Scholarship / Chevening Leadership Essay - LEADING THROUGH INNOVATION [3]

A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way

I would be very happy to see your positive feedback on my essay. I am so concerned about the length of my essay, I believe it exceeds the maximum limit of the words. Any input in which part I should omit?

Thanks,
imbws

Everybody has their own way to define a leader, but I really like the definition from John C Maxwell, "A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." The way he defines a leader just fits in me, representing who I really am. For me, a leader must be creative and innovative in order to get ahead in today's fast-paced world. Most importantly, a leader has to know how to turn his ideas into real-world success story.

I realize that creativity and innovation have become essential parts in my educational and professional life. Back in 2009, I was appointed as Chief of Internal Division for Public Relation Department in Ocean Engineering Student Union. As a chief, I was responsible to familiarize the union's programs to all students and lecturers, as well as to ensure their involvement in the programs. I came up with an idea of an effective communication media by maximizing the use of wall magazines. The challenge, then, was how to attract the students and lecturers' attention to read the wall magazines. I proposed another idea to make the wall magazine more attractive and led my team to construct 3D wall magazines. We worked very hard every time we had free period in between classes. Finally, our hard work has paid off. All students and lecturers were very excited to read not only the association's programs but also other information put on the wall magazines. The student union area became more crowded and that was our chance to engage with the crowd and encourage them to actively involve in the programs. In the end, we executed all programs successfully and gained full support from the students and lecturers.

Being a leader is not always about leading and coming up with creative ideas. How a leader goes and executes the ideas with integrity, excellent planning, and empathy is as important as coming up with innovation. I always implement those values to be a good leader in the company I work for, Pertamina.

I was accepted by Pertamina, an Indonesia state-owned oil and gas company, through Professional Development Program (PDP) in December 2012. The program was uniquely designed to prepare the company future leaders. I gained many experiences both in technical and managerial skills during the program. After the program, I successfully led numerous technical projects, such as service life extension analysis for offshore platforms, risk-based underwater inspection, and IMR program for mothballed equipment.

In addition, to enhance my managerial skill, I am currently leading an event entitled Quarterly Forum Integrity Management (QFIM) focusing on the improvement of asset integrity and hence, the oil and gas production. Under my leadership, I set high standards for the event in terms of preparation, execution, and monitoring regardless the fact that the event should be held in an effective and efficient ways. I proposed to reduce the event duration into only one day, yet focusing not only on asset integrity and production but also detailed execution and budget planning. I realized that by reducing the duration, I had to develop excellent strategic plans during the preparation and monitoring. Therefore, I developed an intense preparation program in which I encouraged all engineers to actively involve in the event. I also developed a simple tool to ensure the monitoring process can be done effectively. Last but not least, I always encourage my team to always work with integrity and lift them up when they are in their lows. For me, building empathy with my team will strengthen our connection and lead to pleasant working situation.

I believe that pursuing master degree in UK will give me a chance to improve my leadership skill. Furthermore, if I am awarded Chevening scholarship, I will get the opportunity to meet young leaders from all nations and share experiences in order to lead Indonesia moving forward.

Scholarship / Chevening Networking Essay - High-trust Relationships for Ever Lasting Networking [2]

Please give your positive feedback on my essay below. Thanks in advance!

imbws

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I believe that building strong professional relationship is a substantial element in achieving success and communication skill is the foundation to build positive networking. I also believe that a positive networking should be built by focusing on how I can benefit for others and not in contrary. By doing so, people can build high-trust relationships that can last forever.

I gained many experiences on how to build and maintain relationships when I was elected as an exchange student in Kumamoto University, Japan in 2010. Representing my home university, I spent an amazing full year to introduce Indonesian cultures as well as to learn Japanese cultures and language. I actively interacted and built friendship with other foreign students from all countries, ranging from Japan and Korea to UK and US. Furthermore, I also established strong bonding with professors and university staffs by initiating biweekly meeting to discuss any subjects related to my study. The intense connection obviously advantaged me a lot as I was allowed to attend engineering classes and seminars taught by my professors. Moreover, a professor gave me an opportunity to be a researcher in his laboratory and assigned me a project which later became my bachelor thesis. I believe that my communication and networking skill during my study in Kumamoto University has benefited me in many ways to pursue my professional career. Not only I had the chance to study Japanese cultures and advance technology, but I also contributed to the university educational improvement through my research. That is how a positive networking should work; that is by providing mutual benefits for both parties.

Building and maintaining good relationships with all stakeholders during my professional career in Pertamina is extremely essential. On daily basis, I connect with multi-discipline parties ranging from Engineering to Commercials in planning, execution, and monitoring stages. By implementing effective communication and networking, I can ensure the works are performed ethically based on company business process and miss-understanding can be minimized.

To improve my professional networks and relationships in oil and gas industry, I actively involve in many seminars and conferences both in internal and external Pertamina. In May 2017, I represented my team during the 41st Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Annual Convention and Exhibition as a speaker and presenting an alternative option to repair and strengthen the damaged offshore platform members without hot work activities. The presentation went well and the participants were very interested in implementing the innovation in their company. I gained new contacts and connections during the event, particularly during the question and answer session where participants asked me regarding the innovation and whether it was applicable on their sites. We also contacted several times after the event to discuss cases they were facing on their facilities.

I believe that my strong communication and networking skill matches the Chevening criteria. Becoming a Chevening Awardee will give me opportunity to expand my networks with leaders and experts from various educational backgrounds and professions. If I am awarded Chevening scholarship, I will actively participate in the Chevening events and engage with the community during and after the award.