Scholarship / Chevening Leadership Essay - Leading CSR in the Midst of Natural Disaster [2]

Hi everyone, would love some feedback for my Chevening leadership essay here. Thank you very much for the feedback x

Describe a time when you demonstrated leadership. In your answer, please address the following: What was the context or challenge you faced? What specific actions did you take as a leader? What was the outcome, and what did you learn? How has this experience shaped your approach to leadership?

My leadership experience showed commitment to achieving the goal, against all odds. When leading a CSR project at PT Kubota Machinery Indonesia in 2024, I was responsible for donating a generator set to a clinic in Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara. The project faced an unanticipated challenge because during the process of delivering the generator set to the clinic, a nearby volcano, Mount Lewotobi, erupted. The generator set was delivered safely to the clinic just before conditions worsened due to eruption, however our engineer and mechanical team cannot reach the destination because all flights were cancelled.
The clinic runs by nuns with little technical background and access to the area was limited. Once the generator set has arrived, the nuns could not operate or maintain it, especially without guidance from our engineer team. This could have made the entire donation ineffective.

To ensure the generator set can be operated safely, I coordinated with our technical team in Jakarta and communicate closely with the nuns to identify local workshop in the area. I arranged for them to be trained in troubleshooting and maintenance online, until our engineering team can reach the location and train them in person. By doing this, I made sure that the generator can be used effectively and safely, while also empowering local technicians, creating a long-term support system for the clinic.

Now, the clinic has able to operate 24 hours every day of the week, serving more than 150 patients per month without power cut disruption. From the online training I conducted, the clinic also now equipped with three local technicians, ensuring the clinic a permanent support system that has reduced downtime by 80%.
The project taught me that true leadership is not just about completing task, but also adapting quickly in crisis, identifying and mobilizing the right expertise, committed to deliver success against all odds. Most importantly, I learned that leadership measured by resilience and resourcefulness when circumstances are at their toughest. This experience also reinforced my commitment to supporting rural communities through sustainable solutions, a lesson I continue to carry into my long-term work on agriculture and food security in Indonesia.

Scholarship / Chevening Networking Essay - Bridging People Through Projects [2]

Hi, I have another essay to review. This one is the one that I mostly not confident with, so any feedback would be really appreciated. Thank you!

Prompt:
Relationship building and influence
Tell us about a professional relationship you have built and maintained. In your answer, please address:
How was the relationship formed, and what made it important?
What did you contribute to this relationship, and what did you gain?
How have you sustained or developed this relationship over time?
How will these skills help you build connections within the Chevening community and beyond?

Throughout my career, I have nurtured professional relationships by contributing my time and skills, which has, in turn, opened doors for new opportunities.
In my previous career as a journalist, I was part of the Forum of Tourism Journalists, an organization of almost 200 journalists, photographers, and videographers from all over Indonesia. In this forum, I made myself useful in every event in any role, from admin to M.C. With these contributions I built trust and created connections that even after years are still going strong. The strength of my networking connections was tested when I had to conduct a C.S.R. project in South Sulawesi and needed help from local media to cover the event; these connections ensured local and nationwide coverage and exposure for my project.
In my current role in P.T. Kubota Machinery Indonesia, my robust connections between departments also act in a similar fashion. Every time other departments had projects or event, I always offered my time to help, even if it was not part of my job description. From H.R. trainings to regional events, my contribution strengthened trust from my colleagues and expanded my connections to Kubota's network in Southeast Asia and Japan.
My participation in these events and projects boosted my confidence to post them to digital channels, like LinkedIn. My posts caught attention of Teddy Fung, Global Event Director of BEETc, who then invited me as a panellist for Martech Summit Jakarta, an international marketing conference. My participation here led to further invitations as speaker to another marketing conference and membership in the Indonesia Marketing Association.
My networking experiences show that my connections thrive on mutual trust and contributions. Moving forward, I aim to use these same relationship-building skills to connect farmers, policymakers, NGOs, and private sector coalitions in Indonesia. Building trust across these stakeholders is essential to strengthen food security initiatives and make international cooperation, such as the UK-Indonesia strategic partnership, truly impactful at community level. I would like to continue this in the Chevening community, bridging people and ideas across disciplines to create impactful projects.