Faisel
Oct 25, 2016
Scholarship / To eradicate the wrong thinking that all Muslims are terrorists. LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE essay [7]
@Holt....After I received your suggestions, i wrote my essay all over again. Though not perfect, is it OK if i submit like this for the Chevening scholarship?? please give me feedback; anything i should improve? thanks.
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The Scottish-American businessman, Andrew Carnegie, said "No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it". Today, the world is changing faster than ever before; science and technology are advancing rapidly, people from different back-grounds, cultures and languages are working together in organizations, and businesses and projects are getting more complex and require specific soft and technical skills. In such dynamic environment, team-working, delegating tasks, effective communication and other interpersonal skills are vital for leadership. I used these skills in my leadership in a final-year-project during undergraduate education. Moreover, I worked in Oman for 2 years in construction projects and implemented the skills of planning, effective communication, motivation, multitasking, etc. for the successful completion of projects.
I successfully led a team for a final-year-project titled 'Study of Various Types of Foundations for Medium-Sized Buildings' during my undergrad education in civil engineering in a renowned technology university in Pakistan under a merit scholarship. As a team, we analyzed and designed spread, strip, raft and pile foundations for a 6-storey commercial building. The basis of selection of the team leader and also the project type was based on academic excellence. The allocated project completion period was 1 year. Excluding myself, the team comprised of three members; each from different countries, Syria, Somalia and Ethiopia. The very first step I took, as a leader, was to prepare activity-plan and project schedule; I divided the project scope into four sections and assigned each of the members, including me, with a section based on competency and skill. One of the challenges in the project was that certain scope of the project was beyond undergraduate level, for instance, the design of raft and pile foundations, which are covered at Masters-level. I took the initiative to study various technical books related to our project together with consulting our project supervisor, and later shared the knowledge to the team through discussions and meetings. Members of the project team were from different backgrounds, with different cultures, languages and behaviors, which normally make communication a bit challenging; however, this was not the case in my leadership, as I also communicated in Arabic, Somali, Amharic and Urdu. Combining my technical and soft skills, I ensured the timely completion of the project.
In addition, I worked in Oman for 2 years as a site engineer for a construction company in two highway projects for earthworks scope; we were a subcontractor for multinational Turkish and Indian companies, STFA and Simplex. With STFA we worked in 'Dualization of BidBid-Sur Project', whereas with Simplex 'Batinah Expressway Package-3'. The main difficulties in delivering both projects were the limited time, high-level safety requirements and involvement of numerous stakeholders. In order to complete the project in time while meeting various stakeholders' requirements, I prepared daily to-do task plans and delegated works to the project team, closely worked with site foremen and surveyors, recorded and reported progresses on daily basis, shared my computational knowledge to surveyors when they needed, etc. Moreover, my ability to speak Arabic and Urdu enabled me to effectively communicate with different stakeholders within our company, main-contractor, consultant and local authorities; and since many important stakeholders were Omanis, Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis who did not know English, knowledge of Arabic and Urdu languages were crucial.
@Holt....After I received your suggestions, i wrote my essay all over again. Though not perfect, is it OK if i submit like this for the Chevening scholarship?? please give me feedback; anything i should improve? thanks.
.............................................................................................................
The Scottish-American businessman, Andrew Carnegie, said "No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it". Today, the world is changing faster than ever before; science and technology are advancing rapidly, people from different back-grounds, cultures and languages are working together in organizations, and businesses and projects are getting more complex and require specific soft and technical skills. In such dynamic environment, team-working, delegating tasks, effective communication and other interpersonal skills are vital for leadership. I used these skills in my leadership in a final-year-project during undergraduate education. Moreover, I worked in Oman for 2 years in construction projects and implemented the skills of planning, effective communication, motivation, multitasking, etc. for the successful completion of projects.
I successfully led a team for a final-year-project titled 'Study of Various Types of Foundations for Medium-Sized Buildings' during my undergrad education in civil engineering in a renowned technology university in Pakistan under a merit scholarship. As a team, we analyzed and designed spread, strip, raft and pile foundations for a 6-storey commercial building. The basis of selection of the team leader and also the project type was based on academic excellence. The allocated project completion period was 1 year. Excluding myself, the team comprised of three members; each from different countries, Syria, Somalia and Ethiopia. The very first step I took, as a leader, was to prepare activity-plan and project schedule; I divided the project scope into four sections and assigned each of the members, including me, with a section based on competency and skill. One of the challenges in the project was that certain scope of the project was beyond undergraduate level, for instance, the design of raft and pile foundations, which are covered at Masters-level. I took the initiative to study various technical books related to our project together with consulting our project supervisor, and later shared the knowledge to the team through discussions and meetings. Members of the project team were from different backgrounds, with different cultures, languages and behaviors, which normally make communication a bit challenging; however, this was not the case in my leadership, as I also communicated in Arabic, Somali, Amharic and Urdu. Combining my technical and soft skills, I ensured the timely completion of the project.
In addition, I worked in Oman for 2 years as a site engineer for a construction company in two highway projects for earthworks scope; we were a subcontractor for multinational Turkish and Indian companies, STFA and Simplex. With STFA we worked in 'Dualization of BidBid-Sur Project', whereas with Simplex 'Batinah Expressway Package-3'. The main difficulties in delivering both projects were the limited time, high-level safety requirements and involvement of numerous stakeholders. In order to complete the project in time while meeting various stakeholders' requirements, I prepared daily to-do task plans and delegated works to the project team, closely worked with site foremen and surveyors, recorded and reported progresses on daily basis, shared my computational knowledge to surveyors when they needed, etc. Moreover, my ability to speak Arabic and Urdu enabled me to effectively communicate with different stakeholders within our company, main-contractor, consultant and local authorities; and since many important stakeholders were Omanis, Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis who did not know English, knowledge of Arabic and Urdu languages were crucial.
