic, but we can take that power back and immediately change our experience of the world.
This article is about taking the kinds of massive, focused, congruent actions that lead to overwhelming results. Producing results! Think about it. Isn’t that what you’re really interested in? May be you want to change how you feel about yourself and your world. May be you’d like to be a better communicator, develop a more loving relationship, learn more rapidly, become healthier, or earn more money. You can create all of these things for yourself, and much more, through the effective use of the information in this book. Before you can produce new results, however, you must first realize that you’re already producing results. They just may not be the results you desire. Most of us think of our mental states and most of what goes on in our minds as things that happen outside our control. But the truth is you can control your mental activities and your behaviors to a degree you never believed possible before. If you’re depressed you created and produced that show you call depression. If you’re ecstatic you created that, too.
Students say about Corporate Theatre
Feedback of CT from B tech Batches
This workshop conducted by CCR helped us boost the qualities of self confidence, teamwork and a will to succeed. You won’t be left with the slightest stage fear. - Sridhar NS CSE
The Corporate theatre you offered was the best . It gave a lot of confidence and the feeling of “ even you can do it” - Devika Varma EEE
Corporate theatre gave me a lot of confidence to succeed in campus placements. Thanks to rajesh sir for his corporate theatre – Nupur Prakash IT
It was an unforgettable experience - Anonymous
Juniors need more confidence. Please give them corporate theatre - Anonymous
I thank each and every CCR member for whatever they had done…Esp. the Corporate theater. It did help us a lot in getting to know our inner talents – Swathi B IT
Confidence is the key. Present yourself bold and utter each and every word confidently. Everyone should go through ‘Corporate Theatre’. – Balaji from EEE
BBM Batch
Learnt more about Leadership – Understanding teamwork, free expression of ideas, managing pressure, creating positive attitude, Increasing confidence level, Higher energy level, Coming out of shyness, bringing out inherent qualities.
We can form core groups for each subject. Every subject can have a core group of 4 people who can teach the rest of the students who are interested to learn more and improve the conceptual knowledge of a particular subject. Thanks to Corporate Theatre. We realized that we can do wonders as a TEAM.
This workshop conducted by CCR helped us boost the qualities of self confidence, teamwork and a will to succeed. You won’t be left with the slightest stage fear. - Sridhar NS CSE
The Corporate theatre you offered was the best . It gave a lot of confidence and the feeling of “ even you can do it” - Devika Varma EEE
Corporate theatre gave me a lot of confidence to succeed in campus placements. Thanks to rajesh sir for his corporate theatre – Nupur Prakash IT
It was an unforgettable experience - Anonymous
Juniors need more confidence. Please give them corporate theatre - Anonymous
I thank each and every CCR member for whatever they had done…Esp. the Corporate theater. It did help us a lot in getting to know our inner talents – Swathi B IT
Confidence is the key. Present yourself bold and utter each and every word confidently. Everyone should go through ‘Corporate Theatre’. – Balaji from EEE
BBM Batch
Learnt more about Leadership – Understanding teamwork, free expression of ideas, managing pressure, creating positive attitude, Increasing confidence level, Higher energy level, Coming out of shyness, bringing out inherent qualities.
We can form core groups for each subject. Every subject can have a core group of 4 people who can teach the rest of the students who are interested to learn more and improve the conceptual knowledge of a particular subject. Thanks to Corporate Theatre. We realized that we can do wonders as a TEAM.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Motivation as an attitude
Whenever we start something new – a new project, job or assignment, usually we all are enthusiastic about what we are doing. So we work really hard to create it. But slowly as time passes, people have the tendency to mellow down and end up becoming a bit slack about their work. This is because people have started getting used to what they do and then there is no more enthusiasm left. But, while working in an organization, it is important to keep the momentum up to be a super performer at all times. So, how do we keep the steam going? Does motivation solely lie on the leader’s shoulders to motivate the team?
Motivation is not like a daily dose of medicine. It is a matter of each person’s attitude. If you are thinking long term, you must ensure that your goal is clearly a matter of personal achievement. Motivating oneself is not seasonal. Just because we are now in a recession economy does not mean you should be negative. Motivation should be developed as an attitude.
So what should we do to keep ourselves motivated, alert and kicking? Here are some pointers:
It is important to be connected with successful and motivated people. For instance, our immediate supervisor plays an important role here. As young people we can look up to our boss for motivation based on the quality of his guidance. It has the power to shape our initial experiences in your job. Successful people have the power to charge the environment they are in and this well to get us started.
Though very mundane, it’s a nice idea to keep a record of all our achievements. It can do wonders for our performance. One can write down tasks for the day in a daily diary and tick it off as he/she completes them. This makes the individual feel good at the end of the day as he/she knows how much work is completed. Maintaining this kind of record is also useful during our performance appraisal as we can easily find out the list of things we do daily, plus the extra responsibilities that we have taken up.
It is necessary that we set goals for ourselves and ensure that we achieve them individually. If we are not seeking to add value, we are not aspiring to grow. We cannot concede to become status quo. That is both unnatural and not conducive to personal well being. In growth, we are thriving, learning and changing. In order to change continually, we must learn. A responsible risk taking mentality and trust are the two factors necessary for growth. In an environment of gossip and malice there is only negativity and mistrust. With these two elements, one cannot manage to even think of motivation let alone practice it. So if we have our personal goals in place and want to achieve them, irrespective of the market scenario, and the people around us, we will succeed.
It is important to be proactive with learning. At least once a month let us give an opportunity to learn something new – a skill, knowledge or a new perspective. Every once a quarter, it is nice to do a new task. Doing something different and new keeps us charged up to face challenges. Also we learn various things outside of just our regular job at work. We can even offer to help out with something in other departments to increase our knowledge. This might also earn us the respect of people from other departments.
Negativity or pessimism will only make us feel low. So Let us try taking up a personal pledge never to be negative in any situation. Believe in ourselves. It’s important to believe that good people always have a job. Growth may come slowly but pay packets will get rationalized only over a period of time. A positive person always radiates positivity and thus motivates not just himself but also others around him. Companies/ Educational Institutions usually look out for positive and self motivated people.
Meditation helps calm the mind and think rationally while exercise keeps the mind active. Both of this is important to keep us going. A few minutes of meditation daily, and an extended walk or jog down our alley can go a long way in keeping us way ahead of others.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Personal Qualities and Personality of Leaders
Emotional Resilience: Emotional stress arises in managerial positions because they work in situations that involved authority leadership, power, interpersonal conflict, meeting deadlines all with some degree of uncertainty and ambiguity. Successful Managers need resiliency to cope.
Mental Agility & Creativity: Mental agility includes the ability to grasp problems quickly, to think of several things at once to switch rapidly from one situation to another, to see quickly the whole situation (rather than ponderously plough through all its components) and to think on one’s facts. Because of the hectic nature of managerial work, successful managers must posses these abilities.
Creativity means the ability to come up with new responses and to recognize useful approaches. It involves not only having fresh ideas, but also the ability to recognize good ideas when they come from other sources.
Balanced Learning Habits & Skills: Successful managers learn independently. They take responsibility for the rightness of what they learn, rather than passively depending on an authority figure of expert. Successful managers can think abstractly as well as concretely. The relative concrete ideas to attract one (and vice versa) rather quickly. This ability, sometimes known as a helicopter mind enables them to generate theories to develop their own practical ideas.
Self awareness: The way managers view their roles affect their values, their feelings, strengths and weaknesses, and a host of other people factors. Therefore, we must help them be aware of their abilities and the part they play in determining leadership behavior.
Factors Influencing Leadership Styles:
Personality of leaderships:
Value Systems: How strongly do they feel that individuals should share in decision making? How convinced are they that the officials paid or chosen to assume responsibility should personally carry out the burden of decision making? What relative importance do they attach to organizational efficiency and personal growth of subordinates?
Confidence in Group Members: Leaders differ in the amount of trust they have in other people. After considering the knowledge and competence of a group in dealing with problems, leaders may (justifiably or not) have more confidence in their own capabilities than in those of group members.
Leadership Inclinations: Leaders differ in the way they function most comfortably. For example, directive leaders issue orders and resolve problems easily. Some leaders operate best in a team role where they continually share functions with subordinates.
Feelings of Security in Uncertain Situations: Leaders who release control over the decision making process reduce the predictability of the outcome. Leaders with greater needs for predictability and stability are more likely to “tell” or “sell” than to “join”. Social psychologists increasingly view tolerance for ambiguity as a key in people’s manner of dealing with problems.
Personality of group members: Before deciding how to lead groups, leaders also need to understand the influence of personality variables. Generally, leaders permit groups greater freedom if the following conditions exist:
1. If members have relatively high need for independence;
2. If members have a readiness to assume responsibility;
3. If they have a relatively high tolerance for ambiguity;
4. If they are interested in the problem and feel that it is important;
5. If they understand the identity with the goals of the organizations;
6. If they have the necessary knowledge and experience to deal with the problem.
7. If they expect to share in decision making.
How to be an effective Discussion Leader:
Lending a discussion effectively is a skill that few possess. This ability to bring the combined intelligence and experience of many to bear on a problem effectively and congenially can be developed with practice.
1. Make sure the discussion room is as pleasant as possible and the chairs for the participants arranged in a circle so that all participants can see each other equally easily.2. Your first task as discussion or group leader is to explain the purposes of the meeting or the precise questions(s) to be discussed.
3. Let the group know exactly its role, e.g. to react to give recommendations, or to decide.
4. Remember the principle: Don’t do it yourself. Let someone else take minutes or be reorder. Redirect questions back to the group. Be a traffic policeman, not a goalkeeper.
5. Don’t be afraid of a little silence at the beginning as members focus on the problem.
Positive Attitude on Work Performance
Surviving a recession needs no superficial platitude. But being positive really helps. When times are uncertain the best you can do is build a positive attitude that brings optimism into your life, and makes it easier to avoid worry and negative thinking especially when you are in the workplace.
What is attitude?
Understanding the connotation of attitude is a complex task. Attitude is our acceptance and reactions of certain ways of life which stems from our individual mindset, which again develops from various factors which can be family and upbringing, environment experiences in human relations etc. Attitude could be rigid, flexible or moderate. The rigidity leads to becoming pessimistic or negative in approach.
Required at Workplace:
Flexibility in your attitude results in optimistic or positive approach. It is this positive approach that employers seek in their employees. They want to hire people who take the initiative and have the motivation to get the job done in a reasonable period of time. It is this passionate employee who creates an environment of good will and who provides a positive role model for others.
A positive something that is most valued by supervisors and co-workers; and it also makes the workplace more pleasant and fun to be in each day.
Better workplace skills:
Research has shown that employees with a brighter outlook tend to demonstrate better workplace skills, simply because:
1. Positivity and optimism develop strong ties with others – employees who are happy spread cheer.
2. Positive people are good communicators and thus the work gets done without much effort.
3. Optimists tend to develop better coping skills and a more supportive social network.
4. Positivity wards off stress.
Develop Positive attitude:
The process of developing positive attitude is gradual and a conscious effort. There are no easy answers to how you can build one, but the following suggestions do stand the test of time.
1. Know yourself – which means you need to be aware of your strengths and weakness.
2. Draw a balance between your outer and the inner self.
3. Appreciate your positive qualities and work on rectifying the negatives.
4. Contemplate upon the futility of negative thinking and worries.
5. Do not be critical of others. Instead be appreciative and respectful
6. Associate yourself with happy employees
7. Respect relationships at work and never take either your seniors or your juniors for granted.
8. Be self-reliant
9. Meditate if required.
Dealing with Negative Co-workers:
Always remember, negativity mongers need a new job, a new company a new career, a new outlook, or counseling. They don’t need you. You need to deal with genuinely negative people by spending as much time as possible. Here are some tips that will come to your rescue:
1. Avoid befriending a negative co-worker
2. Refrain from providing a sympathetic audience to the negative conversations
3. Suggest the negative person seek assistance from human resources or their supervisor
4. Persistent negativity, that impacts co-workers’ work is a work behavior that may require disciplinary action. Speak to your boss or HR manager about it.
There are people who are always complaining either about their boss, their work, their home or social life. At the same time, we also see people who are perpetually smiling and are happy. Does this mean that they are blessed in life with no problems or difficulties? Or is it just a positive attitude?
Satisfied employees are more productive, work more diligently and enhance the organization’s brand value. Satisfied employees demonstrate commitment to service with every customer/client. Pessimistic employees, on the other hand, work to the advantage of your competition while on your payroll. They are usually depressed and transmit these emotions not only to fellow colleagues but also to the clients/ customers.
Well, positive attitude is rated as one of the best traits. Being positive puts a person in command of his entire faculties.Tuesday, March 10, 2009
12 things your CV should not have
~Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proof read your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.
A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.
For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.
Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proof read your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.
A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.
For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.
Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Right Skills for the right job with good education
Though the economy is going through a rough patch, the education sector looks quite promising for aspirants. We take a look at the emerging career landscape in this sector.Education is one of the most important drivers of India's social and economic development. And this sector appears to be ready for big action.Analysts believe that based on the current and future manpower requirements for various sectors there is a huge demand supply gap in the education space. However, looking at the current economic scenario, the world over, a question that arises here is, how is the education sector faring in the country? This sector is actually looking at the slowdown as an opportunity. With more and more people looking at pursuing higher education and
diversifying their skill sets, institutions have a greater talent pool to choose from to admit in their courses.
Talking about the kind of career opportunities and new job roles available, the education sector can offer quite a few value adding programs. These programs can be - domain specific knowledge at process, planning and strategic level; niche and focused skill training - derivatives, IFRS, risk
management, project management etc. So what are the skills that would help aspirants grab the best opportunities in the education sector? In terms of qualifications any candidate must have a graduation, professional certification from knowledge societies (e.g. PMI certification for Project
Management etc), product certification (SAP, Microsoft), certifications from business associations etc.
Fresh graduates must make themselves unquestionably required for an organization's profit.
It is now a known fact that to keep abreast in the present scenario and shine through tough competition, it is inevitable for any individual to make sure he/she gets the best education and also masters oneself with the best of skills. Once you are ready, the world is all yours to capture.
Need of the hour:
Experts say that there will be an ongoing need for new skills for employees and aspirants.
According to industry experts, the coming year will see a growth of various job profiles. Though the old skills will still be of prime importance to aspirations and employees, they say that it will become imperative for them to be well versed with various other skills too.
With the project sizes increasing by almost ten fold and more automation coming in, it will be imperative for job aspirants to acquire the next higher level skills i.e. the skills essential to control risks associated with such large projects, skills required for construction management,
project management and program management as opposed to mere construction management. Planning accurate budgeting and use of time tested tools will be critical to get a quick handle of the rapidly changing project environment.
Organizations would expect increased deliverables, high degree of change orientation, commercial acumen and strategic thinking. Employees would also be asked to perform more than one task.
Experts say that engineers will have to acquire financial and systems knowledge, cost control skills - innovative approaches to monitor costs and continuously work to reduce costs. The new age employee will have to be a superior manager and acquire skills like talent management, expectations management, ability to mentor and coach for superior performance. They
further add that employees should be functional experts, and at the same time possess general operational and management skills. Employees must re-skill themselves in order to grasp more and also should work like an entrepreneur to shoulder more responsibilities.
The industry will continue its steadfast progress towards increased level of efficiency and productivity. Several changes in skill sets and perhaps mindsets will be required. So, if you feel that you have the right skill sets to get the right job, this is the perfect time to re-think your moves.
diversifying their skill sets, institutions have a greater talent pool to choose from to admit in their courses.
Talking about the kind of career opportunities and new job roles available, the education sector can offer quite a few value adding programs. These programs can be - domain specific knowledge at process, planning and strategic level; niche and focused skill training - derivatives, IFRS, risk
management, project management etc. So what are the skills that would help aspirants grab the best opportunities in the education sector? In terms of qualifications any candidate must have a graduation, professional certification from knowledge societies (e.g. PMI certification for Project
Management etc), product certification (SAP, Microsoft), certifications from business associations etc.
Fresh graduates must make themselves unquestionably required for an organization's profit.
It is now a known fact that to keep abreast in the present scenario and shine through tough competition, it is inevitable for any individual to make sure he/she gets the best education and also masters oneself with the best of skills. Once you are ready, the world is all yours to capture.
Need of the hour:
Experts say that there will be an ongoing need for new skills for employees and aspirants.
According to industry experts, the coming year will see a growth of various job profiles. Though the old skills will still be of prime importance to aspirations and employees, they say that it will become imperative for them to be well versed with various other skills too.
With the project sizes increasing by almost ten fold and more automation coming in, it will be imperative for job aspirants to acquire the next higher level skills i.e. the skills essential to control risks associated with such large projects, skills required for construction management,
project management and program management as opposed to mere construction management. Planning accurate budgeting and use of time tested tools will be critical to get a quick handle of the rapidly changing project environment.
Organizations would expect increased deliverables, high degree of change orientation, commercial acumen and strategic thinking. Employees would also be asked to perform more than one task.
Experts say that engineers will have to acquire financial and systems knowledge, cost control skills - innovative approaches to monitor costs and continuously work to reduce costs. The new age employee will have to be a superior manager and acquire skills like talent management, expectations management, ability to mentor and coach for superior performance. They
further add that employees should be functional experts, and at the same time possess general operational and management skills. Employees must re-skill themselves in order to grasp more and also should work like an entrepreneur to shoulder more responsibilities.
The industry will continue its steadfast progress towards increased level of efficiency and productivity. Several changes in skill sets and perhaps mindsets will be required. So, if you feel that you have the right skill sets to get the right job, this is the perfect time to re-think your moves.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Power of Expressions
Expressions are a way of giving some life to the thoughts and feelings inside us. When you cry, you express sadness and disappointment. When you catch a good joke, you laugh a lot and express the pleasure.
Expressions are a part and parcel of every human being on this earth. Every person has the right to express himself. It is only through expressions that one can achieve a harmony between the physical exterior and the mental core. It is a way of giving life to your thoughts and feelings. But not everyone expresses freely. The main reasons are the barriers we have created within ourselves. We always think of what the world would think of us. Because of this we restrain ourselves from laughing completely, tilting our head, or even scratching our ears! We try to be not what we are, but what we think will appeal to the world. Hardly do we realize that the world is just like us. It will be busy thinking of what we will think of it, rather than analyzing our actions.
When one expresses one self freely, it's the ultimate satisfaction for the mind. This is because the physical hardware of the human body is faithfully supporting its mental software. The person then is always comfortable anywhere with anyone and at anytime! If one doesn't express properly, it won’t make the sun rise in the west, but it will only lead to increased frustrations. When frustrations increase, efficiency decreases and people start blaming the world, god or anyone in general.
Well to practically speak of expressions, once you start using them in your normal day to day life, you will get used to them. Also people around you will get used to your expressions. When the doyen of Indian film industry Mr. Amitabh Bachchan came into the movies, he had one eye smaller than the other. He however carried on without being self conscious about it and captured the heart of countless Indians dead and alive. Also Sylvester Stallone, who is the famous Mr. Big Muscles from
If you are angry at some one, let him know. If you admire someone, let that person know. If you love someone, let him/her know, because life is too short to keep these things as secret. Express yourself and spice up your life.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Leadership
LEADERSHIP
Leadership requires distinct behaviors and attitudes. Before you are a leader success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others .
What are the essential qualities of an effective leader? Can these be recognized and can they be developed?
Leaders are people “who leave their footprints in their areas of passion .”
Great leaders have to be ambidextrous. On one hand they have to be able to execute capably within the current business paradigm “ the way we do business” .On the other hand they must be able to reflect on the current paradigm , find ways to fundamentally improve it and manage the large scale change to a successful conclusion. To be successful one must have both a passion for improving the organization and capability to drive our efforts through to completion.
Managing the day to day , which is the core requirement of any position is no small task. It requires that you produce consistently good results , meet objectives and constantly tune up the business processes that you are employing. Success involves competence , ability and team work. But don’t mistake day to day management for leading paradigmatic change.
Quantum change management is very different from day to day management .It involves conceptualizing and creating fundamental improvements that change the way businesses are done.
In order to lead paradigmatic change you need eight essential characteristics which are as follows:
- Capacity for passion : Burning drive to make things better
- Perspective: Able to step back and view what you are doing even while you are doing it
- Creativity : You can develop it from various sources- case studies, business publications etc
- Organization skills: Translating a broad vision into a very well organized practical step by step program.
- Teamwork: Engaging, persuading and working with other people.
- Persistence
- Open mindedness: High level of tolerance for ambiguity
- Integrity: Being honest, being genuine, being motivated by your deeply held values to make your organization better off.
DAILY BALANCING ACT :
Leadership is the ability to manage short term and long term at the same time. Anyone can manage for the short term – just keep squeezing lemon . And anyone can manage for the long term – just keep dreaming. YOU WERE MADE A LEADER BECAUSE SOMEONE BELIEVED THAT YOU COULD SQUEEZE AND DREAM AT THE SAME TIME. . They saw in you as a person with enough insight , experience and rigor to balance the conflicting demands of short and long term results. .
Performing balancing acts everyday is leadership.
Can Leaders be developed:
Most people can develop their leadership skills by working at it. The process starts with the recognition that leadership requires ambidextrous activities . The first hurdle is recognizing that excellence at the day to day is critical , but it is not enough.
To be a great leader you need a certain level of intellect , but not necessarily great genius.You need a certain level of social skills but not necessarily those of a great salesperson. However you need a compulsion to operate at two levels : to be a great doer and a great reflector.
Most importantly to be a great leader you need to find what you really like. That’s where the passion , commitment and integrity comes from. The most underlying factor in leadership is whether a person has searched out and found a great match between what’s in his or her heart , which is what he or she really enjoys and the work situation.
Think about the definition of leaders “ people who leave their footprints in their areas of passion”. Its easy to focus on the first part , how to leave the footprints. But the real power comes from the second , working in your area of passion. If you are doing what you really like , you almost can’t help but feel passion towards making it better.
WHAT LEADERS DO
- Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team , using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate , coach and build self confidence.
- Leaders make sure people not only see the vision , they live and breathe it .
- Leaders get into everyone’s skin exuding positive energy and optimism.
- Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency and credit .
- Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.
- Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism making sure those questions are answered with action.
- Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example.
- Leaders celebrate.
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