Interview - Ms. Sapna Tiwari, Certified Financial Planner (CFP) : A Calibre Creators Exclusive

Sapna Tiwari is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER with about a decade's experience into training industry. Apart from holding CFP certification, she is a post graduate in Economic Administration and Financial Management, Certified Personal Financial Advisor and Licentiate member (LIII) of Insurance Institute of India. She is holding NSE's certifications in equity market, derivatives market and mutual funds as well. 

She has been associated with financial markets and has extensive expertise in stock market and financial instruments such as mutual funds, insurance, equities, derivatives. 

Sapna is the founder of RUPIYAPAISA FINANCIAL SERVICES and seek to plan the future of Indian citizens by providing Financial Planning and Retirement Services. At rupaiyapaisa.net, they strive to save single penny of the investors by safeguarding the interest of Indian people in planning finances for every step of one’s life and secure a Smooth Retirement transition.

Its Affiliation to Financial Planning Standards Board India ensure Certified Financial Planners to propagate the above message on how essential it is to plan one’s Finances Now and for the Future in a very cost effective way. Financial Planning Standards Board India is marks licensing authority for the CFP marks in India, through an Affiliate Agreement with FPSB Ltd. Financial Planning Standards Board India is a non-profit organisation that develops Certification and Education in Financial Planning.

1. CCLL: So Sapna, tell us briefly about yourself and RP.com?  What is your vision and why did you establish it?

Sapna: By profession, I would introduce myself as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), though it’s not just a profession for me. Making a positive change in people’s financial life is something, I really am passionate about. I have been into finance industry for over a decade now and the fact is that even today a basic product such as Mutual Fund is mystery for majority among common man.

Rupiya Paisa Financial Services was established to make every single Indian realize that they do need a proper financial plan in place as much as they need any basic thing for living a fulfilling life. The concept of financial planning in India is misunderstood massively.

Making an individual invest his/her financial resources in a product with high return is not financial planning at all. With launch of Rupiya Paisa Financial Services, we intend to change this scenario in our country.

2. CCLL: Why is it important to plan one’s finances for life’s uncertainties and family’s needs?

Sapna: Today, the most common issue faced by any person is relationship based issues and stress. Everyone sees that, though have you ever realized that a lot of it is caused because your finances are out of place?

Don’t you meet one person daily who is not sure where all his/her earned money goes every month and nothing is left for saving?  The concern is about his/her future and they are all linked to the insecurity about the future.

In my opinion if your money is well placed to meet your requirements efficiently, other aspects of life go smooth as well in most of the cases.

Also making a provision to meet uncertainties of life is critical. None of us, I am sure would want our beloved one’s to struggle to meet even basic living expenses if something goes wrong.

3. CCLL: How can an individual in his early-career, mid-career and top-end career professionals, businessmen and entrepreneurs plan their future?

Sapna: Starting financial planning at early age gives you an edge as you can maximize the benefits of compounding. It is most advantageous when you start investing for future prior to your marriage, when you don’t have many responsibilities and expenses to take care of.  You can evaluate your irrelevant expenditure (on irrelevant gadgets like mobile phones, fashion accessories, clothing, footwear, etc.)You would be amazed to see the impact of compounding makes on your money if I show you the calculations.

4.  CCLL: How does RP.com help an individual do so?

Experience tells us that individuals have a faint idea about the financial needs for the future but they don’t have the slightest idea of how to go about creating wealth and parking it for future.  They tend to get confused by what is marketed aggressively on various media, what is advised by “ignorant” friends acting as “advisors”.  On the other hand, we at RP.com, follow a step wise approach with complete involvement of client himself/herself, helping in identifying his specific needs, factoring in various parameters like family size, income and future aspirations. We start with helping them build an emergency fund and gradually take them towards their financial goals step by step.

We have tried to take a very simple approach rather than a complex one so that any common man, even without any technical knowledge of finance can relate to it.

5. CCLL: That’s amazing.  How different is RP.com from other service providers in doing so?

Sapna: Our vision is to make financial planning affordable and approachable for every Indian in the simplest steps.

I am not saying financial planning in itself is a new concept in India, though sometimes it’s not followed in its real form or sometimes it’s too complex and expensive for a normal middle class person. We plan to change that.

6. CCLL: What is the difference between an ordinary LIC agent, a Mutual Fund Advisor or a Bank’s Sales Executive selling insurance, mutual funds and everything and a CFP?

Sapna: It’s very simple. The difference is similar as between a chemist and a practicing doctor.

Though here, many chemists pretend to be doctors themselves and dispense medicines. The parties named here focus on selling products, though unfortunately only to earn high commissions in most of the cases because they push products with high commissions and achieve targets. Often, in that process, the interest of client is lost.

A CFP on other hand, focuses on client, and evaluates all possible options as per best of his knowledge, and recommends a strategy on how to go investing in sound products giving guaranteed high financial benefits for his hard earned money.

7. CCLL: How has the feedback been of your client’s who have got their financial planning done from you? Any instances without naming anyone in particular?

Sapna: In most of the cases, it has been an eye opener.

At RP.com, we don’t just target to merely prepare a plan and hand that over to client.  We strive to educate the client by actually involving him/her with the process. And that actually is the start point of change in their lives.

8. With limited means of income and high expectations of material needs in today’s time, how should one manage to save money for future planning without compromising on any of them?

Sapna: Well, from what I have experienced and seen, income in never sufficient. How you manage that limited income, makes all the difference.

Most of us are financially lazy, we know subconsciously the importance of sitting down and working on our monthly budget, but somehow we become negligent when it comes to actually doing it. We expect our money to work for it but we fail to take out the time and effort to give it a direction for that work.

My request to all readers is that take charge today. Income is never limited or sufficient. It all depends on your approach towards effectively managing it.

9. CCLL: Of course, there is no limit to maximum, but what minimum one must save that can take care of child’s education, marriage, old age & retirement and health care problems.

Sapna: There is no limit to minimum as well. It is important to remember that every drop counts while making an ocean. A small amount saved today will multiply with years into a big amount and going forward, one regrets not saving more while one could. We are talking about humans here; every single person is unique and hence has different needs physically, emotionally and even financially.

10.CCLL:Now, money is strongly linked to Inflation.  Give us an example of the cost of money, say 20 or 30 years from now?

Sapna: I assume, we all are familiar with the kind of impact inflation makes on our money. If I have to show you in figures then, If today you are spending INR.50,000/- to meet your living expenses, then after 25 years assuming a minimum of 6% compounded annual inflation, you would need a minimum of INR 2,14,000/- to maintain the same standard of living.  By this yardstick, you may do a back of the envelope calculation if the rate of inflation is higher, which certainly is going to be the case.

11.CCLL: Any parting words of advice from you for our readers?

Sapna: Educate yourself. Don’t rely on what your agent/advisor tells you blindly. They will aggressively push you to invest in a product, which according to them, will give high returns. Trust me, come out of your mental block and you will find your life a lot easier.  Planning plays an important role, be it your personal life, career, sports, business or any other aspects of your life.  Therefore, financial planning is also crucial.  Investments made after proper planning, in proper tools, will give you’re the peace and satisfaction that you have a sound future ahead of you and that most of your financial worries have been taken care of.

CCLL: Sapna, on behalf of Calibre Creators and our readers, we thank you for your valuable time and inputs.  We send you our best wishes in bringing about financial awareness.

 

RUPIYAPAISA FINANCIAL SERVICES

56A Level 2, Dewan Centre SV Road.
Jogeshwari West,  Mumbai - 400102

Phone:+91 8879523507
Email Address: info@rupiyapaisa.net

Website: www.rupiyapaisa.net

Coaching for Professional & Personal Success: Interview with Dhananjay Singh, Life Coach

For the concluding issue of the Third Volume, CALIBRE CREATORS caught up with Mr. Dhananjay Singh (DS), who is a Certified Coach and is the Principal Consultant & Leadership Coach at Clover Consulting, India.  He holds a graduate degree in Physics, a Masters Degree in Business Management with specialisation in Marketing.  He has been associated with some of the most reputed brands in the Country like Colgate-Palmolive, Daimler, EID Parry India and Delta Co LLC, Oman, Tata Chemicals, HDFC Bank, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Future Generali India Life Insurance Co., and Korn/Ferry Futurestep.  At Clover Consulting India, Dhananjay handles three verticals, i.e. Executive Search, Executive and Life Coaching as well as Business Advisory. 
 
In this exhaustive interview, today we quiz Dhananjay about the various concepts connected with Executive and Life Coaching and how it can help individuals to succeed in their personal life as well as make headway in their professional careers.
 
CC:    Dhananjay, tell our readers a bit about Coaching as a Concept?
DS:    Coaching as a concept has always existed. Since earlier times, we have plenty of examples of advisors and gurus that have played important role in impacting the leadership thinking of their respective times, wherein the coach has challenged the leader’s thinking process via pertinent questions.
 
Throughout the war in the epic Mahabharat, Krishna played the role of a coach for the Pandavas.  Guru Chanakya played the role of a coach for three leaders Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusar and Asoka in his early formative years. Birbal is remembered to have done the same with Akbar as his leader client. In all three cases, the coach would challenge and empower the thinking process of the respective leader to come up with innovative solutions in complex scenarios.
 
Coaching involves listening with intent and asking the right questions which challenge the client’s thinking process, enabling him to generate his own solutions, using the in-depth and comprehensive approach to issues, challenges and goals that leadership grapples with.
 
CC:    Please tell our readers about how Coaching is different from Mentoring and Psychological Counseling?DS:    Please note: Many times coaching is often confused with training and mentoring.
 
Training: involves communicating with the target person/group through instructions about what and how the objective is done. The process is open and explicit transaction between the trainer and trainee. Trainer downloads majority of the communication (80 to 90%) while participants contribute very less (10 to 20%). Training is generally done through workshops and seminars in classroom type situations.

Mentoring: involves a more focused-mix of process and content, wherein an expert shares what and how things are done, basis his own expertise / experience. The interaction involves training download of 50% & dialogue of 50% making the process more customised and dynamic.
 
Psychological Counselling: aims to help people manage their difficulties and transform personal problems into their own personal growth.

Coaching: on the other hand involves an in-depth and comprehensive approach to issues, challenges and goals that leadership / person grapples with. The idea is to enable the client to process and generate his own solutions for his problems. The Coach plays the role of an architect and works to create solutions in the form of SMART goals that are practical to achieve, implement and execute.
 
CC:    How does a Coach approach a client’s problems and come up with creative solutions?
DS:    During the coaching process, the client discovers and connects with his own inner strengths, which he then uses to overcome issues and challenges that he is grappling with. The coaching process involves a 360 degree approach of involving Mind-Body-Spirit, so as to take both the analytical and emotional aspects into consideration.
 
The coach follows the process of asking a combination of left brain (analytical) and right brain (creative) questions in a smart sequence, which activates the client’s thinking process and enables him to discover, generate solutions with a grounded sense of ownership and self belief.
 
Some Questions that challenge thinking would be:

• How does the current scenario make you feel?
• What purpose does this serve?
• What are your main concerns / fears?
• What would be the opposite of your current scenario?
• What values do you want to express in your goals?
• How will your family / friends / colleagues / seniors react to this / think?
• Where do you see this going?
• Where do you want to go with this situation / person?
• What unconstructive characteristics would you want to change that will enable you to achieve your Goal?

Now that we have explored so much, what are you thinking / believing right now?
 
CC:    From your experience, can you tell our readers, the root cause of a few of the common problems that one encounters in family life, personal and social life as well as professional career?
DS:    The root cause of common problems stems from one’s life experiences of the early growing up years, when the analytical faculties are practically non-existent. Understanding of almost all events is based on the child’s emotional experience of its parental and extended family relationships, culture and religious philosophies which are normally inherited from one’s parents. Later, the school environment, teachers, family and friends make a deep impact on the growing up years. Quality of parental (father and mother) relationship’s perception is the key in shaping the overall packaging of the child.
 
When there is an imbalance of Mind-Body-Spirit in life, it causes challenges. All areas of life are interconnected and hence, though the problem may start showing up in one area, it spreads across all areas.
 
Example: Lack of bond and grounding in relationship with father (authority) figure can cause problems in family life and show up at work in the form of passive OR active rebellion with seniors which would hurt the client’s professional life. A conflicted professional life will impact achievements there and show up on the social space, health, mental, finances, etc., areas of life.
 
CC:    Three critical questions here:
 
1.    Have you observed any differences in how the two genders allow a problem to build inside, identify the problem itself as a problem and management of the problem?
DS:    Men (masculine) primarily operate from left brain (logic), while Women (feminine) primarily operate from right brain (creative, emotional). Hence their basic approach to issues and problems are different. Depending on which personality (masculine or feminine) is dominant at a particular time in life, many times the approach of both genders can be opposite and also similar. Hence, neither gender aims to complicate the matter. They both get trapped in the patterns, beliefs, habits inculcated in childhood and growing up years, which are used as reference to deal / manage the problem.
 
2.    Are women better equipped to tackle various situations as they go through the life process – youth, teenage, post-marriage, parenthood as compared to males or do both genders undergo similar problems but handle it differently?
DS:    As mentioned earlier, women primarily operate from right brain (creative, emotional) and hence approach problems in that way. However, the EGO (identity) formed in early childhood years does take over at some stage and despite their internal conversation being as per their gender, the output actions are more in tune with their patterns, beliefs and habits.  Men too, deal with things in a similar way despite their gender design. Sub-conscious programming of the EGO (identity) plays the key role.
 
3.    Are women able to handle different situations in life because they are able to share their problems with friends and other family members of their gender?
DS:    Women operating from the creative and emotional space are able to bring versatility to their style of managing things. However, their identity (patterns, beliefs and habits) does take over when faced with a problem / challenge => stress. Hence, they can use their creativity to create or destroy depending on the choice they make at that moment.
 
It’s the same case for men too operating from their analytical space can create wonders and also the opposite, depending on the choice they make at that moment.
 
CC:    As a Coach, how do you get to the fundamental root of the problem that a client is facing in achieving success? Also, how do you help your client identify the root cause of his problem?
DS:    The coach uses various methodologies to work with the client and enable him to access pertinent data from his sub-conscious to identify root-cause, deal with it and generate pertinent solutions. This way, the coaching technique helps address any problem.
 
CC:    What aspects, for example the conscious and sub-conscious state of mind, performance challenges, mental strength, behaviours, etc. of a client does a Coach seek to address to enable his client to achieve success?
DS:    When it comes to dealing with issues, challenges or working on goals, the sub-conscious mind is the director and conscious mind is the executer. Coach works with client to clear the haze, un-knot the many destructive patterns, beliefs and habits that may be playing out. This enables release of emotional charges connect with the matter being worked on, which leads to generation of smart goals and ultimately leads the way to success through consistent actions forward.
 
CC:    Under what circumstances, or to be exact, for what kind of challenges should somebody approach a Coach?
DS:    A Coach can work with clients to deal with issues, challenges and goals. The best is to approach the coach immediately when the client intuitively feels he is stuck in any area of his life. Delaying will only deteriorate the current scenario and require a higher quantum of work over a bigger period of time.
 
Top performing leader, with whom the buck stops. He is many times left alone to make key decisions that involve the current and future. i.e. the very existence of the enterprise, family and community. They have to live with their decisions, whether a success or failure. This creates a lot of emotional charge within them, which needs to be released through expert coaching.
 
In any areas of life, going forward, to always keep their self belief high and instincts sharp, which is key to the enterprise’s success and existence, coaching plays an important role.
 
Examples of sports, best sports-persons hire coach, not to teach them how to play but to work on their self belief, sharp instincts and to keep them grounded.
 
Coaches ensure that leaders are never alone or lonely (personally or professionally) and are an empower-ing company to have and be with.
 
CC:    Is the Coaching process, strenuous, both for the Client as well as the Coach?
DS:    Coaching process consumes a lot of energy because of the all-round work in every area of life in the conscious and sub-conscious space of the client. The coach also has to be well prepared and be alert for any eventuality at any moment. The process is highly dynamic with the possibility of just about anything showing up in the process because of the release of bottled emotions or the moment’s created / realised emotions. All these consume high amounts of energy, leading to fatigue / stress for both the client and the coach. Water plays a good charging, grounding and balancing agent in the coaching process. I always recommend a person to sip small sips of water for all discussions – at home, office or social.
 
Think of the beneficial impact, if we were sip water during arguments, fights and moments of stress, which we actually forget.
 
The coach being well trained to deal with the fatigue and stress guides the client forward with techniques to release the emotional charges, thus releasing the stress / fatigue. Both of them drink regular sips of water to stay hydrated, charged and grounded.
 
CC:    Does a Coach give his client a lot of “home work” or “things to do” to work upon areas of challenges?
DS:    The coach works with client, who generates, creates SMART goals for the solutions generated in the coaching session. He creates a plan of action to work on the SMART goals, in the duration till the next session. Proof of the pudding is in eating. Goals in action is the key and hence execution forward is the real test of the coaching process.
 
SMART goals are generated by the client and hence action on them is a choice the client makes. Coach holds him accountable and starts the next session with review of the goal action status. What worked, what was improved upon and what didn’t work.
 
The coach makes the client’s Integrity the key to the coaching process.
SMART goals basically stand for Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.
 
CC:    How does a good coach make the entire coaching process into a “learning and enjoyable” process of the client?
DS:    By making the coaching session client centric, by ensuring there is no judgement in the space, by holding the space for the client as an achiever of the issue, challenge and goal that the client is working on.  By helping the client clean-up his stored past energies (patterns, beliefs and habits) in the form of emotional charges, the coach creates space for introduction of new patterns, beliefs and habits which work as enablers for client. This provides learning and also makes it an enjoyable experience for the client.

Client, stuck in issues of authority of father realises that his father too went through similar experiences in life and is acting / executing from life learnings. He develops compassion and empathy for the authority, which enables him to release emotions stuck within him for many years, thus freeing his ability to express himself.
 
Client sees regular performers as normal human beings like him. Their attitudinal approach is the key.  This realisation makes achievement look a normal thing and not some pie-in-the-sky.  He goes for it.
 
Client sees that fear exists in everyone. Some freeze where they while some run away. Few stand their ground, acknowledge and deal with their fears, enabling them to move forward.
 
Coaching frees stuck energies which gets put to use making the experience an enjoyable experience of self expression.
 
CC:    Does a Coach, despite his training, occasionally get emotionally carried away by a client’s challenges and gets personally involved? How does a Coach handle such situations? 
DS:    The coach is trained to be emotionally detached from the client, which is very important for a non-judgmental coaching environment. However, in case of an emotional involvement, the coach normally does a clearing session with his master coach and depending on the seriousness of his involvement with client, he can proceed forward or recuse himself from the coaching assignment and basis client’s approval, refer the client to another buddy coach.
 
CC:    How does Coaching empower a Client to be able to handle his/her challenges in the future?
DS:    Coaching connects and brings balance to the client’s Mind-Body-Spirit area of being. Important self coaching tools and action on the SMART goals help client to stay focused and deal with future challenges. Best way forward is practice-practice-practice.
 
CC:    Is the Coach always available to the client whenever he needs help during the coaching process?
DS:    The coach is always available to the client, both in person and in-between personal sessions, via the phone and other forms of communication. The coach aims to create a higher amount of self-dependence in the client.
 
CC:    Does a Coach have a solution for every type of challenge that the client is encountering or in other words, are there common behaviours which if addressed can be helpful to the client in addressing / managing all his/her problems?
DS:    The coaching process is designed to deal with any issue / challenge of the client. Yes, transformation of client in one area (patterns, beliefs and habits) at a Mind-Body-Spirit level might impact his transformation in other areas also because all are interconnected and synchronised.
 
CC:    How does a Coach determine that his client is now ready to take on the challenges of personal or professional life and therefore consider the process to be complete?
DS:    When the client’s - patterns, beliefs and habits are in sync with his Mind-Body-Spirit, his choices reflect - responsibility, integrity, compassion, confidence & other related values in every area of his life. i.e. Personal (Mental / Intellectual), Family, Professional, Social, Finance, Spiritual, Health, as they all are inter-connected and support each other, also feed on / derive energy from each other. It is the way of being of the client that decides completion of the coaching process. The frequency of the coaching session can gradually reduce and in certain cases, also completely stop.
 
CC:    Without naming any particular client, can you give an example of a coaching process and how you have enabled a client to achieve his/her goals as well as taste success? 
DS:    A client didn’t want to take charge of the flourishing family business from his father, despite being groomed all his life for it because the line of business wasn’t in line with his current value-systems.
 
Coaching process enabled him to see the business values & personal value systems are two separate aspects of life. This enabled him to see his role and contribution to society, customers and his employees in a new light.
 
He was able to approach the challenge with a new energy and also use funds from current business profits to diversify into another area of business which played the role of a good balancer, wherein he was able to give platform to the social sector to do business and thrive. This gave him good satisfaction of doing business connected to his values and also showed him synchronicity of things in life.
 
CC:    How can coaching help an individual, especially in the context of his/her professional career growth?
DS:    Coaching works in dealing with problems (issue, challenge or goal to be achieved) with in every area of the client’s life, mainly à Personal (Mental / Intellectual), Family, Professional, Social, Finance, Spiritual, Health & Vitality. Since all areas are inter-connected, a problem in one may easily flow into the other areas, as is the case most of the times. Hence, a wholistic approach helps create solutions in professional careers.
 
CC:    In an environment where talent is scarce, is it advisable for large companies to have in-house coaches to help professionals overcome issues like inability to cope with stress, instil confidence to take up higher responsibilities, identification of future leaders, etc.? 
DS:    In today’s demanding and multi-faceted expectation world, coaching plays a very important role, especially at the leadership level, which is expected to be ready 24x7 to deal with wide ranging challenges of a highly dynamic work environment.
 
It is important to have a good mix of both internal and external coaches. Internal coaches play the role of neutral counsellors to ensure balance. Example: Speedy tactical interventions done in-house.
 
The external coaches bring higher level of perceived neutrality to the table, especially at senior levels, where the stakes are high.
 
Example: Strategic engagements of medium to long term. Energising and working on the mindset which challenges an out-of-box approach.
 
CC:    In a large organisation, how can a Coach become an active partner of the Human Resources Department with regard to talent management and succession planning of a Company?
DS:    In large organisation there is always need of higher number of budding leadership requirements to lead and manage the expansion projects and also fulfil management role challenges. All this requires not only high quality soft skills but also high levels of energy at all times, which comes from self inspiration. The coach plays the role of a neutral sounding board and holds the space for the leaders. Confidentiality and trust is the key. Any fear will activate defensive behaviour and derail the process.
 
Example: New energy, mindset which challenges an out-of-box approach is many times looked as a threat to status-quo and leads to fear and defensive approach which can be suicidal in today’s super dynamic times. In collaboration with Human Resources Department, the coach challenges these very facts to enable / fuel the innovation and self expression energies in the clients and organisations.
 
CC:    For the benefit of our readers, please share some tips on who can become a coach and what are the required qualifications?  
DS:    Well, theoretically, anyone can become a coach, basis one’s inclination, training and experience of life.
 
However, acceptance of a coach in the client’s mind is the key and that aspect depends upon the coach’s created perception, which depends upon his qualification, relevant experience, personality, language command, knowledge and most important personal realisations, which are first-hand moments of truth of the coach, because they empower his convictions on the matter at hand.
 
CC:    What is the process to be followed to become a Coach?
DS:    There are many coach training programs available which prepare the coach by working on themselves during the training process on every area of their own lives. The sense of conviction comes from this aspect. In my view, self conviction is the key to preparation and being of a coach.
 
CC:    Does it require a lot of maturity and experience for anyone to become a Coach?
DS:    It is also human nature to listen to grey hair.  So, Yes, at times, a mature, older person does create acceptance, but need not be the right person.
 
A Coach provides a powerful, non-judgmental space for his client to express himself and hence a practical and grounded way of being is the key to become a successful coach.
 
CC:    As a parting shot, what advice would you like to give our readers about handling challenges in life (stress, personal, family and professional) to achieve success in life?
DS:    Don’t neglect any area of the 7-areas of life mainly à Personal (Mental / Intellectual), Family, Professional, Social, Finance, Spiritual, Health & Vitality because they all are inter-connected. They have both, the power to pull the others along with them, i.e. up or down, in which ever direction they go.
 
Examples to ponder:

• Poor health management will show up in engagement energy levels in family, work, social, etc.
• An engaged mental / intellectual person is internally charged up and generates possibilities.
• Spirituality plays a grounding role and brings tolerance and acceptance.
• A disempowered professional scenario will mess up family, social, health, mental spaces and vice versa.

CALIBRE CREATORS LEARNING LETTER thanks Dhananjay for his time and deep insights.
Dhananjay can be contacted on :
Tel      : +91 22 65006503 / Mob : +91 98331 88650
Web    : www.cloverconsulting.co.in
Email  : dhananjay.singh@cloverconsulting.co.in
https://in.linkedin.com/in/dhananjay007

This article which was published in the Issue No.13, Volume 3 of CALIBRE CREATORS August 2015 issue.

To  view and download the previous issues, please visit www.calibrecreators.com.

Or you can simply send us a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com to request your copy and receive the issue regularly. 

Get Your Child Assessed for Making the Right Career Choice.  Take the Aptitude Test – go to www.calibrecreators.com

Write to Calibre Creators to resolve all your education and career related queries.  Please visit www.calibrecreators.com/contact-us.  There are no charges for this service.  Make extensive use of the service.  All queries are responded within 24 hours.

Promoting the use of Generic Medicines v/s. Branded Medicines

Branded medicines should be made cheaper and sold at rates similar to generic medicines

A generic drug is identical to a brand-name drug (sold by big companies) in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial discounts from the branded price.

Several medical associations have recently been requesting the Union Health Ministry that prices of branded drugs available in India should be brought down closer to the prices of their generic alternatives. They have also been requesting to check the quality of crucial generic drugs and certify them, so that doctors can prescribe them to patients without any qualms, and people too can get the maximum benefit.

Moreover, for diseases like diabetes and hypertension, where the patients have to take medicines for a long term, generic drugs will help them save a lot. Also, if the union health ministry certifies generic drugs, people won't run behind brands, and doctors can freely prescribe generic drugs.

In 2013, in a landmark decision, Supreme Court of India denied Novartis AG's request for patent protection for its Gleevec cancer treatment, allowing the nation's generic-drug makers to continue to sell copies of the drug at a lower price. The Medical Council of India (MCI) too had issued directives to its doctors to prescribe generic medicines as far as possible.

Following this, the Centre had directed all the states to ask their doctors in public facilities to prescribe only generic medicines. To promote generic drugs, more than 150 Jan Aushadhi Stores have already been opened across India.  Hope, this movement spreads and the Indian population has access to quality medicines at reasonable rates.

Contributed to the CALIBRE CREATORS LEARNING LETTER By:

Dr. Suresh Sundar, 

M.D., D.P.H. (Mumbai), 

Cert. PHC & Rural Management (Thailand)

This article which was published in the Issue No.11, Volume 3 of CALIBRE CREATORS July 2015 issue.

To  view and download the previous issues, please visit www.calibrecreators.com.

Or you can simply send us a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com to request your copy and receive the issue regularly. 

Get Your Child Assessed for Making the Right Career Choice.  Take the Aptitude Test – go to www.calibrecreators.com

Write to Calibre Creators to resolve all your education and career related queries.  Please visit www.calibrecreators.com/contact-us.  There are no charges for this service.  Make extensive use of the service.  All queries are responded within 24 hours.

Interview with Mr. Testudinidae (Mr. Tortoise), the Legend

Today we are interviewing a species, a personality which has assumed legendary proportions over the generations, about whom we learnt in our schools.  To the ordinary human beings, they may be just a species that co-exists in the eco-system and not have anything to do with us.  But legend and old wives tales have it that they have served to teach us some very important lessons in life.  New management experts have given them these theories a new dimension, of how peaceful co-existence and team work can lead to “win-win” situations for all.  We are talking of the Famous Tortoise who lives up to an average of 200 years and can travel 0.27 km/h.

CC:     You are a legend.  How does it feel to be referred to as someone who could never win a race but ended up winning twice?

TT:     Well, I don’t think I am a legend but if that what’s you all prefer to call me, I am fine with it.  Personally, I didn’t intend to be a part of the race that the Hare challenged me to.  So I had a very interesting dialogue with myself in solitude.  The first question that came to my mind was “What if I did?”  Why should I leave chances to fate?  Anything can happen to the opposition? Well, he has through generations been gifted with this amazing skill of speed.  But has he ever been challenged to prove it?  I took a chance and the result is there for all to see.

CC:       What if you had lost by a good margin?

TT:      Oh yes! There was always a good chance for that to happen.  By the time I would have covered one percent of the distance, he would have already crossed it.  And it happened that way too, which is why the Hare stopped to take a big nap and I managed to stealthily pass by it and cross the line too.

CC:     Imagine that you were just crossing him and he would have woken up, sensing your body odour?

TT:     I knew this could happen.  Which is why I took a detour and took a longer route just to avoid the situation.  You see, I know all the behavioural traits of the Hare species. I know they have a powerful nose and they are light sleepers.  The route I took was longer but since it was marshy land, I had to make less of an effort than I would have to on hard surface.  I contemplated between the two but since I could use my abilities to my advantage, I preferred the longer but the marshy ground.

CC:     In the modern management version of the story, the Hare challenges you once again and you accept the bet knowing fully well that this time around, he would be aware of his own mistakes and what happened earlier may not get repeated this time around?

TT:     Very True.  But for me it was important to maintain that sporting spirit.  I could not just win a game and keep on basking in the glory forever.  I might have been construed as a “stroke of luck” or that I won because of his weakness.  I wanted to prove myself that I could win on my own merits.

CC:     You lost the second race by a good margin and yet you challenged the Hare to a third race.  What were you thinking?

TT:     I did some smart thinking and some introspection.  The Hare was 2-1 up on me.  When I set up the new route, he did not realise that there would be a water body mid-route. I tricked him into the race and he lost because swimming has never been his forte.  He did not take consider the fact that I may be slow on earth but I am can swim with ease.  Here, I was at an advantage.  I had two skills and gifted with these abilities.  The hare never tried to learn to swim.  He was confident of his only skill, i.e. to run fast.  Had he learnt to swim, he could have beaten me to it too. Perhaps not.

CC:     In the fourth race, you end up striking a deal with the Hare and complement each other in situations that are not conducive for each one of you.

TT:     The Hare is a smart guy.  He knew that I am an amphibian and am equally at ease on both land and water.  In deep or shallow waters, I am at my best because my weight does not matter anymore there.  I can swim on the surface or dive deep into the water too.  Soon realising that the forest has all types of terrains, and the Hare would not be able to cross rivulets, shallow or deep rivers, he struck a deal with me.

         

          To me, the Hare had learnt a meaningful lesson that unless we work in a team, we cannot expect to win a race, else he would have not agreed to it.  We all have different skill sets.  While we may have attained domain expertise in one subject or profession, we cannot be equally good at other skills.  Which is why, when people with unique skills like a Marketing Person, the Operations person, an Information Technology Guy, the Financial Expert Person, the Legal Expert, the Production Expert, the Research and Development expert, the procurement expert, the designing expert come together, they make a formidable team and produce excellent results.

          None of them can expect to operate in a silo.  Companies that have been successful have the team concept in their DNA and that brings out the best in each one of them, making them work together.  It is therefore, equally important that your hiring decision is very prudent, selecting people that will get absorbed in your corporate culture.  Any individual who varies or tries to deviate from the organisational culture will end up messing the whole environment, causing permanent damage.

CC:     In the modern age, would you both have succeeded if someone else placed a bet against both of you?

TT:     You see, it’s quite simple!  We are not here to compete with anyone, even if they want to.  That does not mean that we are incompetent or we are shying away from competition and not ready to do anything to survive.  We are here to do our own thing which is to do some meaningful work while we are at it.  There are a lot of things do to other than running a race or proving others wrong all the time.  Yes, where the conditions are ideal, the race is between peers - people with same skill sets and competition is even, there is no harm in trying to bring out our best.  But competition amongst apples and oranges is not desirable.

CC:     As a creature, you carry a heavy shell over you all the while.  Do you feel that you should let go of the shell and lighten your body, enabling you to move faster?

TT:     If the shell was taken away from me, I would not survive even for a minute.  It is my core competency.  It shields me from enemies. You know how much young children love me. Can you imagine, any other animal that can carry my shell.  If I let go of this shell, what would happen to it?  Who will carry it? The shell is a blessing and I am thankful to God for it. And tell me, why the heck do I need to move faster? I’m happy the way I am.

         Whatever we have, must be converted into assets. Often, we do not see the positive aspects but dwell upon what we see as negative or the flip side but which is not.  Only when the realisation dawns upon you that you have a mine full of assets, then begins your journey towards success.  Sometimes, people do not realise it ever during their life time.  It is like the deer sensing the musk but never finding it.    That to me, is non-realisation of one’s own assets, potential and talent.  And that is failure.

          

          Not using your assets means (a) that you have not trusted your creator; (b) you have not had a good relationship with yourself.  You may have travelled around the world, seen the best places in the world but have not travelled deep into your own self.  You haven’t attempted to find out the resources that you were born with.  Each person must learn to recognise his gifts from an early age.  For this, parents must have perfected this craft themselves and then must train and teach their children to recognise them.  I believe that only a handful of people in this world have recognised their abilities, worked upon them, converted them into achievements and achieved success in life.  There is so much work to be done.

CC:    You have shared a great piece of wisdom with our readers.  We thank you very much and look forward to keep on learning from you.

TT:    I appreciate your kind words but that is no big deal.  I have learnt a few lessons in life which I have shared with you.

This is a purported dialogue between the Tortoise and CALIBRE CREATORS.  This is a work of fiction and CALIBRE CREATORS does not claim to understand the language spoken by the animal species.

This article was published in the  Calibre Creators LEARNING LETTER issue of July 2015, Vol. 3, Issue No.11.  

To  view and download the previous issues, please visit www.calibrecreators.com.

Or you can simply send us a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com to request your copy and receive the issue regularly. 

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Write to Calibre Creators to resolve all your education and career related queries.  Please visit www.calibrecreators.com/contact-us.  There are no charges for this service.  Make extensive use of the service.  All queries are responded within 24 hours.