INDIA IN 21st CENTURY– A LAND OF

OPPORTUNITIES
ARE YOU GEARED TO GRAB THE
MOST?

Satyajeet Rajan, IAS

INDIA’S GROWTH STORY HAS LIMITATIONS:

• SEVERE SKILLS SHORTAGE

• INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE

• POOR GOVERNANCE

IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SKILLS,

YOU ARE UNSTOPPABLE
THREE TRENDS THAT WILL MOST AFFECT THEIR
COMPANIES OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

The most significant trend—cited by 47

percent of the executives—is the
intensifying battle for talented people.
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_organizational_challeng
es_of_global_trends_A_McKinsey_Global_Survey_2

Top people in Brazil, China, and India almost

double what it pays their peers in the United
Kingdom.
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/how-
multinationals-can-attract-the-talent-they-need
“External success is
impermanent. Along with
external success, we need
inner victory- victory over
our mind and senses.”
Success is only 15% professional knowledge; the
remaining 85% is “the ability to express ideas, to
assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among
people.”
A Study of Engineering Education, authored by Charles Riborg
Mann and published in 1918 by the Carnegie Foundation.
 1972 CONARC Soft Skills Conference
• Dr. Whitmore presented a report aimed at
figuring out how the term "soft skills" (in the
areas of command, supervision, counseling
and leadership) is understood in various
CONARC schools.
• tentative definition: "Soft skills are important
job-related skills that involve little or no
interaction with machines and whose
application on the job is quite generalized."
 "Corporate recruiters complain that MBAs
lack creativity, people skills, attitude for
teamwork, and the ability to speak and
write with clarity and conciseness-all
hallmarks of a good manager.“
July 29,1991, Fortune magazine article

http://www.influence-integrity.com/
The soft skill sets, the real leadership, the ability to
work with others and through others to execute-that is
still a very scarce supply.

There are a set of leadership skills that can be taught.

They have to be taught experientially; this is not
something you can lecture about.

GARTH SALONER DEAN STANFORD 2011

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar
ticles/PMC3612993/
• Achievement tests do not adequately capture,
soft skills—personality traits, goals, motivations,
and preferences that are valued in the labor
market, in school, and in many other domains.
• Soft skills predict and produce success in life.
• Programs that enhance soft skills have an
important place in an effective portfolio of public
policies.
HARVARD STUDY OF 2012
 Categorizing Soft Skills: Internal Vs. External
• Internal soft skills relate directly to how you interact with yourself

• External soft skills relate directly to how you talk to and handle the people
around you. And yes, you’ll need both to be successful.

Internal Soft Skills

• Self-confidence
• Self-awareness
• Self-compassion
• Accepting criticism
• Critical thinking/problem solving
• Resilience
• Perseverance
• Emotional management
• Perceptiveness
• Growth mindset
 External Soft Skills

• Collaborative teamwork
• Effective communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Self-Promotion
• Managing conflict
• Adaptability
• Networking
• Influence
• Negotiation
• Expectation management
• At McDonald’s, we understand that for the
three million customers we serve in the UK
each day, good soft skills are the difference
between a great experience and an ‘okay’
one. That’s why we make them a critical part
of how we hire, develop and motivate our
people.
• At work, these skills make you perform better
and earn more over your lifetime, as well as
make organisations more productive and
profitable. Outside of work, they can help to
build your confidence and improve your
relationships.
• Soft skills bring hard benefits to people,
organisations and, ultimately, the economy.
 SOFT SKILLS CONSIDERED IN
McDonald’s study

• communication and
interpersonal skills
• Teamwork
• decision-making
• and initiative-taking
• time- and self-management
• taking responsibility
 https://www.backingsoftskills.co.uk/
our-recommendations/
• A robust, user-friendly soft skills framework, which
both individuals and employers can apply to their own
organisations and hiring processes
• Soft skills to be embedded into curricular and extra-
curricular activities
• Links between business, education and the youth
sector to be improved, to drive careers education for
young people and soft skills development for all
• Government departments to join up more to make
support for soft skills more consistent across policy
decisions
 SELF-AWARENESS
"You'll never achieve real
success unless you like
what you're doing.”
 EMPATHY

May we see others’ pain as our

pain and their happiness as our
happiness.