PDP Map

Before we begin our journey through the second • Current Affairs primer
stage of the entrance process, let us take a very • Management Orientation Session
brief look at the important components of your
preparation. May the force be with you! 4. Personal Interviews: Practice makes a man
perfect and we are certainly not gonna let up
1. Your PDP Handbook: This little book is going on you till we make you perfect. Accordingly,
to be your bible for the next few months. The you will get to face at least two mock interviews
knowledge, insight and wisdom in this book in the course of your Personality Development
are going to guide you infallibly through the Programme. These mock interviews will give
second stage of the entrance process and you the flavour of the real thing and will be an
onwards to your success. So read this book important component of your preparation in
thoroughly, follow the instructions and prepare the run-up to your actual Personal Interviews.
accordingly. And don’t be stinting in your So prepare well for these, make a note of the
efforts; remember you are only walking to your feedback and use it to improve further. One
own success. very important point to be noted here is that
your answers should be unique. Don’t copy
2. Who am I – your self-profile: No, you are other people’s answers or prepare cut and
not suffering from amnesia, either total or dried answers with a group of friends. Such
partial. But, if you wish to be the don of the artificial answers get caught out very easily
nation, if you wish to strike fear in the hearts and leave a bad impression on the interview
of those who dare interview you, then you panel. Your panelists will be professionals who
must first look into your soul (shake yourself may have interviewed thousands of people
a bit if you can’t see it at first glance, it must before you. So trying to bluff any interview
be in some out of the way corner), tabulate panel with artificial or thoughtless answers is
what you see there and then write the greatest a loser’s gamble. So don’t chicken out and
story ever in the world – the story of YOU. seek shortcuts. The effort you put in your
There is only one of YOU in the whole wide preparation will bear fruit and yield great
world and every interview panel wants to know results. So don’t short sell yourself.
more about this exotic specie. Thus, you need
to be well prepared to talk about yourself and 5. Group Discussion and other Group
that preparation will begin with a glance into Processes: Ok, so you are a superstar but
your soul. So start peeking, don’t be shy and have you let that get to your head. As Kipling
in this book, we have presented some said, “If you can talk with crowds and yet keep
templates to guide you through the tortuous your virtue, or walk with kings and not lose
journey through the darkest corridors of your the common touch, yours is the earth and
soul. We will ensure that you do not lose your everything that’s in it and - which is more -
way on this journey even though your soul may you will be a man, my son”. While the Personal
be unfamiliar and labyrinthine. Interview tests your personality in and of itself,
Group Processes test your ability to work in
3. PDP VITAL ELEMENTS: Now, be a good child a team. The important thing here is to be
and don’t forget to take your vitamins. These yourself, no more and no less. You are not
booster shots will hold you in good stead required to lead the group and bend them to
through the second stage and will be an your line of thought, nor are you required to
invaluable asset to you. It will add that special submit to the group and bow to the common
punch to your performance and will be the belief. Be assertive but not aggressive. Be
secret spark that will set you apart from the rational but not mechanical. Trust in your ideas
wannabes. These audio visual sessions and your way of thinking but do not close
include: yourself to other people’s thoughts and ideas.
• Interview Concepts Session Contribute but do not seek to control. Do this
• Interview viewing Session and you will have shown that you are a man
• GD concepts session to be reckoned with.
• Business & Economic Affairs primer

PDP Handbook Page 7

 Your Next Step to Success

Congratulations! when you share your views with others do you

present them in a pleasant manner or are your words
You are through with the first stage of the selection
like a NATO air strike – spreading death, destruction,
process. Your preparation for the written tests should
desolation, depression and dejection? Do your words
be over by now and you may have appeared for most,
act like oil on troubled waters or has the world known
if not all, the written tests that you had applied for.
no peace since you learned how to speak? The short
That’s one small step and a giant leap towards
answer is: of course you are good at interpersonal
realizing your dreams and goals. Already you must
skills – haven’t you been talking to others since the
be tingling with anticipation at what awaits you in
time you started speaking - to your parents, siblings,
the next round. So let’s not spend any more time
friends, relatives, neighbors, teachers, shopkeepers,
thinking about the first stage, about what could have
salesmen, doctors, nurses, drivers…..
happened and did not, about what could have been
And are you not the apple of everyone’s eyes? Except
and was not. Instead, think of the positives and focus
nurses, that is ……they poke everyone with those
on what you did right. For now, we have an exciting
injection things.
journey ahead, planning and preparing for the next
stage of the selection process. So let’s begin So, worry not overmuch about the second stage of
already. your selection process. This is one area for which
you have been preparing since the beginning of your
The Two-Step Dance life. Acing this process is going to be a cakewalk for
Ah, this is so exciting, where do we begin! you (unless nurses are sitting on the panel that judges
you). All that you really need to do at this stage is
Well, let’s begin at the beginning. understand the various processes and fine-tune and
In the beginning, there was only dark. And then God polish your answers so that you are able to convey
created light. And then He created MAN. MAN your pleasing ideas in the most efficient and effective
expanded to create societies and thus MANagement. manner possible. Savvy!?
And then MAN created schools to teach
MANagement to the next generations. And the The Second Stage De-mystified
schools conducted entrance tests and mystified What are the various tests that may come your way
students with gobbledygook. And so MAN created in this second stage of your journey to eternal glory
Career Launcher to help students out……. and success? Before you start dusting, polishing
and fine-tuning your answers, let us know about the
Well, on the theme of entrance tests, the first various tests that typically entertain aspirants at this
question that comes to every student’s mind is, why stage. In subsequent sections, we will look at each
should there be a two-stage selection process. Is of these tests in great detail so that it becomes easy
not the written test itself sufficient to differentiate to ace them. For now, we will take a brief overview of
between students and decide who gets selected and these tests.
who gets otherwise? So why should there be two
stages to the selection process? The Interview
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. There The most common test that appears at this stage.
are two kinds of skills that are essential for working And the easiest one too. The interview tests your
well in any system; the one is core competency maturity, your knowledge, your opinions, your way
and the other are interpersonal skills. Written tests of thinking and your ability to express these.
typically check only your core competency. They Core area questions will typically ask you about your
do not test your interpersonal skills at all. Are you future plans, your goals, and your self-perception.
able to think logically and think on your feet? Are Such questions will test your maturity, your focus in
you able to work accurately under pressure? And life and your clarity in thought.
are you better at these than most of your fellow
competitors? These are the things that are revealed Questions on academics (freshers can especially
by your performance in the written tests. These tests expect some of these) test your knowledge and your
do not reveal your interpersonal skills at all. Are you ability to convey the same. Have you been sincere
good at communicating your thoughts and ideas to in your academics or did you spend more time in
others? And even more importantly, are you good at the college canteen than in your classroom? You
grasping other people’s ideas and thoughts? And may also be asked a few questions about

Page 8 PDP Handbook

developments and innovations related to your branch Writing Task
of study (science and engineering students may Essay writing tests are gaining popularity among
typically get more such questions than those from institutes. With more and more institutes opting for
other backgrounds). these each year, it is imperative that you are well
versed in this challenge.
People with some work experience may typically
expect fewer questions about academics and more As already mentioned, many institutes will ask you
about their job itself. The purpose of such questions to write about the group discussion that you have
is to see if you were merely drawing a salary or were just participated in. Apart from these writing tasks,
actually working. Further questions may also ask some institutes will also give you a stand-alone
you about the latest developments in your field of writing task. For this task, you will be given a topic –
work, the impact of these and your expectations of the topic may be in the form of a question or may be
future developments. a simple statement – and asked to write a small
essay on the same. Typically, the expected length
General Knowledge questions test your awareness of the essay will be around 400 to 500 words. The
of the great big world outside. To a certain extent, topic, once again, may be related to current affairs
they also test your way of thinking. Are you too caught or be philosophical in nature.
up in yourself and not very interested in the rest of the
world or are you aware of the glorious and inglorious While such writing tasks primarily check your way
goings on outside your immediate circle? Do you of thinking, they also check your grasp of current
spend more time daily on facebook or on news sites affairs and your communication skills. A good essay
and newspapers? In other words, are you a mature should reveal good knowledge of the subject. Further,
citizen or are you still wet behind the ears? the student’s opinion should be logically justifiable
and the essay should have a coherent and concise
The Group Discussion structure.
Another very common test. Albeit, one that is rather
out of favor with institutes these days and is appearing The Armoury
less and less often. So, now that you are aware of the various tests
and their requirements, let us take a look at the
The group discussion primarily tests you on two tools that are essential to perform well in the
parameters; your way of thinking and your ability to second stage of the entrance process.
communicate your thoughts in a team. What is
additionally revealed, sometimes, is your awareness As we have seen, questions and tasks in this stage
of the outside world. will generally test you on the following areas:
1. Academic background
A typical group discussion will have between 8 to 15 2. Work experience
participants. A topic will be given to the group and 3. Current Affairs / General Knowledge
the participants will be given between 2 to 10 minutes 4. Core areas
to think about the topic. This is followed by a Accordingly, you should be strong in these areas in
discussion lasting anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. order to ace the second stage processes.
Sometimes, the panel may ask the group to arrive
at a conclusion. In some cases, at the end of the Academic Background
group discussion, the panel also asks some or all Be very well prepared for questions pertaining to your
the participants to summarize the GD or present academic background. These are the subjects that
their views on the topic in about one minute’s time. you have studied for 3 to 4 years. Hence, a sincere
Additionally, participants may be asked to write down candidate is expected to be prepared for at least
their views on the topic or to write down a summary basic questions from these areas. Even if you feel
of the discussion and then submit it to the panel. that you will not be able to prepare for all the subjects
that you studied during your graduation, at least
The topic given to a group for discussion can vary identify a few subjects that you were really good at
dramatically. While some topics are related to current or that you really liked. And prepare for questions
affairs, others may be more philosophical and still that may come from those areas. In your interview,
others may actually be abstract in nature. you can always guide the panel to these areas.
Irrespective of the nature of the topic and the structure
of the process, the key to good performance in a Freshers, in particular, need to be well versed with
group discussion is good behaviour & attitude and a subjects from their academic background. Further,
logical way of thinking. do ensure that you remember everything about the

PDP Handbook Page 9

project or summer internship that you may have lack of preparation in own areas. Be very, very, very
done. Revisit these and revise if in doubt. It is worth thorough in your own areas. Such effort will hold you
repeating that a sincere candidate is definitely in good stead and grace you with success.
expected to be good in his own areas. So you should
be sufficiently well prepared to handle most Core Areas
questions from these areas. Know yourself and you will know the universe, thus
spoke our ancestors. A mature person will have good
Work Experience self-awareness. Further, such a person will have
Just as a good candidate is expected to be ready defined his goals, prioritised accordingly and planned
with answers to questions related to his / her out his future path. This self-awareness and planning
academics, they are also expected to be very for oneself is tested through questions on your core
comfortable with questions related to their work. After areas. While questions like “tell me your strengths
all, if you have been doing something daily for the and/or weaknesses”, “why should we select you”,
last few months, you will be expected to be able to “why should we reject you”, etc. test your self-
talk about it very well. awareness, questions such as “why have you opted
for MBA”, “how does MBA fit into your goals/career
Take a notebook. Jot down the things that you
choice”, “where do you see yourself 5 or 10 or 20
regularly do at your workplace. Visualise the role
years down the line”, etc. test your planning for the
you play in the company’s business. And most
future and by extension your focus in life.
importantly, be very thorough with your company’s
business. It is extremely important that you are fully While such questions may appear deadly at first
prepared with these details. glance, they are actually the easiest ones possible.
No one knows you better than you do. So how can
Current Affairs / General Knowledge anyone upstage you, unsettle you, with questions
While every normal person is expected to be about yourself. All you need to do is choose a place
knowledgeable about their own areas, they are also where you are not likely to be disturbed for at least 30
expected to have some interest in the outside world. mins to 1 hour. This place may be your room, a public
And that interest is reflected in your knowledge of garden, a metro station, a train station, even a food
current affairs. An ignorant citizen cannot be a very court at a mall! But you should be alone, undisturbed
productive citizen. Thus, it is absolutely imperative and focussed. And no staring at girls - that will get in
that you are well aware of the major developments the way of focus, girls can be rather distracting. After
around the world and especially in India. Further, you that, list out your strengths, weaknesses in a small
need to be well up on latest developments in your chart. Next, in a flowchart, map out your plan for your
areas of interest. Such areas will include those related career. In your IMF, charts have been provided in a
to your academics, to your work and to your hobbies subsequent section to guide you in this task. And if
and extra curricular activities. For e.g. if you have you want a second opinion, you can even ask some
graduated in physics, you may get questions about of your friends, relatives, teachers, maid, driver, etc.
latest developments in physics, about the current to list out your strengths and weaknesses as they
Nobel Prize winners in physics and so on. see it. After this small task, you are ready to handle
Sometimes, you may also be asked for your opinion all questions on your core areas.
of the impact that some of latest developments may
be expected to have. Similarly, if you mention that The Final Word
Chess is your hobby, you may get questions about Now that you are aware of the various questions,
the current Chess World Champion, about the results tasks, processes, tests that you may encounter in
of the current Grandmaster level tournament, etc. One the second stage of your selection process, you know
student had mentioned that he was a chess player that you have nothing to fear about at all. A little bit of
and the captain of his college chess team. He was preparation is all that you need to polish your answers
shown a position in a game (at the endgame stage) and fine-tune them. Put in that small effort and success
on a PDA and asked to decide what White should will be yours. And remember always that it is YOUR
play on the next move in his IIM Bangalore interview! selection process. In the second stage processes,
The point is that you should expect to be asked a no one is looking to reject you; rather, they are looking
lot of questions from your own areas. A complete for you to give them reasons to select you. And if you
candidate is expected to be well versed in his or put in that little bit of preparation as suggested here,
own areas. Ignorance in other areas may be you will do exactly that.
forgivable; there is no justification for ignorance or Bon Voyage! Onwards to your success!

Page 10 PDP Handbook

 General Perceptions regarding Second Stage Processes

What is the first thought that comes to your mind perfect; everyone has some or the other flaws. But,
the moment you hear the term Personal Interview? overall, if you are a good person and if you prepare
W hat do you feel when you think of Group well, nothing can stop you from getting into the school
Discussion – eager anticipation, delight, or of your choice.
numbness? Would you volunteer to participate in a
Group Discussion or be an interviewee? Other students may be better than I am.
Another very common concern. Many students feel
To a lesser or greater degree, we are all afraid of the that their competition may be superior to them and
unknown. And the second stage processes used hence they are likely to have a difficult time during
by various B-schools do appear strange and their GD and PI. This kind of thinking makes them
unknown to many students. Accordingly, these under-confident. Self-doubt flagellates them. Am I
processes also frighten a lot of students. Some good enough to get selected? Such questions hault
common myths about these processes add to this them.
fear factor. Further, some genuine concerns also
trouble students. But, the secret to performing well The simple answer to such questions is yes; you
at any task or in any challenge lies in self-belief, are good enough to be selected for your dream
thorough preparation and confidence. So let us look institute. You appeared for the written test and beat
at some common concerns and issues that worry back tens of thousands of other aspirants to get an
students and understand how we can overcome invite to the second round of the bout. Thus, you
these challenges. have already proven that you belong here, that you
have the capability to go all the way, that you deserve
Issues and Concerns that 3rd seat near the window in the first classroom
of your dream school.
Am I special?
Many students feel that they need to prove that they A little bit of self-doubt is actually good for us and
are special or different in order to get selected for every intelligent person does have such doubts. It is
admission to a top B-school. They feel that they only a very arrogant person who will never doubt
need to prove that they have great leadership skills himself at all. Just as you are concerned that the
or that they have been outstanding all their life. competition may be too good f or you, your
competition is also worried that you may be too good
But this perception is far from the truth. The 19 IIMs for them! Just as you think that the competition may
alone take about 4000 students per year. The top – eat you up, your competitors are also suspicious of
25 (not including the IIMs) B-schools take your aptitude and appetite and its implications for
approximately another 7000 students. How many their chances. So don’t let self-doubt slow you down.
of these 10,000 students can be special and The little bit of self-doubt that is good for us drives
different? If all 10,000 of these students were to be us to greater effort and hence brings out our best.
special, different and outstanding leaders, then So use this feeling of doubt to ensure that you prepare
perhaps we would run out of sufficient followers for harder, drive yourself more and do not leave out any
these leaders! We would be flooded with Bill Gateses little bit of preparation possible. You are as good, as
and Richard Bransons! So, don’t worry; a B-school capable and as deserving of a seat as any of the
does not need that all of its students should be Bill other aspirants invited for the second round. The
Gates – you are good enough. All you need, in order differentiator between aspirants in this round is only
to get selected to your dream institute, is to be going to be their preparation; those who prepare
yourself – warts and all. Nobody in the world is thoroughly will definitely succeed in getting selected.

PDP Handbook Page 11

So put in that little extra effort and success will be Step 2: Listen to newsreaders on TV channels.
yours. Build up your strength areas and eliminate Internalize the pronunciation that they use. Do not
any weaknesses ruthlessly. That is all that you need imbibe artificial or fake foreign accents though;
to do. instead learn from those whose speech is free of
any accent.
I am shy or I get nervous or I speak little.
These are also common concerns that students Step 3: Make it a point to only speak in English
have. And these too are not really meaningful. While from now onwards till the date of your last GD / PI.
speaking to a stranger everyone gets somewhat Pull your ears every time you accidentally use any
nervous, that is only natural. Every body feels reticent other language. Or tell your friends about your project
when they have to communicate with a stranger. and ask them to be alert for any such deviant behavior
And speaking less, instead of being a liability, is from you and to pull your ears every time you err
more often than not an asset, for it indicates that thus. Surely, your friends will not miss any opportunity
the person is intelligent, thoughtful and introspective to pull your enticing, captivating, enchanting,
rather than someone who speaks thoughtlessly. tempting ears and thus, will ensure that you stay on
the straight and true path and keep practicing your
So don’t worry too much about these basic things. English-speaking.
You will surely be able to speak as much as is
necessary for you get your thoughts, ideas, opinions Just try these very simple methods consistently and
and facts and figures across. Focus on your rigorously and you will find a substantial improvement
preparation so that you have the answers all the in your communication skills.
foreseeable questions. After that, you have nothing
whatsoever to worry about. Finally!
So, we have seen some of the common concerns
My communication skills are weak or I am not about second stage processes that befuddle,
good at spoken English. mesmerize and terrorize students. We also saw that
This is also an issue that many students face. And most of them are not meaningful and the ones that
this is a valid concern. If you are able to communicate are, are curable with due effort and proper preparation.
better, it will definitely be an asset to you. It will So worry not, my friend. Charge on, waste not a
definitely increase your chances of getting selected. single minute, start your preparation from this very
So don’t waste time thinking about this! Instead, if moment and success will kiss your brow.
you feel that there is a lot of scope for improvement
of your communication skills, then start working Carpe diem, Carpe mundi!
towards that improvement right away. (Seize the moment, seize the world!)

Step 1: Stand in front of a mirror and read aloud the

entire editorial section of your favourite newspaper.
Do this every single day till your GD / PI is over.
Reading aloud will give you practice of speaking while
doing it in front of a mirror will give you more
confidence in your speaking ability and will help
remove any kind of hesitation that you may have
towards speaking in English. Along with this, you
can practice speaking on some GD or Extempore
topics as well.

Page 12 PDP Handbook

 Who Am I ? – A Self Profile

WHO AM I ?

Think about yourself and write roughly two pages (about 400 words) about yourself in the four
different segments given below. You may take forty minutes for this. Be truthful. This will help us
to understand you better and accordingly arrive at an appropriate plan to facilitate your
development.

A. The major/significant changes that have happened in your life so far. Bring out the people,
purposes, goals and other reasons that have caused these significant changes/ decisions.
What are the goals you have set for yourself? What do you want to achieve? Tell us about
your dreams.

B. Tell us about yourself as a person - as a professional, a friend, a son/daughter. Explore the

important facets of your life and tell us what you are really good at and where you need to
improve yourself. Give us examples of various aspects in which you felt you needed to
develop yourself. What have you done about those aspects?

PDP Handbook Page 13

C. Describe how you typically respond to problems facing you. These problems could be in
any sphere of your life. Give examples of situations where you took charge of a difficult
situation and resolved it.

D. What are the goals that you have set for yourself in the past? How have you gone about
achieving them? What lessons have you learnt from these that you could apply to your
further pursuit of future goals? Do you believe that your efforts influence the results you
achieve in your life?

Page 14 PDP Handbook

 Who Am I ? – A Self Profile
Scoring and Interpretation Sheet

Examples are:
SCORING SCHEME
 I want to become a doctor.
Some personality dimensions are mentioned below.  I increased the profits of the company.
Each set is relevant to the respective question  I am worried about the low return on my
(A, B, C and D). capital.
 I want to do research to find a cure for cancer
Take a look at each of the dimensions. Give because no one else has done so far
yourself 1 mark in case you feel that the dimension
is present at least once in your answer. In case it 3. Concern for influence: Statements indicating
is present more than once, give yourself an extra the writer’s need or wish to change things,
mark for every such occasion. In case the dimension situations or people.
is not present in your answer, then do not give
yourself any mark at all. Examples are:
 I want to improve the educational system.
For example, take dimension number 4,  I want to change the society.
i.e. concern for family. If it appears only once in  I am guiding people in my company.
your answer, give yourself 1 mark. If it appears
twice, then give yourself 2 marks and in case it 4. Concern for family: Statements showing the
does not appear at all, then do not mark yourself need or desire of the writer to do something for
on that dimension. parents, brothers, sisters and other members
of the family. Even references to them showing
At the end, add up your total score on all concern are scored.
dimensions and measure yourself on the scoring key.
The scores are of discreet type: 1 indicates the Examples are:
presence of that dimension and 0 the absence.  I want to help my father in his old age.
Absent dimensions need to be developed upon and  I am worried about my brother.
present dimensions need to be strengthened further.  I brought up my younger brothers after my
father’s death.
Question A Motivation (Minimum 3, Good 4,
Very good >4) 5. Concern for others and society: Statements
indicating the concern of the writer for other
people and society at large.
1. External: Statement indicating a person’s
concern for a larger goal or a goal beyond his Examples are:
own needs/direct abilities.  I want to donate my eyes for the blind after
my death.
Examples are:  Poverty pains me.
 I want to serve my country.  I am working on plans to provide better
 I want to serve humanity. welfare services for my staff.
 I am to fulfill the will of God
 I want to help people in need Question B Self-Awareness (Minimum 3,
 I want to research to find a cure for cancer
Good 4, Very good >4)
to help all those dying.
2. Concern for personal excellence: Statement 6. Awareness of personal strength: Statements
indicating the need and desire to achieve indicating the strengths of the writer.
something unique, those having long-term
involvement or standards of efficiency and Examples are:
excellence, or those indicating competition with  I am a good student.
others.  I am strong in mathematics.
 I am known for my technical knowledge and
insight.
PDP Handbook Page 15
7. Awareness of personal weakness: Statement 12. Resource utilization: Statements showing the
indicating the writer’s limitations or weaknesses. writer’s desire, and his tendency, to make use
of the facilities and resources he sees outside
Examples are: his capabilities in doing tasks or accomplishing/
 I am poor in health. setting goals.
 My English is weak.
 I am short-tempered. Examples are:
 I joined classes to improve my English.
8. Awareness of achievement: Statements  I took a loan from the bank.
indicating past achievements of the writer.  I consulted the extension officer to discuss
my plans.
Examples are:
 I scored very high marks in the examination. Question D Action Orientation (Minimum 2,
 I developed the control system for the Good 3, Very good >3)
company.
 I won several prizes. 13. Self-discipline: Statements showing that the
 I increased the profits of the company. writer is working hard, takes steps to get
focussed/organised, prioritises and spends long
9. Concern for self-development: Statements hours on work, postpones immediate gratification
indicating the desire of the writer, and his plans (having sacrificed short term gains for long term
to do something for his further growth and pursuit) etc.
development.
Examples:
Examples:  I work about fourteen hours a day.
 I am planning to improve my English.  I postponed my marriage because I was
 I want to gain experience through visits to busy in setting up the unit.
other units.  I worked hard.
 I want to control my impulsiveness.
14. Planning orientation: Statements showing that
Question C Proactivity (Minimum 2, Good 3, the writer is involved in some plans for which he
Very good >3) is taking some steps.

10. Internal locus of control: Statements showing Examples are:

that the writer himself can do something about  I am studying biology to become a doctor.
a problem.  I am preparing to learn accountancy so that
when business grows I can manage it
Examples are: properly.
 With my hard work and determination,  I am planning to expand my business to
I hope to overcome this difficulty. twice its present size.
 I am pretty sure that I can convince him.
15. Future orientation: Statements talking about
11. Proactive orientation: Statement indicating the future in terms of visualizing and setting goals,
that the writer wants to solve problems, confront or those indicating future plans, decisions
situations and take the initiative in understanding involving considerations of future event, gain or
and analysing a situation rather than running change. Such statements use the future tense.
away.
Examples are:
Examples are:  I shall start a new business as soon as I
 I met each of the persons involved in the am relieved of my present job.
conflict to understand the course of the  I shall marry her in June.
conflict.  I hope to expand the present factory.
 When I was not allowed to import the raw
material, I toured the district to explore what
else could be used as a substitute.

Page 16 PDP Handbook

 Personal Efficacy : Who Am I?
Scoring Table

A Motivation (Min 3, Good 4, VG >4)

1 External Motivation
2 Concern for personal excellence
3 Concern for influence
4 Concern for family
5 Concern for others and society
Sub-Total for Motivation
B Self-Awareness (Min 3, Good 4, VG >4)
6 Personal strength
7 Personal weakness
8 Achievement
9 Self-development
Sub-Total for Self-Awareness
C Proactivity (Min 2, Good 3, VG >3)
10 Internal locus of control
11 Proactive orientation
12 Resource Utilization
Sub-Total for Proactivity
D Action Orientation (Min 2, Good 3, VG >3)
13 Self-discipline
14 Planning orientation
15 Future orientation
Sub-Total for Action Orientation
Total for Personal Efficacy (A+B+C+D)

Total score for personal efficacy:

10 Minimum: A person, who scored 10 or less, needs significant attention on self-development and
un-scored dimensions of each set.

12 Good: A person, who scored 12, has opportunity for improvement on the dimensions not scored
such that the whole segment becomes the person’s strength.

>12 Very Good: A person, who scored more than 12, is a confident person with a strong sense
of adequacy. There is always room for improvement, though, by solidifying on every
segment with special focus on un-scored dimensions.

Note: It is possible that though the dimensions may not have been reflected in the essay, the said dimension
may be an attribute the individual displays in real life. Please think hard about yourself and then decide
whether to list the dimension in your development plan. At this point you could also look at the segments
other than where the dimension should have been present to see if that dimension is demonstrated there.
If it is, then the score needs to be added to the correct segment.

PDP Handbook Page 17

 Personal Effectiveness Scale

Name: Role:
Organization: Date:

This test is for your own use. So be frank in your responses.

Read each statement given below and indicate on the left-hand blank space how much it is true of your
behavior, by using the following guidelines:

Write ‘4’ if it is most characteristic of you, or if you always or most often behave or feel this way.
Write ‘3’ if it is fairly true of you, or you quite often behave or feel this way.
Write ‘2’ if it is somewhat true in your case.
Write ‘1’ if it is not true of you, or if you only occasionally feel or behave this way.
Write ‘0’ if it is not at all characteristic of you, or you seldom feel or behave this way.

........ 1. I find it difficult to be frank with people unless I know them very well.
........ 2. I listen carefully to others opinions about my behavior.
........ 3. I tend to say things that turn out to be out of place.
........ 4. Generally, I hesitate to express my feelings to others.
........ 5. When someone directly tells me how he feels about my behavior, I tend to close up and stop
listening.
........ 6. On hindsight, I regret why I said something tactlessly.
........ 7. I am quite quick and strong in expressing my opinions in a group or to a person, even if this
may be unacceptable to them.
........ 8. I take steps to find out how my behavior has been perceived by the person with whom I have
been interacting.
........ 9. I deliberately observe how a person will take what I am going to tell him and accordingly
communicate to him.
........ 10. When someone discusses his problems, I do not spontaneously share my experiences and
personal problems of a similar nature with him.
........ 11. If someone criticizes me I hear him at the time but do not bother myself about it later.
........ 12. I fail to pick up cues about others’ feelings and reactions when I am involved in an argument or
a conversation.
........ 13. I enjoy talking with others about my personal concerns and matters.
........ 14. I value what people have to say about my style, behavior, etc.
........ 15. I am often surprised to discover to be (or told) that people were put off, bored or annoyed when
I thought they were enjoying interacting with me.

Page 18 PDP Handbook

 Score Sheet
A. Enter your responses below, after reversing for (*) marked ones and for other items enter your
original response.
Original response 0 1 2 3 4
Reversed response 4 3 2 1 0
Item Response Item Response Item Response
*1 2 *3 ………
*4 *5 *6 ………
7 8 9 ………
*10 *11 ……… *12 ………
13 14 ……… *15 ………
Total ……… ……… ………
Self-disclosure Openness to feedback Perceptiveness

B. Write L or H in the parenthesis against each of the three total scores - if the total score is 12 or
below, write L; if the score is above 12, write H.
Category Self-disclosure Openness to feedback Perceptiveness
1 Effective High High High
2 Insensitive High High Low
3 Egocentric High Low Low
4 Dogmatic High Low High
5 Secretive Low High High
6 Task-obsessed Low High Low
7 Lonely Empathic Low Low High
8 Ineffective Low Low Low

Personal Effectiveness Scale

20
Disclosure

0 20
Openness to Feedback
In the above diagram, mark your scores that you got in the exercise on Personal Effectiveness.
Notice the box that depicts your arena.
PDP Handbook Page 19
 Interpretation of Personal Effectiveness Scale
While trying to understand the different personality types that are brought out by the Personal Effectiveness
Scale, it is very important for us not to blame ourselves and feel miserable. Whatever we are is an outcome
of our context – institutions, organizations, family and social surroundings. The more important thing to
understand as we embark on this journey is that this provides us with an opportunity that very few human
beings have, which is to understand ourselves as we are and then working towards improving ourselves.
These are the Personality Types according to PE Scale
Category Self-disclosure Openness to feedback Perceptiveness
1. Effective High High High
2. Insensitive High High Low
3. Egocentric High Low Low
4. Dogmatic High Low High
5. Secretive Low High High
6. Task-obsessed Low High Low
7. Lonely Empathetic Low Low High
8. Ineffective Low Low Low

1. Effective: As indicated by the scoring, an effective person has the right mix of attributes that would
contribute to his effectiveness in interpersonal situations. This person has high self-disclosure. He
values his own self and is comfortable with opening up with significant others in his life. This builds very
good relationships. Others feel he trusts them. He has a balanced view of his self-capabilities and
recognizes others’ strengths and respects others’ views and hence is receptive to feedback. He is very
sensitive to situations and people’s motives. This combined with strong belief in his own opinions
make him analytical and perceptive.
Scope for development:
There is a terrific opportunity for such a person to increase scores on all aspects above 10 and to
maximize the arena of effectiveness. Such a person has to become more trusting and sharing.
2. Insensitive: An insensitive person is a confident person who is secure in seeking feedback as well as
in sharing about himself. He trusts people. What prevents such a person from being optimally effective
is revealed in the Perceptiveness score. A low score here implies that the person may not be very
effective in selecting what feedback to accept and implement and what to reject. On the other hand
such a person may also be insensitive to situations and people in sharing about himself. Such a
person is likely to be used by people and/or sometimes disliked because of being not conscious of
situations, for cracking jokes at the wrong time etc. He tends to be a “bull in a china shop”. Such a
person also loses somewhat from truly benefiting from feedback because he is non-selective. Such a
person is likely to be sub-optimally observant and dysfunctional in a situation were he has expected to
be spontaneous.
Scope for development:
Such a person needs to improve his observation skill of people and situations. Such a person may
need to tell himself to hold his impulse to react; and absorb the context before acting. He/she also
needs to evaluate the relative merit of feedback before acting on it. It may also be required for such a
person to be more evaluative of the people he is dealing with.

3. Egocentric: Such a person typically cares little about what others think about an issue or a situation
or others’ feelings in general. He holds an unduly high opinion of his own views and capabilities and
doesn’t in general respect others’ views and skills. As a consequence such a person is not liked.
People would work with or for such a person only under compulsion. Such a person is very likely to
have few genuine friends. People would normally be wary of airing their opinions to him and this in turn
contributes to his misplaced self-concept. This means the person is unlikely to be a good team
member or a leader (more likely to be a dictator). This also would have far reaching repercussions on
quality of personal relationships.
Page 20 PDP Handbook
 Scope for development: 6. Task-obsessed: Such people typically are shy
Such a person needs to immediately throw out of assuming any visible role in an interpersonal
this misplaced self-concept of being a superior setting. They may do a great job of the work
person. He must also understand that to be liked given to them but almost never stop to think and
and respected by others he also needs to build ponder. They also accept views and feedback
his credibility by demonstrating that he respects given to them at face value without an analysis
others. Being respected by others is a very of its merits. Such people are typically the
important facet of effectiveness as a person invisible contributors to accomplishment of
because the overall outcome improves goals. They are present in a corner often knowing
significantly when people do something out of that they knew what someone else said but did
willingness. not say it quick enough. Roles are assigned to
such people and they do a very good job based
4. Dogmatic: Such a person is very secure in on the directions given to them.
sharing because he is very perceptive about the
Scope for development
context and is a good judge of people and
The suggestions for such people are simple -
situations. However a Dogmatic person typically
just speak out, even if you feel that you won’t be
has difficulty in accepting other’s opinion
adding much of value. Sometimes, speaking out
because he considers his ability to analyze
itself carries value. Speak out and get used to
superior than anyone else’s. He may feel small
the sound of your voice and to others listening
in accepting others’ views even though others
to you. Such people should also make a
may be right. In doing so the person is not helping
conscious effort to analyze and observe things.
his cause of being effective because others may
This helps forming opinions and having views.
see it as unreasonable and may also feel
disrespected. 7. Lonely Empathetic: Such people often sit
through everything, understanding everything but
Scope for development not contributing. There could be many reasons
It is very important for such a person to change why this happens but it is important to understand
his/her mindset. While one must stand up for that not being open to sharing about self leads
one’s views. One cannot be rigid. In the end the to lack of strong relationships. Further, because
task is to arrive at a consensus. The individual one has not built strong relationships, one
must commit himself to this objective and deal doesn’t seek feedback. They should realise that
with differing opinions on merit. Such objectivity it won’t be given automatically. They are caught
will help him to be flexible on his own views. in a vicious loop. There is a great chance that
such people are not even noticed.
5. Secretive: Such people miss a huge opportunity
Scope for development
of building trusting relationships - by not being
It is very important for such people, in their own
open and sharing with others. It is difficult to
interest to make things happen. This will make
say what prevents them from opening up more.
people sit up and take notice of them. On the
It could be because of misplaced lessons
other hand, such people should go out of the
learned from not-so-good experiences of the
way to seek feedback. Just break the self-
past, or it could be because of their social
imposed limitations and see the miracles that
environment. For one reason or the other such
gradually start happening to you!
people are highly uncomfortable sharing and
opening up with others. This in itself creates 8. Ineffective: Most of what has been said in case
mistrust and lack of credibility. of Lonely Empathetic applies.

Scope for development Scope for development

Such people have an excellent opportunity to It is suggested that such people start the
explore the world by sharing and trusting others, socializing process in v ery conduciv e
provided they open up. They have to realise that environments like the family. They should seek
some times others may misuse their trust, but to explore themselves, by sharing and by
it won’t always happen. Such people need to soliciting feedback; first, with relations of
trust their own judgment of people’s motives and compulsion (like Husband-Wife, Father-Son etc).
demands of situations. They need to have a This will help in building confidence before they
good ability to analyze and observe. can go out to seek to explore in other
interpersonal situations.

PDP Handbook Page 21

 Loco Inventory

Name: Role:
Organization: Date:

Given below are some statements that show how people experience their organizations. There are no right
or wrong answers. Read each statement and indicate the extent to which you feel that way, based on your
experience in the organization. Use the following key in indicating your rating. Mark it on the left-hand side
of the each statement.

“Before we get on with this session, there a few words that need clarification. “Organization” refers
to company if you are working or college if you are studying. “Senior” is boss in office, or your
teacher in college or parent at home.”

Write ‘4’ if you strongly feel this way

Write ‘3’ if you generally feel this way
Write ‘2’ if you somewhat feel this way (and somewhat not)
Write ‘1’ if you slightly feel this way
Write ‘0’ if you hardly or never feel this.

.......... 1. I can largely determine what matters to me in the organization.

.......... 2. The course of my career largely depends on me.
.......... 3. My success or failure depends mostly on the amount of effort I put in.
.......... 4. The persons who are important control most matters in the organization.
.......... 5. To a large extent, my career depends on my seniors.
.......... 6. My effectiveness in this organization is mostly determined by senior people.
.......... 7. The organization one joins or the job one gets are to a large extent, accidental happenings.
.......... 8. One’s career is to a great extent, a matter of chance.
.......... 9. Success of a person depends on the breaks or chances he (she) gets.
.......... 10. Successful completion of assignments is mainly due to my detailed planning and hard
work.
.......... 11. Being liked by seniors or making a good impression usually influence promotion decisions.
.......... 12. Getting rewards in the organization is a matter of luck.
.......... 13. Success of one’s plans is, to a large extent, a matter of luck.
.......... 14. Getting promotion largely depends on my being in the right place at the right time.
.......... 15. Senior person’s preference determines who would be rewarded in the organization.
.......... 16. My success, to a large extent, depends on my competence and hard work.
.......... 17. How much I am liked in the organization depends on my seniors.
.......... 18. It is a matter of luck that people listen to me.
.......... 19. If my seniors do not like me, I probably would not succeed in this organization.
.......... 20. Usually I am responsible for getting, or not getting, rewards.
.......... 21. My success or failure is mostly a matter of luck.

Page 22 PDP Handbook

.......... 22. My success or failure depends mostly on those who work with me.
.......... 23. My promotion in the organization depends mostly on my ability and effort.
.......... 24. My experience is that most things in the organization are beyond one’s control.
.......... 25. I can work hard enough to get my suggestions accepted in the organization.
.......... 26. I am acceptable to others in my organization because I am lucky.
.......... 27. Generally, I determine what happens to me in the organization.
.......... 28. My acceptability to others will depend on my behavior with them.
.......... 29. My ideas get accepted if I make them fit with the desires of my seniors.
.......... 30. Pressure groups are more powerful (and control things) in the organization than individual
employees.

The numbers below correspond to the item numbers in the Locus of Control Inventory, Transfer the ratings
by writing them in the appropriate blanks below. Then total the ratings that are transferred to each column.

Ite m Ra ting Ite m Ra ting Ite m Ra ting

1 … … .. 4 … … .. 7 … … ..
2 … … .. 5 … … .. 8 … … ..
3 … … .. 6 … … .. 9 … … ..
10 … … .. 11 … … .. 12 … … ..
16 … … .. 15 … … .. 13 … … ..
20 … … .. 17 … … .. 14 … … ..
23 … … .. 19 … … .. 18 … … ..
25 … … .. 22 … … .. 21 … … ..
27 … … .. 29 … … .. 24 … … ..
28 … … .. 30 … … .. 26 … … ..
Tota l (I) … … .. EO … … .. EL … … ..

I/EO = ______ ; I/EL = ______ ; I/(EO + EL) = ______.

I. Interpretation of scores – I, EO, EL

1. Internality (I)
(a) Individuals with a score of 33 or above are very confident of themselves. They believe in their
abilities, but sometimes may not be able to assess the contingencies and difficulties that
might come in their way of achieving goals. They can be unrealistic and may blame themselves
for any failure.
(b) Individuals with a score of 29 to 32 show high trust in their abilities and will mostly put these
to effective use to achieve goals.
(c) Individuals with a score of 22 to 28 are somewhere in between, with moderate trust in themselves
and their abilities, at the same time not taking the blame of failure totally on themselves, but
attributing it to contingencies and luck.
(d) Individuals with a score of 18 to 21 do not believe in themselves and need to take feedback
from others to evaluate their strengths.
(e) Individuals with a score of 17 or less fail to put to use their full potential and do not rely on their
efforts to achieve goals.

PDP Handbook Page 23

 2. Externality Others (EO) means the degree to which individuals rely on significant others (boss,
peers and subordinates) for their success/failure.
(a) Individuals with a score of 30 or above, reveal their dysfunctional dependence
on significant others.
(b) Individuals with a score of 21 to 29 show a realistic dependence on significant others.
(c) Individuals with a score of 17 to 20 exhibit independent orientation.
(d) Individuals with a score of 16 or below would exhibit a counter-dependent orientation.

3. Externality Luck (EL)

(a) Individuals with a score of 10 or below may not be able to tackle frustration when unforeseen
contingencies or situations come their way. This might affect them in the achievement of
goals.
(b) Individuals with a score of 11 to 20 are more likely to tackle such frustration, as they do not
completely believe in the power of luck, fate, and/or chance. As such individuals exhibit a
moderate level of externality luck, they are able to handle such unforeseen situations better
than individuals with an EL score of 10 or below.
(c) Individuals with a score of 21 to 30 are likely to attribute failure/ success to luck, fate, and/or
chance; and mostly handle unforeseen situations with a “not my fault” attitude.

II. Interpretation of Ratio Analysis (between internal scores and external scores)
Scores can also be interpreted on the basis of ratio calculation. Three types of ratios are calculated, viz.,
I/EO, I/EL and I/(EO+EL). Here the rule is ‘higher the ratio, the better’. For instance,
if I/EO > 1, it shows that the individual exhibits a high level of internal orientation. In the same manner, if I/
EO < 1, the individual exhibits a low level of internal orientation.
1. If I/EO > 1, the individuals exhibit a higher level of internality than externality (others). This means
that they believe in their inner abilities and attribute their success/failure to their own capabilities,
rather than the influence of their boss, peers and subordinates. They believe that they can largely
determine what matters to them and believe that most of the times, they alone are responsible for
their success/failure. Believing in the power of ‘self’ to achieve success in the organisation is their
mantra. Their competence and hard work are the two primary determinants of their performance in
any endeavour.
2. If I/EL > 1, the individuals yet again exhibit a higher level of internality than externality (luck). This
means that they believe in their inner abilities and attribute their success/failure to their own
capabilities, rather than luck, chance and/or fate. They can largely determine what matters to
them and believe that most of the times, they alone are responsible for their success/failure. This
shows a ‘never-say-die’ attitude towards difficult and tenuous tasks and also their readiness to
defer gratification. They are likely to be receptive to nouveau information and are more observant.
3. If I/(EO + EL) calculated is less than 1, contrary to the observation in the first and second ratios,
it brings to the fore a higher level of externality (others & luck) than internality.

Page 24 PDP Handbook

 Why do I exist? Finding purpose and meaning in life - IKIGAI

Every year, for the last couple of decades, I have In the culture of Okinawa, ikigai is thought of as “a
been meeting youth at CL Educate as well as across reason to get up in the morning”; that is, a reason to
the country on my travels, while working with various enjoy life. In a TED Talk, Dan Buettner suggested
institutions; most of the youth keep wondering what ikigai as one of the reasons people in the area had
they want to do in life, while a few are enamored of a such long lives.
particular career, course or institution for what they
have heard about these as “holds promise”, “Zindagi The word ikigai is usually used to indicate the source
banjayegi” etc. The thought process or plan, of most of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s
of the youth is usually short term, on the basis of life worthwhile. Secondly, the word is used to refer
‘financial returns – salary’ or lifestyle it affords. to mental and spiritual circumstances under which
individuals feel that their lives are valuable. It’s not
The real mozo happens only when one finds his necessarily linked to one’s economic status or the
purpose for existence. As Late Dr. Abdul Kalam said, present state of society. Even if a person feels that
“Dreams are not those one sees in his sleep, but the present is dark, but they have a goal in mind,
those that do not allow one to sleep.” Indeed, when they may feel ikigai. Behaviours that make us feel
one knows his purpose and meaning of life, it is a ikigai are not actions which we are forced to take—
celebration. You live, breathe, eat, drink, think and these are natural and spontaneous actions.
sleep for that very purpose.
In the article named Ikigai — jibun no kanosei,
I have been pre-occupied with this thought of – How kaikasaseru katei (“Ikigai: the process of allowing
do I facilitate the youth to arrive at their purpose - the self’s possibilities to blossom”) Kobayashi
thinking purposeful and doing purposeful. While I Tsukasa says that “people can feel real ikigai only
created a framework on facilitating the youth to think when, on the basis of personal maturity, the
through, I came across this concept from a Japanese satisfaction of various desires, love and happiness,
philosophy – IKIGAI! In this short note I am bringing encounters with others, and a sense of the value of
various interesting frameworks that could be of value life, they proceed toward self-realization.” The very
in finding one’s own purpose for life and working self-realization that Abraham Maslow also spoke
towards realizing that infinite potential that exists about in his seminal work “Hierarchy of needs”, that
within. This will also enable you to work on making we will talk about later or in another article, as a
your profile compelling, that reflects in your thoughts frame work to build ones profile.
and actions, helps you to leave lasting impression
in any face to face interaction. We’re trying to find our passion; Our purpose; What
makes our lives worthwhile and will give us that joy
IKIGAI – Purpose and Meaning of Life on a daily basis.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for
being”. Everyone, according to the Japanese, has An important distinction is that Ikigai doesn’t strictly
an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy mean your career or your economic status, but it is
search of self. Such a search is regarded as being representative of all aspects of your life: physical,
very important, since it is believed that discovery of emotional, spiritual, cultural, social, professional,
one’s ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life. environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational
Examples include work, hobbies and raising children. and so on. It is the culmination of your life as a
The term ikigai compounds two Japanese words: whole.
iki meaning “life; alive” and kai (sequentially voiced
as gai), “(an) effect; (a) result; (a) fruit; (a) worth; (a) Moreover, Ikigai is not forced; rather it is something
use; (a) benefit; (no, little) avail” “a reason for living we are willing to do. These are natural actions and
[being alive]; a meaning for [to] life; what [something behaviors. We’re not trying to become something
which] makes life worth living; a raison d’etre”. we are not.

PDP Handbook Page 25

 Social
Cultural

what you Environmental

LOVE
Spiritual

Passion
Passion Mission

what what
you are Purpose
Emotional ikigai the World Fiunancial
GOOD Meaning NEEDS
AT

Profession
Profession Vocation
Vacation

what
you can be Intellectual
Physical
PAID FOR

Occupational

How Do You Achieve Ikigai? 2. What are you good at?

Ikigai can be achieved by answering four distinct
questions. Finally, everyone typically has some traits or skills
that they excel at. They may not like it or want to
pursue it, but if you look at yourself, you have inherent
1. What do you love? strengths, as well as weaknesses.
Irrespective of all other factors, what are the things
you love to do, without limiting by telling yourself If you don’t enjoy your talents, it may be a matter of
how trivial it is. You probably are aware of these applying them differently. If that doesn’t work, the
already, though you may not know what to do with beautiful thing is that you can become good, if not
great, at a lot of things. Putting in the time and effort
them quite yet. If you’re not sure, try asking yourself,
is key and can even be easy, when you’re working
“What can you not ‘not do’? ” to get good at the things you love.

This question is getting to the heart of who you are 3. What does the world need?
and what you’re all about. What are the things that
you love, that you do repeatedly, that you always A lot when you think about it. In our own cities and
come back to? What is the thing that you can get countryside in India, to half way across the world,
lost in for hours on end, without even noticing, without there are a lot of problems to be solved – clean air,
even having food and sleep? The thing that doesn’t food, housing, energy, water conservation, sanitation,
feel like work; The thing that infuses infinite energy; waste management, transportation, connectivity,
financial access, education, skills, livelihood, human
thing that makes you feel alive.
excellence etc. If you can find one that interests
you, then explore the advances in that domain, where
The thing you can not ‘not do’? is the world heading, how a few people are making a
big difference – read about it, watch on Youtube,
We may not have taken the time to notice these TED and other sources to be aware and to guide
parts of our life before, but when you ask these sorts you.
of questions, they come to the fore. You may be
staring that skill or idea or field in the face, but simply These first two questions I think are the core of finding
Ikigai. They build the foundation for the next two
never thought of it in that way. You just have to notice.
questions because they are a bit more flexible.
Page 26 PDP Handbook
4. What can you be paid for? The intersection of all of these is where you achieve
Ikigai. Of course this isn’t something that happens
Pretty much anything. You just need to find people over night. It takes many of us years or our entire
who need what are you capable of, what good are lifetime just to realize our passion, so I can only
you good at, passionate about or what are you imagine finding your Ikigai would be that much more
selling. You may have to get a bit creative, but there’s difficult.
something of value within the things you love and
what the world needs. You just have to seek it out. Even so, it’s the ultimate form of self-actualization
and a worthy one at that. Hopefully these questions
Putting these together allow you to find different parts can help you start to discover where you should be
of yourself. Understanding what you love and what going to achieve your own reason for being.
you’re good at leads you to passion. On the other
hand, finding what the world needs and what you So the question is, are you excited to wake up
can be paid for identifies your vocation. tomorrow?

Visit www.sreeni.org for a detailed article on Ikigai

Happy Ikigai-ying! ;)

PDP Handbook Page 27

 Building Self, Creating Impact, Enriching Profile

Most of us, in our youth, are enamored of the world chasing every goal of theirs, passionately. Each one
around us that is always enticing with its glitters of us can be one such. The last article, ‘Ikigai’, ini-
and sparkles. We have so much within! We hardly tiates the exercise of finding our purpose and mean-
invest time to think about our self, not to talk of ac- ing of life. In this article, I am going to share about
tion. It is time each one of us starts doing. building our ‘Self’, while contributing to the context
we are in, which in turn enriches our profile.
We are all powerful. We can be winners. We can
impact big time. We have enough examples around Let us look at the Abraham Maslow’s seminal work
us - from the Prime Minister of the country to very on ‘self’, hierarchy of needs. John Antonio brought it
many inspiring people from all walks of life, who are into social media context. I am creating a frame-
in a continuous pursuit of realizing their purpose, work that is built upon these.

S
O
C
I
A
L
Self-esteem, status,
N reputation
Engaging in conversations,
E voicing your expertise,
E building your image
D
S
Love, affection, relationships, family
Connecting with people, joining groups,
engaging in conversations, finding people
who share your passion and beliefs

B
A
S Shelter, Protection, Safety, Stability
I Confidence in our abilities and conviction in our actions
C naturally provides these
Choosing the platforms you are comfortable with to
N voice your opinions
E
E
D oxygen, sleep, quenching thirst, food, warmth
S All of us are blessed to have these, are qualified, good enough to
secure these by ourselves too
The need to exist and have voice in social space; Create your social
network profile.

Every being goes through these phases, termed as d. Esteem – Enhancing and demonstrating Ca-
hierarchy of human needs – pabilities that builds self-esteem, reputation
and status
a. Physiological needs – Oxygen(air), sleep,
quenching thirst and hunger, clothing e. Self-actualization – Personal fulfillment, in the
process contributing to larger good
b. Safety and Security needs – Shelter, Protec-
tion from vagaries of weather, to safety and Physiological and Safety needs are termed as ba-
stability in life sic needs – that of survival; while the needs of Be-
longing, Esteem and Self-actualization are termed
c. Belonging – love, affection, relationships and as social needs. As one quenches the lower level
family provide the emotional needs needs, one starts thinking about the next higher level
need. The journey is un-ending while it is incredibly

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enriching too. We grow in the process, while we Once we get on to the cycle of excellence, fuelled
keep pushing our boundaries, discovering our un- by our purposefulness, the social context that we
known self. More we push, greater is the realization are in, can add that much more. Our family, friends
and impact we cause and higher is the enrichment. and relationships can give the strength and confi-
dence to head towards our larger vision. In this pur-
Each one of us, educated, is fortunate to have our suit, we can connect with people or groups, bodies
basic needs - especially the physiological needs who work in our space of interest. The engaging
and to a great extent, the safety needs, fulfilled by conversations with people who share our beliefs and
our family and well wishers. Yes, with self-doubts passions builds our community affiliations, that can
that question our own capabilities, we may fall short further reinforce our purposeful and our journey. List
on career or emotional stability. We can equip our- out our passions and interests, and look out for
selves to overcome these shortcomings with posi- people or bodies with whom we can engage to build
tivity. Believe in our own selves, have confidence in your journey. Stretch yourselves and reach out, get
our abilities and have conviction in our actions. We involved. We need to consciously build these con-
need to work on our state of mind, constantly, to be nects and affiliations.
positive and purposeful.
[These affiliations and connects can be further fu-
Cycle of Excellence elled by being alive and kicking on the social me-
dia, in the current context. The social media has the
power to make connects in an unimaginable way. It
Thought is a double edged sword, and certainly depends on
how we put it to use. If used wisely, it can make a
big difference to our journey, in the process enrich-
ing our profile.
confidence Language
Think of building your own website or a blog on one
of the platforms like wordpress, which is very easy
to handle. Be on Linkedin that enables you to con-
nect with professionals in your area of work. Get
onto Twitter to follow people, institutions and jour-
nals of eminence while sharing your thoughts too.
Outcomes Actions Start engaging and interacting with the connects in
a purposeful way. Slowly build your web presence
that can build your community and affiliations.]
Our thoughts are all powerful. Our positive thoughts
influence the language, the words we use. Repeated As you become active in various spaces, engaging
use of the energizing words brings about the com- with people and involved in activities, voicing your
pelling action. Compelling actions will result in thoughts and opinions while helping others also to
impactful outcomes, which reinforce the confidence grow in the process of your growing, the journey will
and positive frame of mind. This cycle of excellence start becoming more meaningful. This brings more
is unending. It is transformational. This fuels our jour- opportunities, more doors open to push your bound-
ney to realize the infinite potential within. aries and to realize greater possibilities and poten-
tials. In the process, knowingly or unknowingly, your
[In this frame of positivity, it makes imminent sense brand building is happening.
to establish our profile in the social space – social
media – the presence in the virtual space of this [Continue to share your learning on your website or
ever evolving connected world. Most of us are present blog as a regular process of self-growth. In the con-
in a few of these destinations like Facebook or nected world, you will be surprised how you create
Instagram to name a few, for fun mostly by sharing new connections with strangers and friends, who are
some interesting happenings in the form of stories on their path of excellence; who feel that you reso-
or photos or videos. It is time we think of being in nate with their thoughts and journey. It adds the
each of these spaces, with all the purposefulness domino effect to your growth, evolution and excel-
that shall add to our ever evolving self, to aid our lence. Many an entrepreneurial journey thus began]
realization of the larger picture and public good ]
PDP Handbook Page 29
As you continue on this journey, you will reach new heights, of course not without a lot of struggles. The
struggles are part of every success story. As someone said, “Overnight success is a result of twenty years
of slogging.” The struggles actually help you realize that you are more capable and you are on the path to
realize the higher goals that you have set for yourself, the big picture will continue to refine itself. Your
mission of realizing your potential and goals, will certainly be aided by the profile that you have been
building on the social media in more ways than you had ever imagined.

4P FRAMEWORK for showcasing your PROFILE

I shall wind up this article with a 4P framework to share your profile. Kindly dig deep and explore on each
of these dimensions to give insights into who you are and will be. Work towards enriching each of these
dimensions, by creating opportunities or taking advantage of one.

Purpose Professional
• Sharing of your larger vision and purpose • Learning/knowledge - Share the schools that
conveys your outlook towards life. It conveys the you have attended and every degree or
direction you are heading and how your past or certification that you may have; other courses
present connects to the future. that you might have pursued beyond your
graduation or academic requirements
• Institutions, employers and employees alike will • Skills are important because they show
enjoy seeing what goals a person has. Let Institutions / Employers and networking
these goals be both career oriented and connections why they should connect with you.
personally oriented, such as scuba dive, rock They showcase why you would be an asset to
climbing, music or blogging, shayari… the institution/company and to the person.
Skills can include leadership, management,
organization, communication, hard work and

Passions Public Good

• Interests and passions give people a feel of who • This is an opportunity for you to stand apart
you are as an individual. This makes people from other candidates because many people
connect to you as a person on a personal level. overlook this dimension.
• This also shows you being a keen learner who • Share personally meaningful values, important
is not afraid of exploring the unknown; ones - such as innovation, health, fitness,
responsibility, success, challenges or intellect,
and share instances of demonstration
• As a very balanced individual with avenues to • List your experience and contribution to any
reduce stress and rejuvenate oneself to be on form charity work or public good.
the path of purposefulness.

Believe in yourselves. Build your profile. Enjoy the journey of realizing your larger purpose.

Page 30 PDP Handbook

 Who Am I - Building Your Profile

Describe some incidents in your life that you remember / look back on often.

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List some attributes (at least three) of yours that you are really proud of.

Describe some instances where these attributes helped you achieve a good outcome.

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List a few areas (at least three) where you believe that you need to improve.

Describe some instances where you could have achieved more if you had been better in the above-
mentioned areas.

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Starting with the earliest, list out, in a chronological sequence, all formal or non-formal education and
learning that you have gained from.

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List all extracurricular activities that you have ever participated in. Also mention any and all awards that you
may have won for these. (Mention all activities and events that you participated in even if you do not have
a certificate for a particular activity / event / prize/ award.)

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List your hobbies, areas of interest. Also mention any and all awards that you may have won for these.

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Describe the major changes that have happened in your life so far. Mention the people, purposes, goals
and other dreams that have caused these significant changes/ decisions.

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Describe the future developments in your life as you foresee them. These developments may be related to
your education and career or personal life, etc. There is no constraint on which area of your life is affected
by the development.

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Describe all that you have done in order to realize the changes that you mentioned in the previous question.

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Now you are ready to handle the formal questions regarding your core areas. Do note that the purpose of
the next few questions is to help you prepare for any question that you may face in an interview or in an
application form. Thus, there will be many questions in this list which will be variants of each other or which
may be just restatements of each other. This will ensure that your practice is thorough and that you are not
thrown off track merely by a different variation of a question.

Questions regarding your Personal Attributes:

1. Tell us about yourself. / Introduce yourself. / Describe yourself.

2. What are your strengths? Mention at least three.

3. Give examples of incidents where each of these skills has helped you.

4. What are your weaknesses? Mention at least three.

5. What have you done in order to improve on your weak areas?

6. Give examples of incidents where each of these weaknesses has hurt you.

7. Why should you be selected for your dream institute?

8. Why should you be rejected and denied admission to your dream B-school?

9. Describe how you typically respond to problems facing you.

10. Give examples of situations where you took charge of a difficult situation and resolved it.

11. What are the significant goals that you have set for yourself in the past?

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12. What were the significant challenges that you faced in realizing these goals?

13. How did you overcome these challenges and achieve your goal?

14. What lessons did you learn from these?

15. Describe one incident or event where you showed leadership skills.

16. Describe one incident or event where you initially stumbled, but eventually recovered and were able
to achieve your objectives.

17. Describe one incident or event in your life which you most regret. Also explain why you regret it. If
you were given the opportunity to re-live that incident, what would you do differently and why?

18. Do you believe that your future depends on you / your efforts more than on others?

19. What extracurricular activities have you participated in?

20. Why did you choose these activities?

21. How do you spend your spare time? / Apart from your studies, what areas interest you?

22. Why did you choose these areas? / How do these areas impact your career objectives? / How do
these choices influence you as a person?

23. Who is your idol / role model? Why do you admire him / her?

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24. Mention some things that you dislike about your role model. Why do you dislike these?

25. In what way (s) are you similar to your role model?

26. In what way (s) do you differ from your role model?

27. What do you want to be remembered as?

Questions regarding your Goals:

28. Why do you want to go for an MBA?

29. How will an MBA help you achieve your career objectives?

30. Have you ever considered going abroad for your MBA? Why?

31. What are the goals that you have set for yourself?

32. What are the obstacles towards realizing your goals?

33. How do you plan to go about achieving your goals?

34. What are your career goals?

35. What is your biggest dream in life?

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36. Apart from your primary goal, what other dreams/desires do you have?

37. What will you do if you do not achieve your primary goal?

38. What will you do if you are not selected to any B-school this year?

39. Besides MBA, which other areas interest you? Why?

40. If you could not do an MBA, what will you do?

Past Performance:

41. Explain/ Justify your academic performance.

42. Which is your favorite subject?

43. Why have you not decided to study further in your own area?

44. Considering your academic performance, are you capable of learning further?

45. Mention one important / some important project (s) that you have done/ completed so far?

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