Scholarship / Chevening Essay - Empathy and Vision as the core abilities for future leaders or influencers [3]

Hi all & ms Mary Rose @holt 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 cut?Thankyou very much

a leader seeking success in Indonesia

The fact that Indonesia is one of the most diversified cultural countries makes me believe that the true basic qualities of any leader seeking success in Indonesia is precisely empathy. With more than 20 ethnics and 5 religions in Indonesia, empathy/ emotional intelligence is the core ability for leaders to put themselves in the place of others, understand their concerns and solve problems. Leadership also means having a vision and sharing it with others, with consistency. Only when I get to inspire others, it is possible to influence a common goal towards which to direct the efforts and dedication of the entire team.

I genuinely comprehend the concept of Empathy and Vision when I involved directly through the architectural community service called Bhakti Ganva. In the beginning of the project we came to the poorly developed village in Pangalengan District located in Bandung and blend with local people to listen to their concern & problems they had in the village. Sharing thoughts and ideas with the locals gave me a whole new perspective about what can we; as a more educated people, contribute explicitly for the infrastructure development.

After weeks of discussion we came up to an agreement with the village representatives to build a small mosque and a library for the local children to study. At this stage I learn a lot about influencing people with the knowledge we have to make a better and significant impact for the village itself, as it all began with lots of hesitation from the locals. Despite the fact of my introvert personality, I overcome the unpleasant thoughts and nervous feelings that occur at first by a starting a small talk with elderly locals that leads to a deep conversation. Our team and the locals worked together through the project and I really felt satisfy with the result. Within 8 months period of time, we manage to build something that not only have a better impact for the village, but also a trust-based relationship by leading them along the process.

As a member of traditional architecture community called Arsitektur Hijau, I actively did an expeditions to remote areas in East Indonesia such as Maluku, Timor, and Sulawesi to help preserve Indonesian vernacular Architecture. For me, this is one of the toughest moment in the learning process of leading and influencing because almost every locals in the remote area have their own local language, resulting a communication problems. We discover one thing that unites us, which is a cultural ceremony. Thereafter we communicate with them easier, combined with gesture language we are able to lead them in the process.

Helping local people with the architectural knowledge I have to preserve their culture and tradition has been my long term goals. Moreover, leads and teach them how to build an architectural prototype building that can help people in the natural disaster area, hence Indonesia is located in the pacific ring of fire and have a poorly developed infrastructure. I believe if I'm chosen to received Chevening award and continue my education in UK I will be able to lead and influence people in my country better and make a positive changes for Indonesia.