The Qualities expected from you to be inherent and already available as part of your innate nature is termed as the OLQ. These can be simply called as the qualities of:

Head
Heart
Limbs
Overall Leadership Potential

Basic role of Armed Forces is to be prepared for war at anytime to safeguard India’s territorial, maritime and air integrity. To fulfil this responsibility, it has its four arms, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and The Coast Guard. All the above have the basic composition of the basic soldiers who form the largest number, then the Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and finally the officer’s cadre who command these men in war or peace as a unit or sub unit. While at soldier level physical fitness and stamina is more important, at officers level it’s the mental makeup and rational thought process is the key. He has to lead his men as a team in the face of death hence he needs to have certain specific personality traits. The assessors are looking at these wholesome personality traits popularly known as “Officer Like Qualities”.
Irrespective of the assessor i.e. The Group Testing Officer, The Interviewing Officer or The Psychologists, all look for the same frame but in different manner or with a different tool. These officer like qualities or OLQ’s are grouped in some sub parts. Lets take them one by one.

Officer Like Qualities (OLQ's)

Qualities of Head

(a) Effective Intelligence: It is the intelligence used in coping with practical situations of varying complexities. It is different from basic intelligence which is the capacity to perceive relations or to do abstract thinking.

(b) Reasoning Ability: The ability to grasp the essentials well and to arrive at conclusions by rational thinking. This has different sub parts like - Receptivity, Inquiring attitude, Logical reasoning and Seeing essentials of a problem.

(c) Organising ability: It is the ability to arrange the resources in a systematic manner so as to produce effective results.

(d) Power of expression: This is the ability to put across one’s ideas adequately with ease and clarity.

Qualities of Heart

(a) Social Adaptability: It is the ability to deal with individuals to adapt with the social environment and adjust well with persons and socials groups, with specially reference to superiors, equals and subordinates. Social adaptability includes social intelligence, attitude towards others ,tact ,and adaptability.

(b) Cooperation: The attitude of an individual to participate willingly with others in a group to achieve the group goal. This implies a belief in the collective effort being more productive than the individual effort.

(c) Sense of responsibility: It enables a person to be dependable and to willingly discharge his obligation. It includes sense of duty and is much comprehensive in meaning and scope. Sense of responsibility includes - sense of duty and discipline.

Qualities of Limb

(a) Determination: A sustained effort to achieve objective in spite of obstacles and set-backs it implies fixedness of purpose; mental concentration and strength of will. It includes - The mental and physical capacity to work and the motivation.

(b) Courage: The ability to appreciate and take purposive risks willingly.

Qualities of an Overall Leader

(a) Initiative: The ability to originate an action and sustain it. It has four aspects, ability to take the first step; and to act first usually in a new or subsequently emerging situation, in the right direction and maintain it.

(b) Self-confidence: It is the faith in one’s ability to meet stressful situations particularly those that are unfamiliar.

(c) Speed of Decision: The ability to arrive at workable decisions expeditiously. It comprises of appropriateness of the decision and quickness.

(d) Ability to Influence the Group: The ability which enables an individual to bring about willing effort from the group for achieving the objective desired by him.

(e) Liveliness: Capacity of an individual to keep himself cheerful when meeting problems and bring about a cheerful atmosphere.

What does all the above actually mean?

To sum up

"if an individual can perceive the problems correctly, find its logical solution, can express himself, has a good attitude towards others, can influence others and has sufficient dynamism to face setbacks and failures" he is fit to get recommended

The Qualities expected from you to be inherent and already available as part of your innate nature is termed as the OLQ. These can be simply called as the qualities of:

Head

Heart

Limbs

Overall Leadership Potential

Officer Like Qualities (OLQ's)

What does all the above actually mean?