PERSONAL LEARNING PAPER - I

As Sarah Coldwell has rightly said, “Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone
you can, there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” Since the day I
received my offer letter from Great lakes, till today, there has been an immense amount of
learning in each and every step I’ve taken, which has also provided me with a lot of clarity
about my inner self. While writing my first personal learning paper about this journey, I am
overwhelmed with various thoughts. It is easy to learn through experiences but to articulate
those learnings into worlds is a skill which I am sure I’ll be able to learn once I complete this
paper.

In my 4+ years of work experience in Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd., every engagement required
different set of skills which I was able to portray at different times. I worked for reputed clients
across the globe to understand the operational aspect of service delivery and I felt it was the
right time to supplement it with the Management edge. I wanted to understand the nuances of
stepping up the ladder and also in today's time mere tech acumen is incomplete & perhaps not
the sole driver without a sound understanding of other interacting points in an organization.
Thats when I decide to apply to Great Lakes for the PGPM Program.

My journey started on 28th of April, 2016 when I landed in Chennai. Coming from north of
India, I had heard a lot of negative things about Chennai due to which I was extremely sceptical
about my decision to come here. Those thoughts had created a negative perception about the
city in my mind. However, when I reached here, I actually realized that this city was extremely
beautiful. The city was hot, but you could always beat the heat by visit the mesmerizing beaches
in the vicinity. Lesson number one, what is believed/perceived is not exactly what it is in
reality.

Next day, I visited the green campus of Great Lakes for the registration process. It was
organized extremely well with various departments working together as a team, making the
process of handling so many students an easy task. Second lesson of crowd management was
hence learnt.

Soon after the registration process, we had our two days outbound training at “Tapovan”. This
ice-breaking session for the entire batch was well arranged in the form of various group
activities that tested our management as well as interpersonal skills. Each skill had a different
takeaway associated with it but my personal learning from this experience was of staring down
the challenges given and ultimately overcoming the hurdles as a team.
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Great Lakes also provided me with a unique opportunity to interact with students from diverse
backgrounds and cultures. It was about gaining exposure by interacting and working closely
with students from across the country. I faced initial hiccups related to the various colloquial
languages of the students. Even though everyone was well versed in English, the mother tongue
was something that was spoken on the lunch table. Coming from Patna-Bihar, Hindi is the only
language I speak apart from English. Trying to understand the conversation that’s going around
was difficult task. I had to find a way out. So I asked my friends either to teach me their local
language and I would teach them Hindi in return. This encouraged mingling and sharing of
stories and experiences. I made amazing friends and this enriching experience broadened my
horizon and enhanced my leadership, communication and people management skills. It
helped me overcome the initial glitch and hesitance of lingual and cultural differences, enabling
me to embrace diversity and change. I gained the ability to adapt quickly to diverse
scenarios.

As the term one started with its full strength, everybody in the campus could be seen struggling
with pre-reads and assignments. After working for so many years, getting back to the college
routine was a tough task. I was struggling to keep up with the pace of the course, especially
Financial Accounting. This was my first encounter with Finance and I was struggling with the
basic understanding of the subject. The professors and lecturers were highly approachable and
would clear all our doubts at any hour of the day despite their hectic schedules. Their
equanimity and tranquillity was a key learning for me. Also, few of our batch-mates took
out precious time from their tight schedules just to help the rest of us understand the subject
better. This showed that many people accomplish remarkable things by enabling others. This
taught me that one should always support others and strengthen and increase their self-
determination. Become great, not only because of your own power, but also because of
your ability to empower others. The Karma Yoga program was another illustration of this
learning.

The rigours of the PGPM course soon caught up with us and all of a sudden we were involved
in group activities and projects. These assignments helped me understand the importance of
working in teams and analysing each other’s strengths and weaknesses and work
accordingly towards the common goal. Daily lectures, quizzes, exams and group projects
taught me time-management, how to handle pressure and deliver your best on time. At the
same time, it brought out my short-coming helping me evaluate the areas I really needed to
focus on.
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Term 2 started with a lot of excitement about the Clash of Sections event. Apart from studies,
we found ourselves working hard as a section to put our best foot forward and win the trophy.
On the day of the event, due to heavy rains our section was not able to complete the
performance. However, the entire section stood right there in the rain and kept on cheering.
This gesture was highly applauded by the other sections as well as the faculties. This showcased
that our unity is our strength to triumph over tough times.

Organization Behaviour, one of the key subject of term 2, brought a lot of insight about our
personality, attitude and behaviour. Professor Elankumaran made the session extremely
interesting and jovial by explaining the topics through personal examples and videos, helping
us understand the subject in an easy manner. These videos were both mind relaxers as well as
thought provoking, making us realize the human side of things. Through the assessment tools
such as Big Five & MBTI, we were given the power and the opportunity to see ourselves. I
soon found myself to be a consul and at the same time relating to Tamas Guna. These
Organizational Behaviour sessions have helped us examine ourselves and understand the
importance of having a great attitude in our work life as future managers.

Every experience makes you grow and all these experiences have definitely helped me learn a
lot about myself. It was a test of my own strengths. I understood that anything is possible, only
if you go beyond your perceived capacity. Broadening my horizons helped me introspect more
about myself. These experiences as a whole would definitely help me take the right decisions
as future managers and enable me to always keep in mind the value of humans in an
organization.