Dealing with rejection and failure

When trying to accomplish any major goal in life, rejection and obstacles are inevitable steps that every professional has to encounter not once but multiple times in life. The key is to learn from your mistakes and persist through it until you succeed. However, this is easier said than done. The critical differentiators between success and failure is the ingredient of the person, who befalls the same. It is not aptitude that creates the difference but attitude, as has been recognized in numerous highly cited research works (Shao et al. 1988, Jennifer et al. 2006; etc).

I have personally encountered numerous professionals who are actually extremely competent but find it hard to deal with failure and perceived rejection from the social and professional network due to the same.  Counseling helps in more ways than is perceived in making or breaking these otherwise highly competent people.

Success of course is the ultimate souvenir and the only testament to your efforts. However, dealing with rejection is critical to avoid burn-out and maintain self poignant efficacy and confidence to go on. Coping strategies include using emotional or instrumental support; self-distraction; denial; religion; venting; substance use; self-blame; and behavioral disengagement.

Of these, using social support (for emotional, instrumental and terminal goals), denial, venting, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame coping had negative effects on individual satisfaction and ends up in boosting sub-lingual dissonance within the mind. As more and more professionals used these coping strategies in dealing with the day’s most bothersome failure, the less satisfied they felt at the end of the day and subsequently their performance felt the effect of a dissonant mind in the long run. This creates job churn or disengagement from organizational citizenship behavior or even group affiliation.

In contrast, positive reframing (i.e. trying to see things in a more positive light, looking for something constructive feedback from first hand experiences), factual acceptance and humor coping had positive effects on satisfaction. It has been observed that professionals using these coping strategies in dealing with failures, became more satisfied and less stressed they felt at the end of the day (Stoeber et al., 2006). The finding that positive reframing of relatively bitter experiences in the professional sphere was helpful for professionals having extremely high perfectionist goals and long term self-improvement commitment is particularly important. This establishes that even people high in perfectionistic concerns will have a tendency to be dissatisfied no matter what they achieve, are able to experience high levels of satisfaction if they use positive reframing while attempting to cope when dealing with perceived failures. The same also applies for all professionals even if they are somewhat in the “cross the fence” stage where they are yet to taste success majorly.

Do let us know, if this helps you in dealing with stress from fears of failure and rejection.

 

How to write a Resume or CV – Tips and Sample

The most important facet while applying for a job is presenting one’s competency through a resume or CV. So how should one present one’s CV so that the first barrier, of getting noticed amidst hundreds of applicants, is successfully crossed. Here are few tips every professional should keep in mind while writing the curriculum vitae. Always remember, the first round while selecting a candidate through the CV is via elimination, while the second round to finalize a hire is through selection via interviews.

1. Your resume is not the biography of your life. It is should only capture your professional aspects, including few major sections like academics, awards and recognitions, achievements, positions of responsibilities, extra-curricular relevant to the application, publications if any and past relevant work experience. Of these, academics and work experience are the often the most important sections that get you the interview call.  Ensure your strengths are highlighted.  Ensure that your contact details are mentioned, preferably in the header or footer.
2. In the work experience section, highlight your organization name, period worked for and role details, chronologically. Also be sure to highlight how your performance created a difference, if possible, quantitatively. Also, mention if your work was given any formal recognition, it is always a cake cutter.
3. As a thumb rule, a CV where work experience is lower than 5-7 years should not exceed 1 page. If your CV exceeds 1 page, ensure it reaches 2 pages completely, else cut down the content to 1 page. Simply put, the HR manager will have hundreds of applicants and necessarily lacks the time to go through lengthy CV where substance of key importance may be diluted amidst non-relevant information.
4. The minimum font size for writing a CV is 10, while don’t make it larger than 12. Use a regular font like Times New Roman, Calibri, Ariel although sometimes fonts like Garamond, Cambria and Georgia are preferred by many professionals.
5. Typically, line spacing should be 1 to 1.5. Do remember, a CV which cant reach 1 page with 1.5 line spacing and 12 size font, may not be impressive. So for starters / freshers, if your CV seems too small (say half page only), you need to dig deeper into yourself to find the facts which you may have overlooked to mention in your CV.
6. It is often a good idea to highlight major sections, using a colored and slightly bigger font or using font background shading. The recruiter then can easily read the sections he is more interested into. Increased readability of your CV can transcend to increased initial responses from potential recruiters.
7. Put points in your CV which is verifiable and factual. Don’t write about things which are intrinsic qualities like how passionate you are, or your punctuality. However, if you had been awarded for your performance or punctuality in meeting deliverables, be sure to mention that.
8. A great CV should highlight your strengths and hide your weakness. Keep the sections that you may not want to highlight in the middle sections of the page. Ensure the words or phrases you want to draw attention to are highlighted (bold) .
9. Ensure that whatever you write is crisp and devoid of fat. A good way to deliver this is write in bullet points and within each point, highlight the word or phrase you would want to draw the recruiter’s attention to.
10. Finally, please do remember, while emailing your CV to a potential recruiter, do add a cover letter highlighting that you are highly interested in the position and why you are highly suitable for the same, and how the opening is in line with your career objectives. A CV without a good cover letter WILL go unnoticed 90% of the times.

So how should Harry Potter write his CV if he were to present it at the auror’s recruitment drive, following these tips? Check this out his resume to get an idea of how to present yourself for a job interview through a CV to minimize the risk of preliminary elimination.

Do let us know if you have any feedback regarding CV writing tips.

Business Negotiation – Tips to improve Skills

The Art of Negotiation

A ‘negotiation’ is a conversation between two or more parties where the outcome has yet to be decided. Many people enter ‘negotiations’ with a clear and defined outcome in mind and the intention to accept nothing less.  Making demands and negotiating are not interchangeable or even similar and you should be clear which activity you intend undertaking.

Most negotiations are stunted or hindered as both parties seek to gain advantage over the other.  These ‘aggressive’ exchanges often result in the focus becoming personal and subjective rather than impersonal and objective. Properly conducted, a ‘negotiation’ can be a very positive experience for all parties involved and not just during but long after the discussions are completed.

Every negotiation will result in one of 4 outcomes.

The objective of all parties conducting the negotiation would be to arrive at a Win-Win situation for both.

So How to play a Win-Win game?

Be Yourself.

People like to do business with people they can engage with and trust.  Make sure you’re open, honest and be very conscious of your non-verbal communications too. Sitting forward and encroaching could be seen as aggression; sitting back and slouching could be seen as disrespectful and flippant.  Avoid looking disinterested or resting your head on your hands.

Be attentive, sit up straight and maintain friendly, comfortable eye contact.  Use active listening skills such as nodding in agreement, making audible sounds of acknowledgement, gently imitate body language and speech rhythms and ask relevant questions.
If it’s appropriate, share some personal information.  Talking about family or interests could establish a rapport but be careful not to offend or alienate the other party with extreme views.

Never Lie
Don’t overstretch the truth; don’t over exaggerate and never ever lie!  You will be found out at some point and, when you are, all trust will be lost and you will never be in a position to negotiate again.

Be Present
Be present and in the moment, listening to everything that’s said and picking up on subtle verbal and non-verbal clues.  Use questioning to ensure you understand everything and don’t make assumptions. Understand fully your opposite number’s position – what are they proposing; what are they asking for; what do they want and not want; why they want it.

Establish Common Ground
Establish the common ground and then use this commonality to build on.  Where are the shared interests, goals, objectives?  How can you help them whilst also helping yourself?
This also affirms your positive listening skills, demonstrating that you’ve placed the wishes and desires of your opposite at the very centre of the conversation.

Show Respect
Show that you respect your opposite by taking some time to consider their views, desires and perspectives.  Dismiss nothing out of hand and be prepared to explain why you are rejecting something, giving them the opportunity to understand what matters to you.

Make your offer
Now you’re ready to make your offer and this should be based on your expectations but also on the preceding discussions reaffirming that you’ve been listening and that you’re trying to encompass your desires with your opposite’s. This is also the perfect time to discuss where you could negotiate further and what’s non-negotiable but it also helps to explain why some aspects are non-negotiable.  If you can’t move on price because of overheads, say so but explore where you could offset this (perhaps with reciprocal marketing or something mutually beneficial).
The ‘Art of Negotiation’ is quite simply getting a good deal for all parties involved or reaching a consensual agreement for mutual benefit.
Be careful not to compromise too much – this is a business transaction and whilst mutual respect, honesty and flexibility will aid the process, the outcome may be that the deal on offer isn’t for you and you walk away, happy that you’ve explored all options and haven’t betrayed yourself or your organization. That doesn’t mean you don’t respect each other, in fact quite the opposite – you respect yourself as much as you respect them.

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This article was authored by Collin Millar (Twitter @colin_millar), a guest blogger at Business Fundas.Colin is the Chairman of Chartered Management Institute (CMI, Glasgow), an EFQM Business Excellence Practitioner & Accredited Assessor.  Colin Graduated in Management from the Open University Business School and has held several senior positions including Head of Criminal Records Bureau for a Scottish Police Force and Head of Operations for a Scottish based charity.

Values and Attitudes: a case study (2)

Our values are principles or beliefs that serve as guidelines to help us make decisions about actions, behaviors and life choices. They reflect what we value and how we feel about the rightness or wrongness of things. Attitudes are how values are manifested in our actions and thoughts to others. ATTITUDES are our feelings towards certain ideas and dictate how we react in concrete situations.

In this case study, we analyze the values and attitudes in Lagaan, the bollywood superhit movie of 2007. (Part 2)

Identifying Instrumental Values.

Bhuvan’s value of collectivism was in his accepting the challenge.Also Captain Russels individualism and superiority complex was portrayed when he decided to actually lay down the challenge to bhuvan, and this was clearly not appreciated by his superiors.The raja’s values of Dharma over Karma was expressed when he was asked to consume meat,in return of the favour asked.The collectivism of the villagers was expressed when they united to fight against the wrong that was being done towards them.The uncertainty avoiding values of the villagers were expressed when they did not want to tke up the challenge.Then Deva Singh Sodhi’s instrumental values came in the act in his joining the team,against his terminal values of fighting against the british.The values of the caste system became evident when bhuvan invited kachra to play,but eventually bhuvan managed to ignite the collectivism of the villagers. Collectivism was again portrayed when Lakha’s Individualistic act of betrayal became public. The values of winning,at the cost of ethical sportsmanship,was portrayed by the british players during the game.

Biographical Characteristics:

Age:  The impact of seniority has been seen throughout the film, especially in times when Bhuvan tries to speak in defiance of the british raj, but the senior villagers prevent him from doing so.When bhuvan actually first started to play the game, an incident occurs, when the ball moves towards gauri, and when she tries to give it back to him, she is ordered by her father to tend to household activities. Throughout the film, it is seen that the important positions in the village social architecture, like the mukhiya, is held by senior persons.It is not as if seniors do not let the juniors to speak out their perspectives and views, but the status of seniors still remains. In fact, there has been several occasions throughout the movie when the youth can actually make the senior citizens see reason although initially they were less inclined to do so. The age factor has been key in deciding the values of the individuals, with respect to their openness. The youth had been actually portrayed to be more upto the challenge, and ready for a change, while the seniors were not really ready to accept changes in their thought processes.

Gender:  It has been observed through out the film that feminine characters has been portrayed as those with feelings, and although the society of the village has been purely patriarchal in terms of holding the key positions like the mukhiya,women has been associated with  respectful persona that cared for the rest, and saw to it that the family needs were taken care of. They tended to the old, weak and the injured and sick people.It was especially illustrated when during game practice sessions gauri came with the meals for the players, and even coerced them to eat.During the practice sessions, when the players got bruised, under the guidance of Harikaka, they tended to the players. The behavior of Elizabeth has been a sharp contrast to that of her brother, who was arrogant and unkind, to the core and expressed masculinity.

Caste: Caste system was prevalent in those days, and that also took a centre stage in the later half of the movie when Bhuvan invited kachra to play in his team. Kachra was referred to as being untouchable or “Achut” and the rest of the team initially was very adamant about leaving him out of the team. It took the inspirational character of Bhuvan to actually convince the villagers to move away from the caste bias and play unitedly and portray collectivism.

Race: A scene flashes to the inner eye is when throughout the movie, the Indian villagers were mistreated by the british raj as being native and insults were hurled at them at random and they were severely penalized even for small “mistakes”. The Indian villagers were shown to be beaten up, and Captain Russel went to the extent of saying that the natives would for ever live under the soles of the britishers. This shows the complete disregard of the human being and the racist feelings and attitudes that took centrestage when the plot of the movie unfolded. Even the british loyalists were not free from insults, and towards the end of the match, it was seen that even the most loyal Ramprasad revolted due to the constant differential behavior that was meted out to him on a regular basis.
Our values are principles or beliefs that serve as guidelines to help us make decisions about actions, behaviours and life choices. They reflect what we value and how we feel about the rightness or wrongness of things.

 

Values and Attitudes : A case study (1)

Our values are principles or beliefs that serve as guidelines to help us make decisions about actions, behaviors and life choices. They reflect what we value and how we feel about the rightness or wrongness of things. Attitudes are how values are manifested in our actions and thoughts to others. ATTITUDES are our feelings towards certain ideas and dictate how we react in concrete situations.

In this case study, we analyze the values and attitudes in Lagaan, the bollywood superhit movie of 2007.

First, an understanding of the needs pyramid is essential for further appreciation of the case analysis.

The need pyramid typically drives the values and attributes of individuals. The characters  of lagaan are also not free from the effects of this hierarchy of needs, first hypothesized by Maslow.

Values and Attitudes: The Flow in Lagaan.

The attitudes in the movie become evident when an argument starts between goli and bhura, reflecting their affection for their children and poultry respectively.Then gauri professes negative affective attitude towards Lakha.The oncoming clouds spark behavioral and affective attitude driven actions amongst the villagers starting a celebration.Then the behavioral component of bhuvan’s towards the british player become evident at the first british-villagers meet.Then the villagers expressed negative cognitive attitude towards bhuvan’s acceptance of the challenge although gauri and his mother showed a positive cognitive attitude.Then the villagers showed an affective attitude when bhuvan’s first shot hit the temple bell.The value to stand by a villager, if threatened by external forces became evident, when bhuvan was then attacked by the other village. Elizabeth portrayed the value for equality of chances when she decided to help the villagers understand the game. Then Ismail’s cognitive attitude became evident on seeing the “gori mem” assisting bhuvan.The instrumental value of deva singh sodhi when he came to play, as against his terminal value of “war” against the britishers.Then the affective value of elizabeth gets portrayed as she confesses to bhuvan,she loved him.Similarly, bhuvan professes his love to gauri.Bhuvan’s behavioral component of equality got reflected when he invited kachra to play in the team,against the negative cognitive attitude of the villagers,which he later managed to change.On the D-Day the affctive attitude of the raja against the british became evident.Then when the villagers came to know about Lakha’s betrayal, their cognitive and affective attitude became evident.The positive cognitive attitude of the british officers towards the village team’s performance,became evident when the game was in progress.During the game, the cognitive,affective and behavioral attitudes of bhuvan’s team became evident,towards the tactics of the Britishers and their own reactions.Finally, the display of affective attitude when the village team won the match.

Transformation of Attitudes.

Initially the villagers were very hesitant in supporting bhuvan,but the first shot of bhuvan rang the temple bell changed their veiw,which continued seeing the constant enthusiasm of bhuvan and the support from the “gori mem”.Slowly bhuvan’s self belief and enthusiasm was infused among the villagers.Gauri and bhuvan’s mother was always there to support bhuvan from the very beginning,although in the patriarchal society,they did not have too much say.The support from the “gori mem” was instrumental in arising the feelings of the villagers to stand up against being wronged.Amidst  all this positive changes of attitude, the negative changes in Lakha was striking,when his attentions toards gauri was neglected,who in turn only cared for bhuvan,and this caused him to betray his fellowmen to Captain Russel.In the midst of all the challenges,the villagers became a family,leaving aside their initial values for inequality on the basis of caste,and seniority on the basis of age.Then the game started amidst the emotionally charged atmosphere.Then the villagers came to know about Lakha’s betrayal, and although they initially reaction threatened his life,later on bhuvan’s insistence and lakha’s apology,he was given the chance to prove his loyalty, which he did.Then came the real emotional outburst when the village team won the match thus completing the transformation.

Am I SICK?

Is the title giving a blow!! You must be thinking what is this!! “Am I SICK?” No, I am fit and fine. Who says I am sick !! Whoever is telling, he is sick!! And why I will be!! –No Not All.— I know this is what is going on in your mind – am I right!!

 

Let’s give some time for ourselves. Let’s realize ourselves. Let’s give a blow in our inner mind- let’s give a shock in our everyday behavior. I am telling you- you will find yourself in ICU. Shocked !! I know you are. But this is a bitter truth.

Trust me- find out some time for analysis. See who you are, what you are doing, how you are doing and for whom you are doing. Are you actually working!! Working hardly or smartly!! Or just running after money. Dream is big money- big house- costly car; A luxury life. If you are already enjoying- still you want more!! Right!! And if you are a struggler or gradually making your career- still dream remains the same. Going through the same rat-race. Right! Have you ever though to find five minutes for the needy person standing beside you! Have you ever extended your hand when you saw a blind person struggling to find his way on the road where you just passed him giving a veered look? Have you ever gone to help the person who just met with an accident!! Probably No. And if at all your friend suggested going, you said No No!! This can be a police case!! So let us be safe and keep ourselves away. I know you are remembering when you did that. Probably you thought to go but your friend suggested the same. Right!! Have you ever thought to just get up from the seat and let the old person sit there –who is just standing beside you!! You are just happy that somehow you managed a seat. Good if you have done. But probably you will find the answer ‘No’ if you ask yourself.

You must be thinking – how does these make a difference in your life. Your life is cool- and it will be as cool as it is. Right!! You are absolutely right. And if you are thinking in this way- you can’t be blamed for this. Because the value system you are in or the value system you are inculcating into your  next generation – this is quite natural. You don’t have time. But think once. Instead of the person met with an accident; you have met with the same accident! And people are reacting in the same manner and you are just   lying-down  helplessly on the road. How will you feel!! Good !! !! No ; right!! You will expect help from the persons probably whom you did not help when they required oneday!! Right!! If everybody will think the way you think- then imagine what will be your situation on the road after your accident. But do you think that you were not capable of helping the person. Were you sick that day!! You were too sick to talk with the person or hold the hand of that blind person!! No !! But Yes – I will say- you were SICK. Mentally you were SICK. Otherwise a healthy and Ok mind would have instructed you the right thing. Your mind would not have stopped you from helping. Or your mind would not have stay untouched in spite of seeing the blood-stained person lying on the road. It clearly shows that we are fine, but our mind is not. It’s not well. It’s SICK.

 

Find some time to think. Think – are you doing right!! Think are you inculcating the right value into your kids!! Because if you are giving such value to your child – definitely when you will require help, the person who will be standing beside you probably with the same value like your kid- will not help- because they never realized this thought.

It’s never a late. Beginning of anything is good. Let’s think and start realizing. Let’s start making a difference. Let us take our society towards a better one- a cultured- value added healthy and humane society.

Brief Profile of Author : Amitava Pal is a Software Engineer and XLRI Alumni. His special areas of interests are Human Psychology and Soft Skills. He has been writing papers since 2005 and the papers have already been published in India and Abroad like University of California, Bonn University Germany and so on. He is currently writing a book on “Typical Human Psyche on Differential Behaviour”.

Top Ranked Engineering Colleges in India

The ranks of the top engineering colleges are out again. This time this is on the basis of a study conducted by Careers and published on Yahoo. While most of the rankings appear genuine, this list is very crucial for all the engineers wanna-be-s who are scouring for a college where they can kick start their professional career as an engineer.  While as always the ranks in the top are heavily dominated by government colleges and institutes like the IITs, Jadavpur University, IT-BHU, the BITs and the NITs, the top-50 listing is a roll call of excellence India’s top 50 engineering institutions in 2011.

A balanced scorecard methodology was used to cluster the top ranked institutes (colleges and universities) after checking the last five year rankings of about 241 colleges and normalizing heir ranks, by assigning differential weights to subjective and objective ranking criteria, as is the standard in such studies. Such a process has been used to develop clusters of institutions which have similar performance against those criteria.

So before jumping into where you may be targeting, while joining up for your graduate course in engineering, do check out this list. For where you pass out from not only affects how well you learn your discipline, but also the kind of career track you can expect after passing out of the hallowed portals of your Alma Mater.

Top B-Schools of India

The results for the top 30 B-Schools of India are out for the year 2011.
This time the study was conducted by Economic Times and ratified by a consulting major who collected a total of 253 responses across the 5 functional areas with 31 IT Heads, 38 Finance Head, 97 HR Head, 34 Production/Manufacturing Head was achieved. Finally a study that is ranking the institutes based on what the actual rank is, based on the performances of the students and not on the perceptions of MBA Wannabes, and hence a lot more accurate and relevant for MBA Wannabes.

Generic Strategies for the Ultimate Competitive Advantage

“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage” ~ Jack Welch

Today, the firms operate in an even more competitive industry dictated by an ever unparalleled dynamism. Jack Welch never said anything more meaningful. In current times, when change is the only thing that is constant, a firm’s ability to learn, and more importantly “unlearn and then relearn” creates the most important distinguishing factor for sustainable competitive advantage.

Michael Porter’s framework for competitive advantage probably explains few of the focus issues firms may keep in mind while formulating strategies at the top level.

However, this is the way to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and a firm’s top executive needs to understand the core to his firm, based on which he can take this call. However, due to the dynamism of the industry structure, he needs to continually analyze and re-evaluate his strategies, based on the core.

A firm probably has multiple dimensions of personality traits, talents, resources and skills, and hundreds of other characteristics, but what is it that when all the others are surgically removed distinguishes the character of the firm at the very core? This is essentially the key which needs to be leveraged successfully and innovated upon continually to attain that otherwise illusive competitive advantage.

So how does one recognize one’s core?

One may argue that achieving “customer loyalty” may be a step towards achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. It’s not a secret that loyal customers are good for an organization or brand. You don’t see too many executives saying they don’t want more of them. But in spite of that what intrigues me is how few companies truly acknowledge, take care of and leverage those loyal customers in a way that measurably accelerates market share and recurring revenue while mitigating competitive risk and reducing sales & marketing costs. But in spite of  “customers” being a crucial focal point for business, it is required to recognize that in current times, the very nature of business is evolving. With the very definition of a firm’s role in an industry or even the definition of the industry under such a strict evolution, it is crucial to note that the very target customers are deemed to change in this dynamic market structure. So identifying and acquiring new customers, in spite of the spiraling costs of new customer acquisitions, may play a key role for sustenance.

Thus a firm’s source of resources for the “Ultimate Competitive Advantage” is much more than the sources of revenue. Smaller firms whose ability to learn and “unlearn and then relearn”have reaped the benefits in the past. The problem started after they grew to a certain size where they couldn’t stay so nimble on their feet, and faced competition from other firms, who were more adaptive to the dynamic industry structure.

Sometimes, one tends to think that probably a firm’s organization structure and the culture is the inherent and most important source of competitive advantage. But how can a firm leverage that to quantifiable profits since at the end of the day, business decisions are based on ROI figures and financial achievements. This is probably where a firm needs to rediscover itself.

EQ/PQ

Most people have a tough time dealing with politics and all sorts of mental pressures at the workplace in addition to personal tensions. This often creates friction with our peers unknowingly. One of the outcomes from the mental turmoils is creation of groups of so called friends and foes. One of the basic purposes of workplace friends is to listen to our sufferings, sympathize and bad mouth our foes. Further, these friends are also the people via whom all our personal and official details get leaked in office. In reality, it has very often turned out that the foes whom we hate so much and are always busy mentally abusing as the possible sources of all our troubles, are actually in same conditions as us, just they don’t get along with us.  Further, if we came across such foes at social places after quitting the organization, mostly they turn out to be much less of a monster than what we thought they were, although our ego prevents us from recognizing the same. Also the friends who seem to be the best of well wishers we can have, fade away from our life slowly and eventually after we quit. Thus, it is very important how we act and display our emotions at the work. What is really important is to maintain a “pleasant” relation with the strategic people . Now pleasant in no-way means being fake. Be earnest, help, share and liven up your collegues, maintain great rapport with the boss but always keep emotions out of it. Its best to disassociate the emotional side from the professional side for avoiding troubles.