Scholarship / Chevening scholarship: my response to the leadership and influence prompt [3]

Leadership qualities in usage

Leadership requires a deep insight and foresight in order to orientate team members towards achieve a common goal. I am a kind of leader with a higher stick-to-itiveness until I realize my objectives. The cradle of my leadership was when I was nominated Head Boy in grade six. I developed self-confidence, which helped me to succeed in this role. The rudiments of leadership were triggered and gradually developed as I grew up.

My leadership experiences cut across my professional and social lives. Professionally, I have been serving as Medical Laboratory Scientist at the AAAA for a decade. In 2013, I was appointed to lead the Biochemistry Unit of the laboratory, which is the busiest. The high volume of work and lack of commitment from staff, accounted for most delays in testing samples. I accepted the opportunity with deep gratitude and firm certitude to attain the laboratory's goal of reducing the turn-around-time of reports. Most patients ended up unable to see their physicians or prolonged result lost its value before the treating physician who may have continued with treatment on empirical basis. The repercussion was portrayed in the results of customer satisfaction surveys, comments from suggestion boxes and gradual reduction in service utilization.

I had a conviction that the fear of change was paralyzing the department, so I subtly and emphatically approached my collaborators. As the leader, I was challenged with the task to reduce the turn-around-time of test reports. I reorganized the department, designed workflow, conducted competency testing and trainings for staff and assigned tasks accordingly and sold the win-win benefits of the value of time. I was able to entice collaborators that time management was an asset both to staff and patients. I influenced them to regard their profession from prism of a vocation. This attracted empathy from collaborators and resulted in a significant reduction of the turn-around-time of results time and consequently an increase in client (patient) influx. Patients had their results early and staff closed work on time. This achievement enchanted motivational praises from the hospital administration and garnered me an appointment to lead the HIV Treatment Centre Laboratory, a branch of AAAA. This was a job that required more responsibility and leadership. I assumed the position just when the AAAA enrolled in a WHO-AFRO Stepwise Accreditation Process. The laboratory required good leadership and staff involvement to make Quality Assurance a routine practice and to construct a solid Quality Management System. My team comprised of 02 Laboratory Scientists, 05 laboratory technicians, 05 assistant technicians and a janitor. Staffs were reluctant and nonchalant accepting individual and group improvement projects. With a profound knowledge in laboratory leadership, (gained from trainings for laboratory managers by Centre for Disease Control), I saw a positive intent in every collaborator, coached, mentored and motivated all. I scheduled trainings and weekly meetings and gradually instilled the spirit of quality in them. Co-workers relentlessly contributed to our continuous improvement process and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine accredited AAAA with three stars. The Hospital administration acknowledged my endless efforts and rewarded me with an award.

Within my social sphere, my leadership with XXXX is participative and laid on honesty, integrity and my ability to deliver results. I am the President of this group of sons and daughters from the YYYY tribe based in UUUU and abroad. The objective of the group is to provide benches and didactic materials to needy primary schools in YYYY. In 2014, I created XXXX with nineteen members and today; I have sold the initiative and have established a network of two hundred and ninety-one members and four partner organizations. I have collaborated with members to plan, coordinate, and implement a variety of events that have benefited twenty-one schools. I work relentlessly organizing fund raising events (physically and in the cyberspace), purchase and deliver donations and give feedback to members and partners. The main problem I face was donor fatigue. To solve this, I increased XXXX's network to involve more members and partner organizations. This has recorded enormous success and has improved my problem solving, decision-making, time and people management and communication skills as well.

Leadership qualities that I have acquired will be honed through Chevening scholarship. It is evident that these skills will be used for my career advancement and the developing of my country.