Diary of Discovery

Name: SAMBIT RATH

Roll No: 1411262
Leadership and Change management

Diary of Discovery
Leadership and Change Management

It is a necessity for todays managers to find interactive and creative solutions in their
present day to day working. The key to find solutions lies with the persons implementing the
changes and with the people i.e. how they adapt to the changes. Hence, managing
leadership and change management is an importance issue for managers.
The subject Leadership and Change Management, therefore has assumed paramount
importance for me. The learning opportunities were immense, and it has shown me how
leadership and change management principles go hand in hand, and how by learning the
principles one can add to and hone his managerial skills.
Each Session in the course had different things to offer, and it helped us to discover
ourselves. It helped us realize that each and every individual has a different style of
leadership, and each style needs different types of approaches for self-improvement.
Since each class had different learnings, I have tried to jot my learnings that happened
during the course, class by class basis.

Session 1:
Leadership and Change Management: The Magic and the Music
This session introduced the basics of leadership qualities. We learnt about different leadership
styles, i.e. democratic, coaching, pace setting, autocratic, coercive, affiliative etc. and the
difference between the types.
The sessions highlighted the difference between being and becoming. Identifying ones
strength and weakness is most important in order to know what needs to be done for ones selfimprovement.
Some of the idioms which I personally liked were:
a)When I is replaced by W, illness becomes Wellness.
This highlighted the advantages of unity, the power of working in teams can do wonders and can
remove all hurdles.
b) A lion never loses sleep over opinions of the sheep
In order to succeed in life, one needs to listen to many alternate view points, but one need not
endorse any them. One should have his goals and thoughts clear. Others opinions hardly matter
as far as my goal is concerned.

Session 2:
Leadership and Change Management: The Magic and the Music
This session introduced the change concepts, change drivers i.e. Sankalp, Samanvay, Sangathan
for implementing successful changes. It also highlighted the fact that LCM is not affected by caste,
creed, gender, position etc. but via admiration, association and emulation. This session taught as
what needs to changed i.e. Tasks, objective, people, traditions, style, systems and how to achieve
the changes. Also, it taught about various change topologies.
Also it stressed on the fact that we need to move from Just not noticeable differences (JNND) to Just
noticeable differences (JND)

Session 3 & 4

Leadership Influence in Interpersonal Context

These sessions were dedicated to the how our interpersonal relationships are affected by
leadership. It is mandatory for a leader to stay attached with his/her team members. And, this
bonding yields success. This relationship determines the success of the whole team. The reciprocity
and empathy shown by the leader helps building trust and satisfaction among team mates.

Session 5
Vision Mission and Values
Leadership is a context driven concept, and Inclusion, Control and Affection; these three factors determine
how differently people express themselves in a team. This is called FIRO-B inventory, and also we
determined our personal scores to gauge at our own personality, to perceive what opinions others hold
about us and how can we change their opinions for the better.

Session 6
Concept of Inclusive Error
In this session I liked the concept of inclusive error. Inclusive error refers to the loss of efficiency
and productivity when one includes more people in tasks, which needs to be done alone.

Session 7
Style of Leadership
In this session MBTI inventory was discussed that gave me an option to discover myself. I found out
that I fell into the thirteenth quadrant of the MBTI matrix i.e. ESTJ. The ESTJs have the leadership style
as The Executive. This was the most important session as it helped me explore my leadership style,
my attributes, preferred work environment etc. This session also helped me understand my
shortcomings and what steps need to be taken to overcome my short comings

I came across a very good adage in the class:

You should know what to tell people and what to ask!

Session 8
Concept of Learnability
This session exposed me to the concept of learnability i.e. the ability to learn from self and the
role that one plays at his/her office or workplace. Learning assumes paramount importance as
leaders have to constantly learn and unlearn things. The quicker you learn the better it is. Also, the
session imparted the concept of Role Maker and Role Taker. Role takers simply follow the roles
assigned to them, but, leaders are supposed to be Role Makers. They should decide on their roles
and responsibilities and structure their working to reach their destination & succeed. Thus
learning is a key, a path to reach ones destination.

Session 9 & 10

Learnings from Movies

In these two sessions we gained immense knowledge by critically reviewing the movies
assigned to us. The four movies assigned to the groups were Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, Lagaan,
Do Aankhein Barah haath and Gandhi. All the movies depicted immense Leadership &
Change management scenarios.
I personally liked Ek ruka Hua Faisla where a single person in the jury convinces the other
eleven people to change their opinion, via multiple assertive techniques and change
management strategies, like humour, strategic disclosures, vigilant observations, constant
questioning, brainstorming etc. In the process he saves an innocent boy from getting death
sentence. This was an eye opener for me, because though I had seen the Original English
movie 12 Angry Men, I hadnt reviewed it from so many new multiple angles.

Session 11
Removal of Blinkers
By Blinkers we mean that the self-imposed regulations, which one unknowingly carries with himself. It can
also refer to biases. A leader must get rid of all blinkers and should be able to think with a clear head. He
should be cautious enough to understand that he might be imposing some shackles on himself .
Another important concept which I got to learn was the difference between IC and UC.
IC refers to the scenario how one sees himself and UC refers to the scenario how others see him/her. The
better the overlap between IC and UC, the better is for a person.

Session 12

Learnings from the Dashman Company Case

The case Dashman Company was discussed in the class, and rules for communications were also
discussed. How can simple miscommunications can breed insecurity in the minds of employees was
discussed. It also showed the need for a bidirectional model for communication.
The Bidirectional Model

The model involves Impress and Involve to Influence the employees or subordinates. Impress is the
means by which one can leave impressions in the minds of employees e.g. behaviour, expressions and
politeness, and Involve denotes that not only the higher management, but also the subordinates must be
involved in day to day matters. By this one can influence his subordinates.

Session 13
Change Management Process
A leader has to be both Sensible and Sensitive. Also, successful managers take the following three actions:
Sit UP, Set UP and Stir UP.
I also learnt about value enhancement, i.e. How a persons presence in the company is enhancing the
efficiency of the organisation. Value addition Is a criteria for determining how successful a manager is.
Value Enhancement determines a managers success in the organization.

Session 14 & 15

Mind-set
All persons in an organization are not equal. Their performance is different because of their mind-sets.
And three types of mind-sets which we came across are
Reflecting

Realizing through Relating

Re-orienting

Also, we came across Panchatantra (5 elements for LCM) i.e. managing collectivity, going beyond
the box, influencing non authoritatively, transforming resistance into partner for change etc.

Importance of Humour
Humour is an important ingredient for success. Success has 4 pillars or factors which are stated as:
Exposure

Effort

Endurance

UDP (Un Defined phenomenon)

Humour is generally undefined, it comes under UDP. Using humour while doing your job can make me a
positive team player and would help me to tackle day to day challenges.

Session 16
Manager Profiles
In this section I learnt about four profiles of managers. These four profiles handle people in a different
manner within an organization. The profiles are:
Traditionalist

Team Coach

Company Baron

Visionary

I also identified that I am more of a Tradionalist. I adhere to doctrines and practices of the company.

Session 17 & 18

Change Maestro: KM Birla

In the last sessions we were asked to make presentations about various leaders across the
industry. We had chosen Kumar Mangalam Birla of Aditya Birla Group. The way he transformed
the whole ABG and expanded the business in 26 countries within short span of time left me
wonder struck. Also. After reading about his people management skills, his assertiveness, his
knack for finding and converting opportunities etc. has made me appreciate him a lot. I came to
know that, though he is an introvert, he manages such a large empire quite easily. So, being an
introvert is not at all a hindrance if one wants to become a great leader. One simply has to believe
in his abilities and rest would follow.