PLP Rahul Unnikrishnan1

7/28/2019 PLP Rahul Unnikrishnan1

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Personal Learning Paper

9/10/2011

Rahul Unnikrishnan


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People & Performance I

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Contents

Learning Style ..................................................................................................................... 3

Who am I? ........................................................................................................................... 4

What kind of a person am I? ............................................................................................... 6

How do my emotions drive my & others actions? .............................................................. 7

What motivates me as a person? ......................................................................................... 9

How do my perceptions affect my behavior? ..................................................................... 9

How do I relate to others? ................................................................................................. 10

How do I deal with conflicts? ........................................................................................... 11

How well do I work with teams and groups? ................................................................... 11

The road ahead .................................................................................................................. 13


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Personal Learning Paper

In life there are certain choices one needs to make at some point of time. These are thechoices pertaining to what one needs to do in their life. The choices one makes when they

realize what they actually want in their life. In India, a stable and respected career is seen

with utmost respect. People take pride in saying where they work and how successfulthey are. Being born and brought up in such a society obviously I have been influenced

by this thought and hence my decision to do my MBA, though this was not my primary

reason. Such a choice needs to be taken after thorough thought and introspection. It is noteasy and definitely not something which you can make in a day or 2. It is the outcome of

our thoughts, experiences, aspirations, dreams, character, behavior, etc. This is a choice

which will help script our path to success. This is the choice one will carry forward for

rest of their lives. So to make our decision to match with our expectation for the futurewe need to understand ourselves. Understanding ourselves in depth from various angles

makes it easier to make this choice.

Learning Style

Learning is a continuous process. The style changes as you grow up. Looking back I stillremember those days when my mom used to sit with me and teach me. Those were the

days when I did not like to learn. Learning was the key to get good marks and good

marks was the incentive to make my parents buy things for me. Over time I have becomeindependent and started loving the process of learning. This gave me lot of clarity as to

what I want to learn and how should I go about it. Experience has been a big factor in

developing my own pattern of learning and this pattern of learning is something which

will stick on to me for the rest of my life. In this context it is important to realize within a

framework where my pattern of learning falls. This is very important from anorganizations point of view when it comes to team compositions.

Kolbs model talks of 2 approaches towards grasping experience and transforming

experience.

ConcreteExperience

AbstractConceptualization

Grasping

ReflectiveObservation

ActiveExperimentation

Transforming


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Based on the combination of an individuals preferences there are 4 learning styles. I

would classify myself as an Accommodatora combination of concrete experience and

active experimentation. I am a person who likes to understand the concepts underlyingsomething rather than think and understand things. I would prefer to be explained the

basics before I can build on the application aspects of the subject. Once I understand the

concepts I would apply it to practical situations and learn the outcomes. Some of theinstances I remember include writing down derivations from the scratch to ascertain myunderstanding. I have also received feedback from people saying I fully understand

things before using them and not go by peripheral understanding. This does not mean my

learning style has been confined to this just that majority of my learning has been thisway. Going forward I think reflective observation and abstract conceptualization is also

important. Working in unstructured environments would require me to use my experience

and churn out solutions (thinking) and moving up in the corporate ladder would require

me to put greater use of reflective observation skill. I should try to develop theconvergers style of learning which is a combination of active experimentation and

abstract conceptualization over long run.

Who am I?

Half the philosophical theories wouldnt have existed had the answer to this question

been direct. This is a very powerful and insightful question. This is a question which canpropel oneself to higher levels of spiritual understanding. But let me confine here myself

to only some aspects about Who am I.

The first and the foremost thing about oneself is the self concept one has about himself.

The self concept goes a long way in deciding how we present ourselves. Self concept isessentially the perception about oneself in relation to a number of aspects like academics,

gender roles, etc. I believe I am a person who is oriented towards academics and I loveworking on things which interest me. I see myself as person who likes to take

responsibility and get things done. I like working with tight deadlines since that usually

gets the best out of me. I am generally confident about things I own up and try to involvemyself in a plethora of varied activities which will help me develop as a person andprepare myself for future. I think I understand my strengths and my decisions have been


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based on my understanding. I can predict fairly well how I will react in typical situations

and I have been using this to change some aspects about the way I behave. I believe that

success is the result of constant and sincere hard work and this keeps me motivated towork. When I look back I see that my thoughts and actions have been influenced a lot by

my parents and family. Being brought up in a balanced family (neither very conservative

nor very progressive) I think my actions bear the typical mark. I am a very risk averseperson and always try to take the concrete path against the shaky untried path. Stability issomething I view with lot of significance and that is something I always try to achieve.

Family comes as the topmost priority for me. I think all what I am now is due to constanthelp and support from them. Though they say I was very independent from a young age I

know it never would have been possible had it not been for their support. Showing me the

importance of values through their actions and inculcating them in me at a young age has

instilled in me a firm set of values which I believe in and the same has guided methroughout my life. These have helped me chose the right from the wrong, give due

consideration to human beings and do what is apt for the situation. Values instilled are an

investment for a lifetime and that is definitely one of the greatest gifts my family couldgive me.

When I look at my Johari window I realize that a big part of me is unknown both to

myself and others and another big portion is my blindspot. I think this speaks a lot aboutme. One major aspect is I have been always happy to stick to things I am good at doing

rather than venture out to try newer things. Nominating myself for the post of Finance

head of OJAS and finally getting selected for the post is a first time experience for me. Inmy undergraduate life I failed to see the point in taking up such a responsibility, but once

I realized it I took up the opportunity and I am happy I was selected for the post. This is

one of the many steps I have planned to take up to explore the unknown sides of me.

Taking feedback is another step which will help me understand my blindspots. Afterspending about 3 months in the institute I have been able to work closely with a good

number of people. This gives me enough number of people to take feedback from.

One feedback I receive from most of the people is the fact that I am painfully direct.

Though it is a part of my character and something which separates me from others I

would love to lessen it. Many a times this is mistaken for a rude reply or a do not carereply; especially when I am new to a person. My close friends know me well enough to

understand that I talk that way not because I am rude but I tell the truth at face value to

people.

If I am little mindful of what I say I think many more people would find me approachable.

This is especially important when you grow in the organization and you will required to

work for short durations with lot of people when there wouldnt the time to settle into a

relation with him/her.


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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

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OpenArena Blindspot

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Faade Unknown

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I think I am able to build good relationships with most of the people given some time. Iam that kind of a person who takes time to open up with people but once that threshold is

crossed I am an open book to my friends. I dont believe in building relationships with

many people rather I would love to have few close friends. I think my undergraduate life

has made this point very clear to me. I still keep very good contact with my close friends

from undergraduate. I believe in investing in long term relationships rather than shortterm ones. I think this develops more trust and depth to the relationship.

A timeline for the developmental process is tough to be ascertained and moreover it is a

continuous process. It is through concerted efforts that some of the behavioral aspects can

be changed. But yes I can surely improve things like my time management skills by the

end of first year at the institute. I am sure first year will give me many opportunities toshowcase and improve my time management skills.

What kind of a person am I?

Personality is defined as sum total of ways in which an individual reacts & interacts with

people. This is the most common definition of personality. I think to carry on furtherdiscussion on personality using one the Big Five Model exercise done at PG Lab will be

helpful. It essentially talks about 5 aspects and I felt it is one of those tests which aptly

describe my behavior.Emotionality parameter describes the ability of a person to withstand stress. The test

classified me as someone resilient that comes with a host of adjectives like secure,


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unflappable, rational, guilt free, etc. I think this is a very right description of me. I am not

really emotionally attached to anyone except my family. I am mostly independent and

able to make decisions with a clear mind and I rarely repent over what I did. I am able todifferentiate emotional aspects from working life and thus make clear decisions.

Extraversion talks about how comfortable one is with relationships. I fall under theambivert category which is a mix of characteristics like private at the same time sociable,reserved but at the same time extremely talkative with friends, etc. This is very true and I

think I have always enjoyed being this way.

Openness deals with how well one expresses his interests and how open one is to trying

novel ideas. Preserver was the heading under which I was classified. The typical

characteristic of a preserver includes being practical, conservative, efficient, depth of

knowledge, etc. I think one recent instance was when playing the DAS simulation.Despite our company doing particularly well I was very averse to taking any risk. At that

point if I had taken little risk I would have been able to perform even better in the game.

This showed me that I was a very conservative person.

Agreeableness refers to the tendency to differ from others. Being a negotiator I have in

me a mixture of characteristics like aggressive but frank, tough but team player, etc. I

believe in openly disagreeing with people rather than talking behind their backs or nottelling them. This might make me seem a challenger but with people I know really well it

helps me convey things easily.

The last of the big five is the conscientiousness which is a measure of reliability. I fall

under the category of focused which tells that I am dependable, organized, disciplined,

cautious and stubborn. This is a perfect description of who I am. I believe in doing work

and proving myself rather than wasting time on talk. Being stubborn doesnt reallypresent a good picture, but being stubborn on certain things has helped me stay the way I

am.

I think I need to develop many skills like being more proactive and showing more

concern for relationships. I think it is probably because of the support I got from family

and my relatives that I have not given due importance to other relationships. I knowfamily is something you have for all your life and that belief made me oblivious to other

relationships around me. Yes, I have got a good circle of friends from school and college

days. But I think a little more consideration for my friends can help me grow my circle.

How do my emotions drive my & others actions?

Emotion is a word which is often not completely understood. Wikipedia defines emotionas Emotion is the complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of

mind as interacting with biochemical (internal) and environmental (external) influences.

This is indeed a complex definition of emotion, but we must understand that emotion isnothing something easy to understand as well. One simple way of describing emotions

which all of us can relate to is Intense feelings that are directed at someone or


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something. Personally I associate emotional with being attached to someone very much,

taking remarks in a personal way rather than in the spirit, etc. People tell me I lack

emotional touch to my behavior. This I believe is a result of me being a candid and directperson. I am not really attached to anyone since I believe at some point or other you will

end up losing that someone. This belief has also made me immune to or unaware of

certain emotions which people generally expect from us. For example people generallyuse terms like cute, adorable, etc when they come across a kitten. I rarely associate thesewords with a kitten. I dont really find anything worth mentioning in a kitten.

This sort of behavior leaves me oblivious to emotional cues from other people too. I amoften left in an uncomfortable state when I encounter people who are depressed or are in

a bad mood. Firstly I am not sure how to respond to what they say and secondly I am a

person who loves to joke about things which all people may not find it appreciable. This

is clearly shown in my EQ Map also. I am vulnerable to emotional awareness of others.

As a budding manager I need to develop the skill of emotional intelligence. I also thinkthe affective events theory which talks about the emotional influences on employees at

the work place happenings could bear an effect on their work. A grumpy manager wouldleave his employees irritated and not really wanting to work. I was lucky enough to have

a very motivating and positive manager at my first job. His enthusiasm and eagerness

spread to me also and I was able to do a good job at work.

I think I am not a great motivator by talk, but I can do a better job by my actions. When I

talk based on what I have done, it gives me more confidence. Having done something

hands on gives you more command over the activity and when a problem arises you canrelate to it more easily. I can also perform well when faced with an adversity. At the PG

Lab since it was the first time I was going trekking I had to be really careful. To makematters worse the sole of both my shoes gave away and I was climbing a tricky hill with a

shoe which would be ill advised to wear even on level ground. I could successfullycomplete the trek and I think it was my belief in myself(Self efficacy) and ability to face

the adversity which helped me succeed.

EQ Map presents to me a plethora of areas for improvement. Compassion, emotional

expression, etc are some major areas requiring my attention. Developing these would


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have its impact on some of the other aspects of me as well. This can be cultivated from

the grass root level by trying to appreciate more the work of others, helping out people in

whatever way possible, etc.

What motivates me as a person?Motivation is what makes people achieve their potential in life. Motivation can be

anythingmoney, power, position, status, good feeling, passion or anything. Up to

certain stage in life people can be forced to do things. But beyond a point one needs tofind motivation to achieve greater things. I still remember how I was made to sit and

study for a stipulated time when I was a kid in class 3 or 4. By class 6 I was motivated to

study. The motivation at that point of time was getting into good books of the teacher and

to escape scolding at home.

Times have changed and so have I. Needs form an essential basis for deciding the

motivation. I have always wanted to hold a respectable position in society and be seen assomeone successful. With success, I expect to lead a comfortable life. This is the

fundamental need which formed by motivation to perform well. I always saw doing well

academically as one of the easiest ways to reach my goal. In simple words myexpectation at the end of the course, like most of the others, is a good job with a decent

pay package.

Connecting this with various theories of needs, Maslovs hierarchy of needs explains myneeds to an extent. I need to first ensure physiological needs followed by safety. Then

comes social needs and then esteem needs. A comfortable job allows me to meet my

physiological and safety needs. Social needs and esteem needs are satisfied by as yourgrow higher up in the job cadre.

Though I enjoy working alone, my short stint at my workplace made me realize the

importance of working as a team. I enjoy being affiliated with people and workingtogether rather than having power to control people. I enjoy when I am able to achievemy goals and I think this is the second most important factor after affiliation. I think

working in groups where you are familiar with your teammates helps the team cope upwith failure and come back focused more easily.

How do my perceptions affect my behavior?Perceptions go a long way into affecting my behavior. In this context I think perceptions

are formed by our experiences, what we have heard, how that something/someone comesacross to us, etc. As humans we all are prone to biases in our behavior. I think I havecertain strong biases like stereotyping. For example I tend to attribute certain

characteristics to all north Indians. This is based on the little experience I have had with

them. But I think after coming here and coming across a variety of people I realize how

wrong I was with this perceptionimportance of experiences.


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As I was talking about the stereotyping bias I have, the effect of this is seen in the way I

tend to behave. Since I approach that person with a preset mind and I expect certain kindof behavior from him, I will try to find elements of what I expect in him in his actions. I

think I used to be heavily influenced by this earlier. I think moving out of my home and

experiencing hostel life has helped me get to know people closer. This has helped meunderstand how the initial perception one gets about a person could be the exact opposite

of what he actually is.

On work front I think perceptions and behavior play a very important role. How a

manager perceives his team to be can go a long way in the teams performance. The

Pygmalion effect I think is a very true phenomenon. I was lucky enough to have a

manager who gave me enough freedom to work but expected a great deal of work fromme; not in terms of volume but more in terms of content and quality. And since it was my

first job I too wanted to show my capabilities. This combination actually helped me

perform well in my first project and thus earn an excellent review/feedback. I think thepower of expectations on me is very high. I try my best to live upto the expectation when

someone expects something from me if there is appropriate incentive for me in it.

How do I relate to others?

Interpersonal relations are very important in todays world. I think FIRO B scores give afair idea about my relationship needs. My need for inclusion is less compared to how

much people include me. This goes in line with my feeling of happiness or satisfaction

when I am alone and pursue interests I like. I would spend an evening watching a movie

or playing/watching sports rather than going out for a party with relatively less closefriends.

I enjoy being giving a free run but when it comes to me controlling others I am not solenient. I prefer some degree of control over the proceedings. My want for control ismore than how much I want to be controlled. If I am in charge of an event or program I

would like people working with me to be accountable to me. I enjoy working with people

who enjoy being responsible for the task they take up and do a good job.When it comes to affection I am reserved in expressing it. I observed only lately. When I

reflect on this I cannot really find out any particular why this is less. I just dont feel

expressing it is really necessary. The other side of this is my need for affection is also


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very less. I think this is because I was independent from quite a young age. I enjoyed

doing things my way and was happy to do it my way. The result of this I am never really

comfortable when people try to get close with me. My family and a few good friends arethe only people who are really close to me.

Inclusion Control AffectionExpressed 5 4 1

Wanted 2 2 1

How do I deal with conflicts?

I think conflicts are a necessary evil. Conflicts are necessary to ensure there is idea

creation, finding out ways to do things in a better way, think outside the obvious andensure healthy competition. Conflicts can also cause problems within teams, lack of

willingness to work with certain people, etc.

I think I am more of a conflict avoider. This does not mean I take up my points if I feel Iam right. I generally try to talk it out with the person I am having the difference of

opinion unless its a group. Also I argue for my point only when I am very confident of it.

I try to validate my idea or look for sufficient proof to back it up. But one thing I alwaysmake sure is tell the other person that there was nothing personal in the conflict. This

may not be really necessary in the corporate set up, but I have had experiences where

people take it in a personally. Hence I do this.

I havent really had the opportunity to test my conflict resolution skills since most of the

conflicts have been at college with my friends where resolution of conflicts is easier. In

the 6 months I worked I never really had any conflicts with anyone. From what I haveexperienced and observed lack of proper communication is one of the main reasons for

conflicts among friends. Thus compromising was the most common method used to

resolve conflicts. I think I handle conflicts pretty well since my friends have come to meon various occasions to get a third persons opinion.

How well do I work with teams and groups?I think groups are formed for satisfying the needs such as security, status and social needs.

A group or circle is formed because being with a group makes us more confident and we

have someone to take help from or bank on.


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I have learnt about importance of team work from playing basketball. Sports are a greatway to learn to trust your team mates, be selfless and work together to achieve success.

The fact that success can be achieved only through cooperation makes team work all the

more essential. I think this realization has made me a strong player. I enjoy taking

responsibilities and making sure I deliver what I took up. I believe I am a goodcontributor to the team and try to make my contribution stand out. I think the airplane

making competition at PG lab was one instance where I could use my skills to ensure

success of the group. Since the group was entirely new to each other it took some time toget started. I was able to get the group working by making a simple model of plane which

triggered contributions from other members and brought the group alive.

I think Belbins team roles are a decent indicator of my strengths and the roles I generallyplay in teams. Though I have scored the highest points in team worker role, I dont think

that is the role I play best. I think the roles which came a close second describe me better.

Completer-finisher and Monitor-evaluator came second in terms of points. The typicalfeatures associated with these roles and which matches in my case are painstaking,

orderly, anxious, sober, unemotional, prudent and conscientious. These adjectives

encapsulate almost all the roles I play as a team member. I am able to relate to theseeasily with the kind of roles I play in my academic group. The next highest scoring role

was coordinator with typical attributes like calm, self confident, controlled, etc. I think

along with the attributes from the previous roles this completes all the roles I play in a

team.

I am a person who takes some time to trust a person completely. Initially I find it hard to

trust others with important work. I try to make sure I am a part of it and see to it that it is

completed. But as I gel with the team and know them better I trust them. I trustingdepends on a huge extant to the kind of task the team is doing. If the importance of the

task is little or nil, trusting someone is far easier for me. I think this is because of my

willingness to ensure that I should do whatever is in my capability to achieve success.


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The road ahead

I think the road ahead for me is very clear. I clearly understand my strengths and am

happy about what I am now. Though I am not exactly clear on what is my long term aim,I know corporate ladder is not the answer. I want a life where I have enough time forfamily and pursue my interests. Yes, I want to be a part of corporate world and work for

some time before settling down. Obviously the best time for this is right after the course

when I am fresh and without any responsibilities.

I think my personality is dominated by the characteristics of a strong task completer or

monitor. The conscientiousness element is very high which hinders my creativity. In factit shuts it out completely as shown in the EQ map (cautionary level). I think I need to

improve creativity since that is an important aspect as a manager. A monotonous manager

rarely can make a team work attain excellence or full potential. Another very important

trait I need to develop is compassion which has a good influence on relationship quotient.I have received feedback from a close friend of mine saying I dont appreciate things as

much as I should. This was an entirely new feedback to me. When I started observing

myself in a couple of situations I realized this was true. Since then I have put effort to

appreciate people and I think I have started fairly well when I received a response Youare actually saying this? when I recently congratulated someone.

This is just one aspect of compassion. I think empathizing with people is another aspect Ineed to develop. I fail to see things from the point of view of others and give my

comments thinking only from my point of view. I have had instances where I have

laughed at people hearing their plights. Looking back I have felt bad for them, but the

damage was done with respect to the relationship. This explains why I have goodrelationship with only a few people. This is further substantiated by cautionary level in

relationship quotient. The other problem was I realized this aspect quite late and since

then I have been trying to put in more effort to maintain relationships. This is something Ishould develop over the time I will spend at SP Jain.

I major change which has been happening has been my attitude towards life as a whole. Inever really thought about life ahead other than what I should do nextin the immediate


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future. I dont know if it is because of the influence of people around me over here or it is

because of the fact that chances of me doing any more full time courses is less, I have

started thinking about how to plan for the future. I think in this context it is veryimportant for me to analyze develop awareness of my actions and to refine my behavior. I

think this awareness bug has caught up to me in the form to me trying to be aware of how

I present myself to others. This has been also due to the kind of thought I have given overthe course of doing various exercises as a part of the course. The feedbacks received,assignment on our strengths and finally this complete analysis has helped me reflect on

myself and actually think how my actions have been and how it should be.

My final thought is I have a much better idea of my own jigsaw puzzle and now I know

how to go about and join all the pieces to complete myself.

PLP Rahul Unnikrishnan1

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