The one common question that folks are quite curious to know about is:
“What is it like to be a Global Shaper?”
The only answer I have is: “Just imagine!!! You are competing with 450 equally talented young Arcadians for one of the 105 spots. That is quite a challenge and an amazing experience in itself, the feeling is just overwhelming.” Now, going a little back in time to 2015; I had missed the Global Shapers selection as I had joined our company once the selection was over. But once I read about the program and got to know about the experiences from the Global Shapers – Generation 2015 participants, I had decided that I should participate and give my best in the 2016 selection round.
So, I shared this interest with my seniors just before Global Shapers 2016 started. They had not missed a day to encourage and motivate me. In fact, just before the video submission, I had been racing towards a few project submissions. I thought it was going to be really difficult to prepare something for the application, but one of my senior leader came up to me and asked:
Leader: “Hi Sai! How is the video preparation going on?”
Sainath: “Sorry, I have scripted something, but I have not been able to shoot a video yet.”
Leader (with a grin on): “You are going to get a whooping if you don’t submit it, so get on with it ASAP.”
So that’s the kind of motivation I got to apply for the Global Shapers program.
The Global Shapers Programs has been beautifully designed with clear objectives. Till date we have received two assignments, we are close to completing the second assignment. The first assignment involved us in Hofstede’s 6 Cultural Dimensional Analysis to understand the cultural differences at our home, work places and of our teams. By finalizing this task, I understood on how I would have to adjust my working style based on my location.
The second assignment was to take the MBTI test. This helped us in understanding how we perceive the world and make decisions. Later on, we discussed the final report generated with the team. I personally feel that this has helped me understand my team better.
So, now a little about how I will to contribute to creating a ripple effect. I received the best opportunity even before I have completed the Global Shapers program. What is the opportunity? It is the wonderful opportunity to interact with our newly hired graduates along with my fellow Global Shaper from Generation 2015, Rameshwari Bhoyar, and tell them about the Global Shapers program and our experiences so far. This is just the beginning and there are a lot more ways in which I would love to contribute.
Sainath Venkataraman
Global Shaper Generation 2016
