Srinivas_Venkataramanan_BLP022_Self Leadership_May 2012

As I was walking to college in the morning I had all sorts of assumptions and premonitions, my first session at SOIL being the “SELF LEADERSHIP” session by Anil Sachidev. But at that moment I did not know that this class would turn out to be an experience and not a lecture, and also did not expect to find Anil Sir as such a down to earth person. Now I can understand where these 5 pillars of SOIL come from.

It all began with a self introspection exercise where we were given a chance to pick out the sort of questions that would bring out the leader in us . By discussing it in group ,we also got to know various perspectives and also  realised that the kind of questions a person puts forward actually is a reflection of his character.

The topic that followed was probably the most interesting part of today’s session. It changed the way I look at myself as an individual. By going through the 6 layers of Inner Self, it made us realise that body and mind are mere instruments controlled by us.

Then we moved on to 3 important aspects of communication, Visual Communication, Listening and Communication through touch .These things were all not merely presented to us through slides, but we were actually made to practice these in groups through  various activities .We were also made to understand the importance of these aspects with examples of Top leaders who excel in these aspects.

Generally in a discussion ,I tend to over emphasize on my point of view which I realised through feedback  given by many of my friends and colleagues. I was already working on it over the past few months and today’s session further made me understand the fact that its not words alone that contribute to a discussion. I have not been the best of listeners, but its one area where I would want to improve on and see a huge change when I leave SOIL.

Overall, its been a great start to my journey at SOIL , and I am looking forward to the next one year  ,with an expectation that learning would be made an experience and not just mere lectures !!!!!!