Scholarship / Digital Transformation (Product Owner) - Leadership and Influence - Chevening Essay [2]

Hi ! I need your feedback on my Chevening leadership essay. Thanks!

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer.

Leadership and Influence - Chevening Essay

As a Digital Product Owner at ABC, I believe leadership is about creating lasting change, while influence is about guiding people toward a common objective. I led a squad of 9 for a Digital Transformation project to digitalize data input for XYZ, one of our partner meat crab factories. They were heavily reliant on manual paperwork, which created delays, especially with receiving notes that record meat received after quality checks, it could take at least 3-4 days after daily production was done. This not only held up supplier payments but also poorly affected relationships and put production targets at risk.

I manage not only the technical side of the project but also persuade a team that is hesitant about digital change. Many employees at XYZ were comfortable with the old methods like using paper and manually inputting into a spreadsheet after daily production was done. They feared that the new system might complicate their jobs. I tried to align with the team from different departments, knowing that buy-in from everyone was crucial. I organized interactive workshops that showcased how the new system could simplify their work and speed up data input processes. These sessions provided an open forum for questions and helped to ease some concerns about transitioning current methods to the new system.

I also make the sessions show specific benefits for each role. For the Data Input team, I introduced an automatic calculation feature to eliminate using calculators for data entries. The Checkers team could now verify data more easily, and managers had quick access to daily reports. By providing examples of how the system could help their jobs, I made the team see the new system as a valuable tool rather than an inconvenience. As a result, they are willing to use the system, and because of that I successfully cut down the creation time for receiving notes from 3-4 days to just 12 hours after daily production was done. This change restored trust with suppliers and lowered the risk of production targets.

Not only that, my influence helped shift the factory to embrace digital solutions and a data-driven mindset. Now, managers are excited to share new ideas for reporting, and checkers are eager to improve their Excel skills to process raw data. With clean and organized data from the system, they are finding it much easier to find valuable insights into the manufacturing process.

My experience as a Digital Product Owner has developed my leadership and influence skills such as strategic vision, empathetic communication, team empowerment, adaptability, and influence. By Leading a digital transformation project, I not only improved the processes but also built trust with the partners and inspired a culture of Digital Transformation. These experiences have shaped my ability to drive impactful change, which I am eager to improve with the opportunities Chevening offers. I believe that my skills and background make me a suitable candidate for the scholarship.

Scholarship / Get into Professional Networking (Product Owner) - Networking - Chevening Essay [2]

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong professional relationship-building skills, who will engage with the Chevening community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession.

My profession as a Freelancer and a student led me to start making networks. When I was President at the Proclub Telkom University, a Student Incubator that focused on Software Development and Competition, I had opportunities to become lead on several programs, one of them is Teknofest a Recruitment and Seminar Program for Proclub's candidate members. In this program, I learned about Team Management, Project Management, and Marketing. I also was able to connect with experts from the IT Industry in Indonesia, especially from Microsoft Indonesia, Traveloka, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak which are some of the biggest IT companies. I got contacts with dozens of alumni from this Community and some of them offered me a freelance job and willing to become my mentors to help me pursue the IT Career.
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​Another networking experience comes from 1000Startup Digital, where I was able to learn many skills to build Startups, which gave us support to develop our character and knowledge as a startup founder. Thanks to our team's great effort, they offered us to incubate our startup, so they will coach us every week to make sure have significant progress. Unfortunately, we failed to secure the funding and we decided end the journey there. But, the community has become one of the biggest impacts on my product management journey. It not only shaped me with great product skills but also I find my "people". People who are enthusiastic about solving human problems through Business and Digital Products. We are still connected with some people by joining some hackathon competitions, to strengthen our skills and widen our networking in product management.

3 Years After I graduated, inspired by how Proclub and 1000StartupDigital had a great impact on my professional career, I decided to start a Community Called 1on1Buddy. A mentorship platform linking students, fresh graduates, and career shifters with IT Industry mentors. With Over 20 sessions in the first month, 1on1Buddy has facilitated mentoring sessions to help with the career development of many mentees. Some of them successfully find their desired jobs. This Community not only gave me the skill to build and manage a community but also I had an opportunity to become a speaker on campus event, which expand my network significantly.

As Chevening Scholar, I'm eager to contribute with my skill and experience to the Chevening network. As my career plan is to contribute to The Indonesia Blue Economy Roadmap, ​I will participate in any kind of collaboration with other Chevening that will grow my network and have an impact on Indonesia's blue economy.

Scholarship / Blue Economy (Product Owner) - Career Plan - Chevening Essay [2]

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan.

My short-term goal is to transition into a Sustainable Product Manager or other Senior role within an organization focused on the Blue Economy in Indonesia. I want to implement data-driven solutions to enhance the marine sector, and I plan to apply the skills and knowledge I gain in the UK to support progress on the Indonesia Blue Economy Index (IBEI).

As a Sustainable Product Manager, my focus is on developing digital solutions for environmental monitoring and Maritime-related open data collection. With the skills I got from my UK education and through collaboration with the UK Indonesia Tech Hub, I intend to develop environmental monitoring and open-access data portals to create transparency, enabling many people to engage with critical Blue Economy data easily. It will support better policy decisions, and encourage community involvement. These actions align with the Phase 2 goals of the Indonesia Blue Economy Roadmap and the UK Program on strengthening marine science, data, and technology.

My long-term goal is to step into a Strategic Lead role, where I able to drive more impact on policy and technology adoption that aligns with The Indonesia Blue Economy Roadmap at the National Scale. I will start with The Blue Carbon Policy, which tries to protect critical carbon sinks as one of strategy for climate change. I plan to advocate for policies that support Blue Carbon projects. With experience from the UK, I will collaborate with the government and policy experts to create and implement strategies that strengthen Indonesia's commitment to blue Carbon Policies.

As a Strategic Lead, I also will build systems for Real-Time Ecosystem Assessment and Integrated Reporting on SDG 14 (Life Below Water). Real-time alerts allow for quicker actions, saving ecosystems from big damage. Integrated Reporting, will make sure Indonesia's marine policies still align with global sustainability targets. By establishing collaboration with the UK Blue Planet Fund or similar organizations, I hope to exchange knowledge and best practices on the blue economy, so that Indonesia's Blue Economy can move faster toward international standards.

Chevening Scholarship will allow me to take the Coastal and Marine Resource Management Master Program which has important courses like, Sustainable Blue Economy, Marine Policy, and Coastal Management. These Courses will give me the skills to lead Data-Driven Initiatives and Advocate critical policy in Indonesia's Blue economy. Chevening Networks will also enable me to connect with UK experts and Organizations that will give a guidance and opportunities for collaboration. With Chevening, I believe I can make a significant contribution to Phase 2: Development of the Indonesia Blue Economy as A New Source of Growth.