C2C – Standout from the Crowd

02 – 05 Nov 20, 2020

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INDEX

SL. TOPIC PAGE NO

1. About Transformavens 1
2. Executive Presence 2-3
3. Who do you admire? 4
4. Gravitas 5-7
5. Discover your Strengths 8
6. Ways to improve your Self-Confidence 9-10
7. Circle of Excellence 11
8. Communication 12-13
9. Social Media Etiquette 14
10. Resume 15
11. Post Workshop Action 16

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ABOUT TRANSFORMAVENS

Transformavens Training and Consulting LLP is an entity which focuses on transformation through
shifts in attitude and changes in behavior. Transformavens is an entity run by senior veterans of the
Indian Navy, and brings to the table their cumulative experience of 50 years in handling human
capital. The principal mavens of Transformavens are Ninad and Sreeraam. Adjunct mavens are co-
opted for their expertise as necessary.

Facilitators

Sreeraam is a mindful leader, a powerful communicator and a growth catalyst. An Electronics and
Telecommunication systems’ engineer by education, he is a Military Leader by profession and a
Coach, Mentor and Facilitator by choice. A senior Naval veteran with over 25 years of experience in
leadership roles, Sreeraam presents a pleasant, articulate, approachable exterior, which he
complements with his expansive knowledge and understanding of people. His major strengths are
his passion to influence his audience, ability to integrate concepts across domains, and to bring
simplicity into complex concepts. Sreeraam’s expertise is centred around the softer aspects of
enterprises, viz. the human capital; specifically, leading teams mindfully, innovating at the workplace
and driving performance through purpose and passion. His interests stem from his experience in the
white uniform, learnings from which, he has distilled into tools, techniques and methods which form
the core of his training.

Ninad is an Electrical Engineer and MBA by training, and a success maven by passion. He has
garnered over two and a half decades of work experience in Defence services, PSU, Corporate and
Social Sector ecosystems. His rich tapestry of experiences in a gamut of work environments helps
him bring real life and relevant examples to the classroom. An alum of the Naval College of
Engineering, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai and Indian Academy
of Training & Development (IATD), he is an ardent and enthusiastic student of Organizational
Behaviour & Dynamics, Talent Engagement and art of Leadership. His forte remains his persuasive
skill which creates a receptive atmosphere for training. His flair for effective and powerful
communication ensures that his training programmes are delivered with panache and meet all
stakeholder expectations. Ninad is an expert in training in Soft Skills, Leadership and Creativity; and
has developed his signature programme titled ‘Challenge the Status Quo’ which is designed to make
the participants adroit in disruptive thinking.

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EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

Executive Presence is a quality that leaders such as Barak Obama, Nelson Mandela, Ratan Tata and
Sushma Swaraj possess without making a special effort. This is that quality which telegraphs that
they are in charge or deserve to be. Nobody attains a top job, finalises an extraordinary deal, or
develops a significant following without this heady combination of confidence, poise, and
authenticity that convinces the rest that they’re in the presence of someone who’s the real deal.
Executive Presence is not an innate quality that one is born with. It is a set of learned behaviours
that enable a person to command attention. And when this is evident to an audience, it inspires
them. Also, Executive Presence is not about performance. It’s not about the numbers per quarter or
the productivity of the individual. It is about the signal that the person telegraphs by their mere
presence that she/ he has it in her/ him to be the next big thing.

John Beeson in his article titled ‘Deconstructing Executive Presence’ (HBR, Aug 2012) says:

‘If you ask a group of managers who aspire to the C-suite what it takes to get
there, they’ll invariably mention executive presence, but they aren’t always so
clear about what it means. Not too long ago I conducted a series of off-the-record
interviews with senior executives responsible for executive placement in their
organizations. I asked them about the “make or break” factors they consider in
making C-suite promotion decisions. Executive presence was one of the handful
of decision criteria they cited, but even these experienced executives struggled to
define what it is and why one person has it and another doesn’t.’

In order to understand Executive Presence further, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, who runs the Centre of
Talent Innovation conducted extensive research, in which her team interviewed 4000 professionals
of various categories, including 268 senior executives, to understand what co-workers and bosses
look for when they evaluate employees for Executive Presence. This survey resulted in breaking
down Executive Presence into the dimensions of Gravitas, Appearance and Communication.

Executive Presence

Gravitas

Communication Appearance

Fig- Model of Executive Presence

(Source: Centre for Talent Innovation 2014)

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Each of these dimensions are learnable skills that reflect as observable behaviours. These can be
summarised as the following behaviours:

• Gravitas - How you act/ behave

• Communication - How you speak
• Appearance - How you look

GRACE Model:

The GrACE Model is a derivative of the above paradigm. GRACE expanded stands for Gravitas,
Appearance, Communication, Etiquette. This model adds another component in the form of
Etiquette. Etiquette is a word that means acceptable norms of behaviour in society or in a group.

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WHO DO YOU ADMIRE?

List down any one person that you admire and any three of his/her qualities that you admire most

Name:

Qualities

a)

b)

c)

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GRAVITAS

The word – Gravitas - which originates from Latin means seriousness or solemnity. However, the
word is interpreted to mean heft- the weight a person carries, the confidence that a person projects
and the ability of a person to command the attention of a room. In short, gravitas refers to ‘how a
person acts or behaves’. Gravitas is essentially a quality that signals to an audience the person has it
in him/ her to step up and take control.

Research by the Centre for Talent

Innovation indicates that gravitas is
Confidence
the most critical dimension of
Executive Presence. This research,
Vision Decisiveness
which used survey data from a
multitude of leaders and individuals
as well as focus-group discussions,
Gravitas concluded that gravitas carries 67%
weightage among the dimensions
that constitute Executive Presence.
Reputation Integrity The survey further asked the
respondents to list out the aspects
Emotional that made up Gravitas. The
Intelligence behaviours and traits that emerged
as the most accepted by
respondents are listed in the
Fig – Aspects of Gravitas accompanying figure, and
elaborated below.

Confidence & Grace under Fire. Confidence in oneself is principal to telegraph and exude Gravitas.
The right dose of self-confidence helps an individual focus better, and provide the right resources for
the task at hand. Self-confidence is defined as a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities, and
judgment.
Whilst most executives seldom lack in self-confidence when the going is good, the aspect that adds
immensely to the gravitas quotient is the ability to behave with grace in the face of difficulties, or
when being held to account from all sides. Executives often behave differently when put under
stress due to mistakes that they commit or due to mistakes others in their team commit. The ability
to hold one’s own during such difficult times inspires confidence in the leadership among the
employees as well as partners and customers. During times of crises, leaders high on gravitas lean
into the oncoming winds, acknowledge their short-comings, rise above them and, consequently, add
to their Gravitas. The rest take cover.

Decisiveness & Showing Teeth. Being decisive is critical to being a leader, and this forms the second
major aspect that is crucial to gravitas. Taking those difficult decisions, specifically those that the
rest of the people are not willing to take, adds tremendously to gravitas. It does not matter if the
decision is right; the fact that the decision is taken makes a difference. Taking those difficult
decisions telegraphs that the person has the courage to impose a direction and take responsibility
for it.
Men normally find this aspect much easier to navigate than women executives. Sometimes taking
tough decisions is viewed as unfeminine; not taking those makes the lady look indecisive!!
Real leaders make their decisions with great discretion. They listen, gather critical inputs, weigh
options, and look for a timely opening when everyone else at the table is struggling to take the
decision to step in, take the call and demand action; thus, telegraphing their gravitas.

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Integrity. Integrity is all about being honest and strong in moral framework. Leaders with great
integrity ensure organisations do not waver from principles of righteousness and take the harder
right, sometimes, as opposed to the easier wrong.
‘Speaking truth to power’, a quality where a leader shines the light of integrity into a wayward boss’
wrong path, is a potent affirmation of leader-like courage and integrity. The higher one goes in an
organization, the more impressive the leader is when he/ she demonstrates that they have the spine
to share their convictions. The executive needs to make sure, however, that when he/ she
challenges authority, he/ she is coming from a core of unshakable values. Anything less and these
actions will be perceived as insubordination and/or arrogance—the exact opposite of gravitas.

Demonstrating Emotional Intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of,

control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and
empathetically. EI competencies include self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and
relationship management.
Being decisive, whilst exercising emotional intelligence, is a fine act in balance. While decisiveness
and toughness in a leader signal conviction, courage, and resolve, when untampered by empathy or
compassion these same characteristics come off as egotism, arrogance, and insensitivity.
Demonstrating emotional intelligence is a key leadership trait because it builds trust, shows that the
leader has not only self-awareness but also situational awareness.
It’s absolutely vital in white-collar worlds such as finance, law, and medicine to show the leader is
capable of reading a situation, and the people in it, correctly. Especially, in the current times when
organisations are getting flatter, and employees crave autonomy, the engagement metrics are
dependent completely on the leader’s demonstration of emotional intelligence. A lack of concern for
the team, a trait of a leader who lacks empathy, might cause others to wonder if the leader were
cutting corners and compromising their positions and roles. Standout leaders are those who can be
trusted to pick up on all relevant cues win the trust of followers to steer them through an uncertain
future.

Reputation. It is often said that – ‘your reputation precedes you’. This is particularly true in this
hyper-connected environment of today. People would have formed an opinion before the first
contact with the leader/ executive. Therefore, it is imperative for leaders to manage their reputation
or ‘brand value’ actively. Not managing the brand may imply that others may end up managing it, in
which case the individual has no control over what is being perceived. Brand reputation today is not
only a function of the leader’s work, behaviour, word and actions but also of the individual’s way of
life when no one is really watching them.

Vision/ Charisma. Leaders need to have a purpose-driven vision which they will telegraph to those
around. A clearly articulated vision creates the charisma and aura that draws a tribe of followers
who gravitate towards the leader to help in realising the vision.

Gravitas Blunders

Gravitas forms the most major dimension of Executive Presence. Given this fact, a lowering of
gravitas due to any indiscretion would certainly diminish the leader’s/ executive’s presence.
Some of the actions that lower Gravitas of a leader include:
- Lack of Integrity
- Sexual Impropriety
- Flip-flopping
- Inflated ego/ bullying
- Shallow/ Light-weight
- Off-colour or Insensitive jokes

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On top of the list of blunders remain issues pertaining to integrity and sexual impropriety. Given the
hyper-connected, always on environment that executives function in, the most minor instance of
improper behaviour on the part of the executive is magnified in no time leading a deep erosion in
the executive’s presence.

How to Exude Gravitas

The three actions that will help any leader to exude gravitas are:
- Be Prepared
- Be Confident
- Be Authentic

Being prepared is all about knowing the innards of the subject matter which the executive deals
with. The common method to do this is to use the ‘six whys’ technique from which the phrase ‘six
questions deep’ originates. Any proposal made by the executive should be backed by adequate
research and facts. Typically, three reasons with each reason backed by adequate factual evidence.
Being confident is all about developing unshakeable self-confidence. The level of confidence should
be such that every individual transacting business with the executive should feel a sense of strength
and security in the executive’s leadership. Being confident also translates into being decisive and
staying calm whilst being pressured by external elements.
Being authentic, the most crucial of the three, in a sense is the foundation for Gravitas. This requires
leaders to lead with a sense of purpose and should be able to answer ‘why they do what they do’.
More often than not, this calling would refer to some idea greater than the leader themselves. Also,
the leader’s action and behaviour should be driven by a set of core values that inspire people and
help them gravitate towards the leader.
All of the above are skills, which can be cultivated when the leader chooses to develop self-
awareness and is also willing to accept honest feedback. A good option may be to seek the help of a
coach.

Tips to Improve Gravitas

Executive Presence and its inherent dimension and components are learnable skills. Elaborated
below are a few tips to improve gravitas.
1. Surround yourself with people who are better than you.
2. Be generous with credit.
3. Stick to what you know. Be poised and assured in the value of your own contribution.
4. Show humility.
5. Smile more.
6. Empower others’ presence to build your own.
7. Drive change rather than be changed.
8. Be confident and kind without being arrogant.
9. Become comfortable with your weakness.
10. Connect; don’t transact.

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WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE

1. Repetition/ Deliberate Practice/ Preparation. This is a technique that is based on gaining

expertise and command over the subject matter by prolonged deliberate practice. Deliberate
practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular
practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is
conducted with the specific goal of improving performance.

2. Nurturing Oneself/ Caring for Oneself. Self-confidence depends on a combination of good

physical health, emotional health and social health. It is hard to feel good about oneself if you hate
your physique or constantly have low energy. Exercising, eating right, dressing and grooming oneself
well, are self-confidence boosters that don’t require extensive effort. They just require the will to get
it done. The self-help guru Tony Robbins advocates massive state changes through physical actions
such as exercise that make a deliberate shift in state and help you become more resourceful.
Reading and improving knowledge levels is also strongly recommended.

3. Self-Admiration. List down a set of things that you admire about yourself. Keep the list with
you and use the list to keep your confidence levels high.

4. Change a Small Habit. A small habit like waking up half hour early to catch up with exercise
will make a huge change to the levels of self-confidence. Self-confidence is enhanced deeply by a
feeling of being in control of your own life, which happens when you make a small habit change.

5. Set yourself to Win. Very often people are discouraged about their abilities because they set
themselves goals that are too difficult to achieve. Start by setting small goals that can make you can
win easily. Once these have been conquered and you have built momentum you feel good about
yourself. Then comes the next phase of targeting harder goals. Make sure you keep a list of all your
achievements, both large and small, to remind yourself of the times that you have done well.

6. Negotiate with your ANTs. ANTs are short for Automatic Negative Thoughts, which
essentially is negative mental chatter that derails the self-confidence by injecting doubts into our
head at every juncture. People who are low in self-confidence tend to remain in doubt at all times
and these are triggered by ANTs. ANTs are thoughts that trigger negative emotions in us. Thoughts

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that make us angry, scared, sad, depressed, anxious or stressed or combinations of any of these
constitute ANTs. Managing ANTs involves actively negotiating with the negative thoughts and
‘Killing’ them. The steps to engage with ANTs is as follows:

(a) Write down the thought that erupted in the mind.

(b) Ask yourself the following questions:
i. Is it true?
ii. Can I absolutely know that it is true?
iii. How do I feel when I believe this thought?
iv. How would I feel if I did not have this thought?
(c) Convert the ANT into a positive thought and write it down. Convert it into an
affirmation.

7. Affirmations (Affirm Yourself). Affirmations are positive and uplifting statements that we
say to ourselves. These are normally more effective if said out loud so that we can hear ourselves say
it. Affirmations work on the sub-conscious mind and help in converting the affirmations into beliefs.
Some broad guidelines for creating personal affirmations are as follows:
(a) Choose one negative thought you have about yourself and write down the positive
opposite that counteracts that belief.
(b) Make affirmations short so they’re easier for you to remember.
(c) Start affirmations with “I” or “My”.
(d) Write your affirmations in the present tense.
(e) Don’t begin your affirmations with “I want” or “I need.”
(f) Make sure all your affirmations are positive statements.
(g) Add emotion to your affirmations by inserting, “I am [emotion] about . . .” or “I feel
[emotion].”
(h) Create affirmations that will work.

8. Value Yourself as a Brand. Learn to identify and define your value, viz. the value that you, in
your individual capacity, bring to any organisation or enterprise. Once you have the value
proposition clearly articulated, make it a point to communicate the value proposition to the right
people. This will enhance your value as a brand.

9. Journaling. A habit of Journaling is considered a foundation for self-improvement. Journals,

written by hand, are used for ideating, capturing thoughts, achievements, feelings and working
towards goals. The key to journaling is consistency. Consistency can be best achieved by framing a
template that will help reach initial escape velocity and aid in powerful and take-off.

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CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE

1. Stand in a place where there is an empty space of about 3 feet in front of you.

2. Take a deep breath and allow your body to relax.

3. Now, draw and imaginary circle in front of you. Give the borders a colour that you like. Now,
throw, sprinkle some of your favourite colour inside the circle.

4. Add additional resources that you are attracted towards such as music of your choice to the
circle.

5. Choose an appropriate resource that you would like to channel through you. These
resources can be any resource such as creativity, enthusiasm, laughter, joy, peace, a
desirable state of health, lightness, calmness, love, togetherness etc. Add one or multiple
such resources so that the circle come alive with the colours, sounds and resources.

6. When you are ready, step into the circle. Close your eyes. Feel all the resources floating
around you. Feel all the resources entering through the soles of your feet, coursing through
your body, going through every cell and soaking the body with the resources. See the
colours entering your body through your mind’s eye. Hear the sounds that you have filled
into the circle in your mind. Allow yourself to soak in and when satisfied, step out of the
circle.

7. Break State- Think of something mundane like the sum of all numbers of your mobile
number.

8. Again, look at the circle of excellence in front of you. Alive, invigorating, inviting. Full of
colours, glow and all the resources that you need. Step into the circle one again. Soak in all
of the resources and let it course through your body. Feel the change in your body as you
soak in the resources. When you are satisfied, step out of the circle.

9. Break State- the number of the alphabet ‘M’.

10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 multiple times till you feel the anchor or association is well established
in you.

11. Now, think of a situation where you felt un-resourceful. Once the incident comes into your
mind, step into the circle and feel the resources flowing into you. Step out when you are
satisfied with your state of resourcefulness.

12. Break State- Where did you go for your last holiday? What was the time of the flight/ train
you took on your last holiday? What did you enjoy most in the holiday?

13. Future State- Think of the same situation that you may encounter in the future. As you play
out the future scenario in your mind, step into the circle, absorb the resources and feel the
energy to tackle the situation. When satisfied, step out.

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COMMUNICATION

What is Communication? An act of imparting information for the purpose of evoking

understanding.

Effective Communication is all about conveying your message to other people clearly and
unambiguously; it’s also about receiving information that others are sending to you with as little
distortion as possible.

Encoding: Converting the information to be communicated in a form that can be sent without
distortion and correctly decoded by the receiver

Decoding: Decoding is the process which involves translating and finding the meaning of the code
which can be understood by the receivers. The receiver can be a single person or more than one
person, here the receiver decodes and interprets the message.
Distortion: Distortion is the loss or change of meaning of the message. Happens mostly in the
coding and decoding stage. To overcome distortion, keep the message simple when sending.

Miscommunication: Lack of clarity, lack of communication skills, fear, lack of interpersonal relations,
perception errors, lack of feedback, poor listening skills, fake attention during listening, noise,
insufficient time to deliver the message, information overload, etc. are some of the reasons that
miscommunication happens. To avoid miscommunication
• Listen Actively
• Read carefully
• Avoid confusion
• Clarify Clarify Clarify

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Channels of Communication:

Verbal Communication Channels

• Face to Face Meetings
• Telephones
• Video Conferencing

Written Communications Channels

• Letters
• Emails
• SMS
• Memos/Official correspondence
• Reports

Elements of Communication:
• Listening
• Non-Verbal
• Para Verbal
• Verbal
• Written

We overwhelmingly deduce our feelings, attitudes, and beliefs about what someone says not by the
actual words spoken, but by the speaker’s body language and tone of voice. if words and body
language disagree, one tends to believe the body language.

For Effective Communication ask yourself

• What: What do I need to communicate? Do I understand what it is myself? How much

does the receiver of the message already know?

• Why: Do I know why I am communicating? If I don’t, then they certainly won’t!

• When: When is the best time to communicate? Allow enough time to communicate the
message and check it has been understood.

• How: Is my chosen method of communicating the most effective way?

• Where: Care is needed to avoid distractions.

• Who: Am I the best person to give this message?

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SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE

The all-pervasive nature of social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tinder etc.
ensures all your connects have access to your activities at all times. An executive’s reputation and
brand may be enhanced or diminished by activities on the social media platforms very easily.
Reconstructing a broken image is time-consuming and costly. Therefore, adequate caution is the
best mantra when dealing with social media.

A few tips to navigate social media are as follows:

• The DP (Display Picture) is a signature and projects you as a brand. Remember to choose
wisely and appropriately depending on the image you want to project. This choice may vary
depending on the SM platform.
• What goes out into cyberspace remains there forever. Therefore, exercise caution in what
you post.
• A safe method to adopt as regards posting content is to follow your organizational policy.
• A few topics that may be avoided since they may have long-term implications include
politics, Ideology and religion.
• Something that should be avoided at all costs- abuse or use of un-parliamentary language.
• Again, something to be completely avoided- Never criticize your organization, collogues or
boss.

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RESUME

A Resume can be considered as a personal marketing document. Its primary function is to convey
the value that the job candidate proposes to bring to the prospective employer. It should succinctly
tell the prospective employer about the candidate’s educational qualifications, skills, abilities and
achievements. In summation, why the candidate is the best person for the job opening. In the era of
short attention spans, it is imperative that one’s Resume stands out from the rest. A well-crafted
Resume can potentially land an interview quickly whereas a badly constructed Resume will fetch
nothing but rejection.

A good Resume should highlight the following:

▪ Educational Qualifications
▪ Certifications
▪ Skills/Abilities
▪ Achievements
➢ Academic
➢ Sports
➢ Extra-Curricular
➢ Projects / Research Papers
➢ Internships
➢ Scholarships
▪ Languages with proficiency in each
▪ Interests
▪ Contact Details (Email/ Phone Number)

Hygiene Factors of a good Resume. Listed below are some hygiene factors to ensure that your
Resume stands out.

▪ Include a professional looking photograph (Be well groomed /attired)

▪ Use only one font and max 2 font sizes (Heading and Text)
▪ Be consistent (CAPS, bullets, Tense, Active/Passive Voice)
▪ Pay attention to formatting (simple layout, uniform line spacing, margins, )
▪ Spell check, spell check, spell check
▪ List in reverse chronological sequence (latest first)
▪ Avoid residential address (Include city of residence)
▪ Submit in PDF format
▪ Restrict to one page
▪ Don’t exaggerate your achievements
▪ Use simple and easy to understand language (Avoid jargon)
▪ Avoid the use of “ “ (They are used for indicating speech)
▪ Proof read (Getting another person to proof read helps)

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POST-WORKSHOP ACTION

What are the few aspects, behaviours, habits that you would like to change to enhance your
Executive Presence?

What are some new behaviours and habits that you would like to make a part of your life to enhance
your Executive Presence?

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