1. A TVRLS Publication 14
|July-Sept 2013
Locus Of Control-
Are You In Charge Of
Your Destiny?

2. 15
and Megha? Do they differ in their
thinking? What do they attribute their
failuresto?
These answers can be found in a very
powerful concept-Internal External
Locus of Control (IELOC). This
concept will help us decode the
behaviours demonstrated by Supriya
and Megha as well as give us an insight
intoourownbehaviours.
Theword‘locus’hasbeenderivedfrom
theGreekword ‘Loci’which means the
‘Seed’ or ‘Center’. Locus of Control
referstotheextenttowhichindividuals
believethattheycancontroleventsthat
affect them. Individuals with a high
internal locus of control believe that
events result primarily from their own
behaviourandactions.Suchindividuals
are called ‘Internals’. In contrast,
those with a high external locus of
controlbelievethatfate,chance,luckor
othersprimarilydetermineevents.Such
individualsarecommonlyreferredtoas
‘Externals’.
In the above mentioned perspectives,
Supriya attributes her success and
failure to herself and her efforts and
not to external factors. She considers
herself to be responsible for events
transpiring in her life and takes
ownership for the same. On the other
hand Megha believes that external
factors play a key role in determining
success or failure. She does not
considerthelackof optimumeffortsas
oneof thereasonsforherlowmarks.
Similarly, each one of us has both-
externality as well as internality
tendencies within us. Some of us are
dominated by internality more and
others by externality. If we can assess
the extent to which our thoughts,
opinions and beliefs are external
oriented or internal oriented, it gives us
deeperinsightsintoourselves.
WhatIsLocusOf Control?
AbouttheAuthor...
Luna Daniel is a
Consultant with
TVRLS and is involved
with core HRD
interventions like PMS,
360 DF, ADC and
Competency Mapping.
She is a passionate HR
professional with
almost 6 years of
experience in the HR
operations and L&D
space. She is an avid
reader/writer and her
articles have been
published in various
management blogs. A
native of Kerala and
born & brought up in
Kolkata, her love for
‘Maa’, ‘Maati’,
‘Maanush’, ‘Mishti’ and
‘Music’ is self-
explanatory. She can be
reached at:
luna0206@gmail.com.
Luna Daniel
When facing a challenge,
encountering a change, or
pursuing a goal, you might
have heard individuals asking the
followingquestions:
Do I control my life or does
somethingelsecontrolit?
DoIjusthavegoodluckordoIneed
toputinefforttoachieveresults?
DoIhaveallthatIneed,tomakemy
lifethewayIwouldlikeittobe?
Here are two perspectives to the
questionsmentionedabove.
Supriya is a very bright 8th standard
student. A topper of her class, she
often secures the first rank. She studies
hardandpreparesforherexamsalmost
a month in advance. She believes that it
is her effort that will help her succeed
and enable her to pass all the
examinations with flying colours.
Recently,anewstudentjoinedherclass
and in the term examination, she stood
first. While Supriya was dejected
initially, she said to herself, “The new
girl is better than me and this time my
effort was not good enough. I will put
inextraeffortnexttimeand IamsureI
canbemoresuccessful”.
Megha is in the same class as Supriya.
She is an energetic and bright student.
Inherearlydaysasastudent,sheputin
some effort and always got average
marks. She started attributing her
average scores to the bias of all her
teachers and she also thinks that most
of the students fared well because of
the rampant ‘copying’ during the
exams. She concluded that it is a waste
to put in efforts much ahead of the
examinations. She continues to put in
the bare minimum effort and manages
tojustscrapethroughinexams.
What is the difference between Supriya
|July-Sept 2013
A TVRLS Publication

3. AbouttheAuthor...
Kalyani holds an MBA
degree from Aurora's
Business School,
Hyderabad. She is
currently a Consultant
with TVRLS and works
in the area of Talent
Management and
Organization
Development. At
TVRLS she anchors the
Advanced Learning
Program in Designing
and Implementing
Assessment
Development Centre.
An adventure sport
enthusiast, she believes
in taking challenges
head on. She can be
reached at:
barmakalyani@gmail.com
Kalyani Barma
A TVRLS Publication 16
Thesebehaviourscanbeclearlyseen
at the workplace, where internals
react to situations very differently
compared to their external
counterparts.
locus of control attributes one’s success
andfailurestoone’sownefforts,justlike
Supriya.
Individuals with an
internallocusof control
are likely to invest in
themselves and grow
personally, by analysing
their contributions/role
in their success or
failure. Those with a
high external locus keep
trying to find ways to
justify their failures.
However, having an
internallocusof control
is not a sure shot way to
success nor is having an
external locus of
control a reason to be a
failure.WhileInternality
is desirable, some
amountof Externalityis
also a must to ensure a
balance. Though many
studies have linked an
internallocusof control
to better work performance and higher
career satisfaction, it would be
inappropriate and unrealistic for us to
do away with the external locus of
control completely. The world is never
thatsimple.
Firstly, if you lack an external locus of
control, you are prone to ignore the
power of real events and not make
necessary adjustments when needed.
Secondly, while internals attribute
failure to themselves, some amount of
externality is desirable-not in effort but
indealingwithoutcomes.
In success, it is easy for an internal to
take the creditbut in the event of failure
it is easier for them to blame self.
Therefore,itmaybecomedifficultforan
internaltobreakawayfroma‘self
What Is The Optimum Locus Of
Control?
LinkagesOf LocusOf ControlWith
OurAttitudeToSuccessOrFailure
As our Locus of Control determines
where each of us place the
responsibility, choice, and control for
what we achieve and the events
occurring in our life, it is closely linked
to the responsibility we take for our
success and failures. Our own Locus of
Controlimpacts:
Ourmotivationlevels.
Oursenseof self-direction.
Ourfeelingof controloverwhatwe
doandaccomplish.
An external locus of control supports a
belief that one is helpless and not in
control of one's successes and failures,
just like Megha. Whereas, an internal
Somecharacteristicsof Internals
Somecharacteristicsof Externals
Morecooperative.
Self-reliant.
Knowledgeableabouttheirwork.
Unemployedinternalsexhibitmoreself-directionand
acceptmoreresponsibilityfortheircareerdevelopment.
Moreself-confidentandinsightful.
Tendtoresorttomoreself-blaming behaviour.
Lessanxious.
Moretrusting.
Abletoadjustandadaptwelltochangingsituations.
Extremelyexternalizedpersonmayblameoutside
factorsasadefenceagainstadmittingpersonal
inadequacies.
Extremeexternalsmaybepassivein thefaceof
environmentaldifficulties,whichcouldresultin
maladjustmenttosociety.
|July-Sept 2013

4. 17
SourcesandReferences:
InternalExternalLocusof Control(C)TVRLS
http://www.mindtools.com/
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Locus_of_Control
blame-game’ for the setbacks or
mishaps along his/her personal or
professional journey. Hence, the right
proportion can be achieved by an
individual if he has a ‘high Internal
Locus of Control when it comes to
EFFORT’ and a high External Locus
of Control when looking at final
OUTCOMES.’
Here are some tips for developing greater awareness of your locus
of control
•
•
Be aware of your ‘self-talk’: One should avoid any negative, self fulfilling talk,
suchas"Ican'tdothis","I'msuchafailure","Thisistoomuch","Thisisn'tgoing
towork",etc.Whenyoucatchyourself inanegativeself-talk,trytogentlycorrect
yourself and replace it with something more positive, for e.g. replace "I can't do
this" with "Though this may be a bit difficult, I can do it" or "I choose to do it at
myownpace”.Asitissaid,allgamesarefirstwoninthemind.Hence,weshould
beboth-awareandcarefulof whatwethink.
Surround yourself with ‘enriching people’: Try to spend more time with positive
people and discuss more on ‘effort’ than on the ‘final outcomes’. Develop the
healthy practice of jotting down in a small diary, all the good feedback that you
have ever got. Every time you have a setback, read and reread the good, a few
times.Thisisespeciallygoodforinternalsasitgivesthemthecouragetobounce
backfast.
Hopethesetipshelp youbecomeawareandtakecharge!!Letsexerciseprudence
whileapplyinganinternalorexternalapproach.
All thebest.
Image Source: http://www.wrywingpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Puppet-strings2.png
|July-Sept 2013
A TVRLS Publication