Personal Learning

Paper

SPJIMR, Mumbai
People and Performance- I

03/09/2015

Saransh Shah

PGP-15- 059

It is often said that the art of getting to know oneself is a science in itself. I joined SPJIMR in
the month of June and since then; the journey has been one hell of a ride. It has been a unique
learning experience for me and I cherish every moment spent here. Every day is a day where
I learn something, from my peers, from my mentee, from my teachers. If there was ever a
place that could teach you humility, it is a B-School. The mere fact that a person has made to
SP speaks volumes about how that person has been at the pinnacle of the success ladder all
throughout his life, till now. But things change, very quickly. You realize youre no longer
the best, everyone here is equally good. But thats the thing about healthy competition, you
push yourself more and in the course get to know more about yourself, and improve as an
individual. The famous quote goes:
If you cant win, make the guy ahead of you break the record
Roger Federer couldnt have been who he is if not for the umpteen number of times Nadal
has pushed him to the corner, and vice-a-versa. Same applies for all the people who are at the
pinnacle; they have been pushed to better themselves every day. Sachin Tendulkar, arguably
the best batsman in the modern era, during his playing days, used to wake up every morning
and go to the practice session to better him because he knew; the only way to sustain is to
keep getting better every day. It is during such times that you learn things about yourself that
youve never really known.
My short stint till now at SPJAIN has been an enriching experience by any stretch of
imagination. The biggest learning that happened was during the 4 days of PG Lab. Apart
from letting ourselves flow like water, it helped us know ourselves better, the numerous
theories were applied to analyse and reflect upon the kind of personality we have and what
we want to be. There was a difference between the two, a gap that needed to be filled, and a
bridge that needed to be crossed.
Below is my attempt to put to words through the means of introspection and retrospection
what Ive learned about myself and how that learning can be applied in order to better it.
What is learning and how does one learn?
Learning according to me is the acquiring of knowledge or skills through study experience or
by looking at others. Kolbs tries to break down learning into 4 stages.

Concrete Experience (learning by feeling) learning from a new life experience and
relating to people by being sensitive to their feelings.
Reflective Experience (Learning by watching) carefully reflecting upon the new
experiences encountered and looking at it from a different point of view before taking
a decision.
Abstract Conceptualization (Learning by thinking) reflecting and intellectually
understanding the situation. This leads to conceptualization of a new theory about
things.
Active Experimentation (Learning by doing) implementing the new ideas formed in
real life and influencing people and events through action

Over and above that there are various styles of learning which are dependent on experience,
the background of the person and the behaviour in different scenarios and situations.

How do I learn?
My style of learning is watching and thinking (Abstract Conceptualization and Reflective
Observation). For me, I get affected the greatest when I can see an example before me. I
believe in learning by doing or watching. I tend to consider what happened, why it happened
and afterward shape a conclusion in my psyche in respect to what appears to be sensible. I
tend to additionally relate a great deal to what I have seen in the past to respond to diverse
circumstances. It gives me a reference. This is the way greatest learning happens for me.
Who am I?
The first question while introspecting is to ask ourselves Who am I? .We all have an image
of what kind of person we are, we attribute various adjectives to ourselves to qualify to
various groups. I am a person with high Self Esteem. I always like to feel important and like
to belong to the group that Im a part of. Self-Efficacy is the individuals belief in his or her
capacity to execute behaviour necessary to produce results. Through the feedback I received
from people, I come along as a confident person. I have belief in my abilities that I can carry
out any task in the best possible way. In the societal surrounding, I play different roles, as a
son, as a student, and as a friend to name a few.
As a son, I am very obedient and responsible towards my parents. Being the only child I am
pampered at home, and I understand the attachment my parents have towards me and I ensure
that I replicate the love and care by talking to them at-least once a day no matter wherever
Im. As a student, I seldom pay attention to the class, only when it interests me. Generally, I
end up preparing from various sources available. However, I always maintain the decorum of
the class and is well disciplined. As a friend, I can lend an ear to anyone who wants to share.
I am a very considerate friend and value the deep bonds very much in life. I maintain my
relations with utmost care and belongingness. I play the devils advocate at times and remind
him/her of the mistakes, but also stand by his side always.

As discussed above, we often tend to have a decorated image of ourselves in our mind, but it
is very important to know that do we reflect what we actually are (or we think we are). A
good way to figure that out is through the Johari Window. It helps us compare and contrast
between the image we have and the one that people have about us. It is a model of selfawareness that helps us to enhance our personal as well as interpersonal effectiveness.
0

80

OPEN
(68%)

100

BLINDSPOT
(17%)

85

100
HIDDEN (12%)

UNKNOWN
(3%)

The analysis of the Johari Window shows that I have a good percentage of Open Area, which
is the reflection of the fact that Im open to my peers and the people I generally work with. It
makes it easier for people to reach out to me and create bonds that can help in smooth
functioning of the tasks and assignments at hand. This openness helped build trust among the
team members and helped us work effectively.
I have a small unknown area meaning that there isnt much about me that Im unaware of
and people around me are also unaware of. The two critical areas to work upon therefore are
Blind spot and the Known. The blind spot area is such things that people know about me but
Im not aware about myself. Another interpretation of the blind spot can be things that I
imagine to be true about myself but the same is not seen by the people. One unusual such
feedback that I received was that I was unfriendly. This was probably the first time that
someone had told me so, because generally I thought that I was friendly with people. But
while wondering, I realized that this could be attributed to the fact that my interpersonal
interaction with some people was really less. I am not the one generally to start a
conversation and also start losing out interest very soon. I generally dont make an effort to
go out and interact much with people unless absolutely required. The people with whom Im
comfortable would describe me as completely different person. Once I develop a good
rapport, there is a completely different side of me that you can explore. Hence, I feel that
getting such feedback would help me reduce the blind spot and convert it to an open area.
The Hidden part is due to the fact that Im a very private person when it comes to displaying
emotions and feelings in the workplace or otherwise. I try to disclose only the relevant

feelings and information that is required. I always maintain a proper divide between work and
personal life and try to ensure that both are not interrelated as far as possible. I am of the firm
believer that one should live his work when he leaves office. I believe in doing the things at
their allocated time. There are times when managing both becomes very difficult but Ive set
my priorities and that help me chose in a dicey situation. Another aspect of my personality is
that I keep my feelings and emotions very private. Unless you know me very well, youll
never see my emotional side. The people who are close to me know Im an emotional person
but the acquaintances would beg to differ on that fact, because I like to keep that part hidden.
I have a personal and a professional life and I like to keep them apart as much as possible.
Whether I succeed in doing so in the long run is another question, but I would always like
this to be the case in an Ideal situation. To improve on my interpersonal skills and increase
the open area, Ive taken some steps like being a part of Finance Committee and also taking
part in various corporate competitions where I would interact with different people from my
batch and create a good bond which goes beyond the two years.
In the wake of knowing me through an outward parameter based on peoples perception it is
additionally imperative to know myself on through inborn lenses as well, to know that what I
am from within. There are various tests done by us to figure out and analyse the kind of
person we really are.

Personality:
Personality alludes to individual contrasts in characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling and
behaving. The investigation of identity spotlights on two expansive ranges: One understands
individual contrasts specifically identity qualities, for example, amiability or peevishness.
The other is seeing how the different parts of a man come together in general.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Myers-Briggs Type indicator is a psychometric survey intended to gauge mental inclinations
in how individuals see the world and decide. The questionnaire was created by Katharine
Briggs and Isabel Myers based on extrapolation of the theories proposed by Carl Jung

They are divided into 16 personality types based on the type of personality. There are 4 basic
traits of any individual and the same is being discussed below, about my personality and the
possible explanation for the same.

Extrovert vs. Introvert: I like getting my vitality from managing the thoughts,
pictures, recollections, and responses that are inside my head, in my internal world. I
frequently lean toward doing things alone or with maybe a couple individuals I feel
good with. I set aside time to reflect with the goal that I have a reasonable thought of
what I'll be doing when I choose to act. Thoughts are verging on strong things for me.
Now and then I like the thought of an idea that is superior to the actual thing.

Sensing vs. Intuition: Paying consideration on physical reality, what I see, listen,
touch, taste, and smell. I'm concerned with what is genuine, present, current, and real.
I see actualities and I recall subtle elements that are essential to me. I like to see the
pragmatic utilization of things and learn best when I perceive how to utilize what I'm
realizing. Experience identifies with me louder than words.

Thinking vs. Feelings: I trust I can settle on the best choices by measuring what
individuals think about and the perspectives of persons included in a circumstance. I
am concerned with qualities and what is the best for the individuals included. I like to
do whatever will build up or look after congruity. In my connections, I seem caring,
warm, and tactful.

Judging vs. Perceiving: I utilize my choice making (Judging) inclination (whether it

is Thinking or Feeling) in my external life. To others, I appear to incline toward an
arranged or deliberate lifestyle, as to have things settled and sorted out, feel more
great when choices are made, and like to bring life under control however much as
could be expected. Try not to mistake judging for judgmental, in its antagonistic sense
about individuals and occasions. They are not related.

Big 5 Model
This model compares the 5 broad domains or dimensions that are used to describe human
personality.
Emotionality stability describes a persons capability to withstand pressure. I scored on the
lower side receiving the label of being Resilient. It means that Im secure, unflappable,
rational, unresponsive, and guilt free. It suggests that Im not over-reactive and that I tend to
use a calm and composed approach towards solving any problem. Im confident of my skills
and back myself to get through any situation and this always helps me build my rational
thinking.
Extraversion dimension captures our comfort level with associations. I fall under the
ambivert category with adjectives like private, independent and reserved described for me.
This is mostly true as I have always enjoyed spending time in small groups and like to do my
work with a small group of people Im comfortable with.

Resilient

Adapter

Moderator

Ambivert
Focused

The openness to experience dimension deals with how well one is able to express himself
and how open one is to trying new things. I fall under the Moderate category while tending
towards the Explorer category. I understand that although I do like to try out new things and
ideas and explore them, I like to limit them.
The Agreeableness dimension refers to a persons penchant to differ from others. I fall under
the category of adaptor meaning Im readily willing to adapt to various situations that Im
put into. Various traits like trusting, humble, altruistic, team player and frank describe me
well.
Lastly, the conscientiousness dimension is a measure of reliability. I fall under the category
of Focused. This is quite true as I am associated with adjectives like dependable, cautious,
organized, disciplined, cautious and stubborn.
Locus of Control
I as an individual am a man who assumes responsibility of things, regardless of the possibility
that the outcome is great or awful. I believe that each errand is in my grasp, and subsequently
the outcome it gets will also be on the premise of the efforts put in by me. I endeavour hard
and with great determination and perseverance to achieve the desired. I get to be jaded and
lose my focus when I am going to achieve my target. Be that as it may, win or lose, I take up
the onus of its prosperity or disappointment and I have nobody to accuse but me.

Emotions
Emotions are strong feelings deriving from ones mood, circumstances, and relationships
with others. The EQ map result that I received during PG lab helped me analyse various on
various parameters. On most of the parameters my score was vulnerable except for work and
personal pressures and general health which were at optimal level. This can be attributed to
the fact that I dont generally like to take pressure even if one exists. I tend to calm myself
and have the self-belief and confidence that I can get out any situation. I ensure hygiene in all
my activities and that reflects in my optimal levels of general health and life events. There are

on the other hand factors which are in the vulnerable zone. These are the factors which may
be influenced by the emotional stability of the person at the moment of answering, hence
expected to change from time to time. But the factor in Cautionary is Interpersonal
connections which are in alignment with my personality so far and Im working towards
addressing this through being part of various committees and events and interacting with
diverse set of people on diverse scenarios.

EQ Map

One big part of my personality are my Emotions. They are a part of me, and I am sensitive,
small things influence me and I get to be sad or cheerful for little distresses and delights that
this world needs to give which is not something I would desire, I have to figure out how to
keep my feelings under control, and think from my mind, as opposed to from my heart. I need
to understand that feelings can at some point hamper objectivity and I don't need that.

Motivation
Motivation is characterized as the procedures that record for a individuals intensity, direction
and diligence of efforts towards accomplishing an objective. Whatever we do in life has a
rationale behind it. The more grounded the inspiration for an objective, the bigger is the
measure of efforts we put into it.
Need Hierarchy Theory
Abraham Maslow came up with the need hierarchy theory which separates the drivers of
motivation for humans into 5 broad heading. This follows the hierarchy that only if the lower
level of needs are fulfilled, does the fulfilment of a higher level need motivate an individual.
For example, only after the Physiological needs of the individual are met does the safety, love
and belongingness can act as motivators for an individual.
I feel that currently Im at the love/belonging stage, where I desire for love and belongingness
in every group that I am a part of. That according to me is the biggest factor for how
effectively am I able to deliver in that scenario. I like to feel needed and respected and I keep
myself away from groups where I feel that I dont belong.

I like to garner attention, at times, just as a stamp of the fact that Im an integral part of the
group. Once this need is fulfilled, I am motivated by the Esteem factor, where I strive to
outperform everyone. I always like to perform better than most people.
McClellands Theory:
McClellands Theory helps us to identify out work-assessment needs, things that motivates
and individual to strive for excellence. Every individual has different triggers that work as
motivators. The theory says that irrespective of who, what and where a person is, everyone
has a Need for Power; Need for Affiliation; and Need for achievement. There may be one
or two dominating factors that can drive an individual, and that is dependent on a lot of
external
and
internal
factors.

I as an individual is motivated the Need for Affiliation. I have this need for belongingness to
a particular group that is needed for me to work. Ignorance of the same can be a big turn-off

for me. Even my FIRO-B scores reiterate the fact that I need Inclusion in a particular team or
social circle for me to perform to the best of my abilities.
We all have extraneous and natural inspirations. Some of my extraneous inspirations are
'money related remuneration', 'being connected with prestigious affiliations' and 'having a
title'. My characteristic inspirations are 'creating an impact', 'helping other people and 'being
consistent with my convictions'. Most of the time, it gets to be hard to adjust your inspirations
with your activities. Amid my short spell as a Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte, I
understood that despite the fact that although I was connected with a prestigious affiliation,
there was still not that satisfaction of actually making an Impact, and being consistent to what
I actually wanted to do. This is one of my prime target to figure out through an MBA, what I
actually want to do ahead, it is a place where I need to do some soul-searching to figure out
where is it that I would fit best and which would fulfil all my requirements, both intrinsic and
extrinsic.
How do perceptions affect my behaviour?
Perception is how people perceive complex and simple things that are thrown at them. Every
individual is different with respect to the perspectives that they have. There are a lot of factor
that build an individuals perspective with respect to the various surroundings, experiences
that one experiences. There can be many biases that people have, knowingly or unknowingly, which they use to build their perception.
Its very easy to fall prey to one of these biases and let it affect your judgement and decision
making. One of the biggest biases that most people including me is stereotyping. While
working as a group, this is one of the biggest hindrances that I faced. We assumed things
about the person, based on the part of the country where he belonged to, like people from the
south are expected to be reserved and introvert whereas the exact opposite for those from the
north of the country. There have been many cases that this has been turned on its head.
Another bias that I tend to have is the confirmation bias, where if I have a plan or idea in
mind, I am always looking for things that can add weight to my point and tend to ignore those
that are opposite. Even during group meetings, at time I like to back people who support my
ideas with theirs and sometimes dont take into account other peoples ideas. I realize that
this is something that I need to work upon as I may be missing out on some great and
important ideas while conforming to my idea. I am working towards this by letting people
discuss their ideas before I present myself so that I can get to know about what they have in
mind and can be implemented.
While working for competitive exams, when I would not perform well, I would tend to
attribute the same to external factors like paper difficulty, no proper alignment of various
sections and tend to ignore my shortcomings. This is like falling into self-serving bias.
However, I have had the realization that in the long run, this will only affect me negatively as
I would not improve myself. The bias is mainly due to the fact that the confidence Ive in my
abilities and it is very difficult to undermine that. However, it is entering dangerous territories

and something that I need to work on in the long term, to keep improving myself from the
failures and take them in the right stride.

Interpersonal Skills:
If there was one segment, of my personality that I feel that I need to work upon the most is
the interpersonal skills, which has also been cautionary in the EQ map. This exercise has
helped me realize this to-do of my personality. I would like to distinguish this from the
ability of public speaking. I am able to communicate effectively when put into a situation
along with a group of diverse individuals, but when it comes to taking initiative to reach out
to people without any planned intention. Its a basic human need to have interpersonal skills.
When analysed from the perspective of a comprehensive Expressed-Want framework of
FIRO-B scored, there are three major fragments: Inclusion, Control and Affection.
Inclusion

Control

Affection

Expressed

Want

Inclusion: Both the express and want are pretty high and they are in sync with my Need for
Affiliation. I as an individual need to feel connected and included in a team, group or social
context where my presence adds value. I enjoy being at the middle of things and hate it when
something is hidden from me or not brought to my attention.
Control: While working as a team or group, my want and need for control are pretty
balanced. I dont demand autonomy, but I would like to have certain power and control in my
hand. I usually let people discuss their ideas and then come up with a mutual conclusion on
the correct way forward. I also dont like to control or influence people but let them be on
their own, as I believe that it the time when the person is able to deliver to the best of his
abilities.
Affection: There have been incidents in peoples life that change the individual, shake up
their belief systems. I for once was who would have had high expression and want for
affection but in the current scenario, Ive changed to such an person who neither shows much
love and affection towards others, neither demand the same from them. This has been
criticized by some of my friends, but its difficult for me to change this. I am working on
improving but such things take time to come to light.

What changes do I need to make to improve my effectiveness in dealing with others?

The introvert that I am, I like to make friends but Im very sceptical and thus have a closed
circle of people I am close and trust completely and its very difficult to get into that. Having
said that I make sure that I maintain a nice relationship with most of the people, however my
introverted nature is a road block into converting those relationships into lifelong friendships
I tend to ignore peoples ideas and like to enforce my idea on the group, this brings out a
completely contrasting side to my personality from that mentioned above. I am working on
this through different groups like ADMAP, Acad Group, Competition Groups, and while
working in these groups, I have learnt to listen to everyone and being open to ideas and
suggestions of others.
From the exercise of knowing oneself better, if there was one more factor that I need to work
upon is that I am emotional, and I get carried away by emotions, which sometimes hampers
rational thinking, I do things for people and myself on the basis of emotions, and sometimes I
realize later that it is the wrong thing to do. Hence, I need to learn to separate my emotions
from my thinking, and to keep emotions at bay. I need to make sure those emotions dont
come in way of my growth and are kept away while taking decisions. During my stint at
Deloitte, I made sure I worked on this aspect and it helped me take some tough calls and
stand by them during the difficult times which ultimately benefitted the firm and me, both.
Having started on this journey, I need to make sure I take it to proper conclusion where
emotions are used as and when required and should be only used until it doesnt affect me
negatively.
Managing Conflict
Conflicts are something that I don't care for getting included in, its depleting and includes no
esteem, its fairly a negative utility thing. I as a man abhor it when individuals battle or have
clashes, I in these circumstances turn into the broker and attempt to take care of the issue, by
turning into a belligerent third party and coming to a centre point between the two clashing
feelings that the two groups have. This I do just on the off chance that I trust that other
persons supposition is not totally wrong. When I feel that the thought of the other individual
isn't right I attempt to face off regarding and talk about the perspectives and attempt to go to
an answer that is satisfactory to the two of us.
Working and Interacting in Groups
We work and interact in groups due to different reasons. While working in a group, there is
an immense amount of learning that can happen from peers and group members. I generally
prefer to work alone, but at times working in groups also excites me. Generally projects are
such that you require people with diverse skill sets and thus working in groups also helps get
different view point and enhance our skills and knowledge.
During PG lab, there were many activities while working in groups was really fun and there
were lot of take-away from that. The ability to gel with people and work as a team was very
important to achieving the target. Managing conflicts was an integral part of the activity. The
part that I liked the most was that people got together with so much enthusiasm to complete a

given task that they forgot all about any personal differences if they had any. Everyone was
willing to help out each other so the whole group could benefit out of that. The egg-drop
event particularly stands out for me, where the group was really united and people skipped
dinner, shared food, tasks were divided, complemented each other and worked towards
ensuring timely completion. Thus, we moved from me to we. This made me realize that
it is very important to have groups that shift the focus from individual to a group. Also, it
helped me improve my interpersonal skills.
How do I achieve personal leadership and become an integrated individual?
The three traits of mine that stand out are:-Attention to Detail; Analytical Skills; and
Persuasion according to the AQ map results. While aligning myself to one of managerial,
entrepreneurship and leadership trait, the one that is significantly high in me is the
Managerial Skills.
If I had to conclude about the kind of person Im based on my introspection and through the
medium of this assignment is as follows:
I am a warm, affectionate and gentle person; and possess a deep understanding of needs and
feelings of other people. I am very reliable, and people can easily trust me to get things done
in the right way. I possess rich inner thoughts and is very creative. I appreciate art and
beauty; and have good visualization power.
I have a good memory of things which is closely related to my value system. I am very
traditional and believe in following the rules laid down by law or authority. I am very kind
and value security. I learn mostly by work and experience. I have a commendable sense of
space and aesthetics, and have an appealing personality. It is hard for me to say 'No' to
anyone. I am very responsible and dutiful in whatever work I undertake. I am a detail
oriented and feel it is important to be cooperative, and view the best in everyone.
To put things into perspective, the following story made an impact in my head and heart
when I was a kid and since then I have tried to inculcate the morals.
A young man asked Socrates the secret to success. Socrates told the young man to
meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man
to walk with him towards the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates
took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The boy struggled
to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning
blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man
did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, 'What did you want
the most when you were there?" The boy replied, "Air." Socrates said, "That is the
secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you
will get it." There is no other secret.

Moral of the Story:

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just
like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot
produce great results
The desire to achieve my goals and dreams is something that keeps driving me each and
every day. Every task of mine is aligned to strive and achieve what I desire and I put my best
foot forward at every task that I perform. I believe that famous quote of Steve Jobs that is my
mantra I follow:

-Saransh Shah
PGP-15-059