Leadership and Influence - Chevening Essay
I began my leadership endeavor when I entered high school, at an age of 15 years old. There was a school mandatory program called Community Research, where all the new students were required to spend a few nights in a remote village to interact with the people of the village, to observe and learn how the villagers get by. We were divided into groups of 10, led by one student as the head of the group. Considering all of us were new students and didn't know each other very well, I took a leap of faith by volunteering to lead my group. In retrospect, although this was a small step that I took, it would eventually pave the way to my leadership journey in the future.
During my undergraduate, I participated in an automotive student organization within the campus. The organization arranged social events regularly. To name one example, we had an annual event called Engine Tune Up held in front of Surabaya's town hall, where we would provide engine tune up, oil changes, minor repairs and mechanical consultation for motorcycles and cars passing by, for free.
I spent my first year within the organization as a staff in the four-wheel division, learning the technical aspects of automotive engineering while also adapting to organization activities. By next term I became the head of the four-wheel division leading three of my colleagues and a few junior staff. Owing to my influencing skills, I succeeded in restarting a go-kart project that was discontinued for several years due to lack of funding. I managed to get funding and sponsorship from our alumni and the organization participated in the national go-kart race 3 years later.
My leadership journey continues as I was hired into a Management Trainee (MT) position in an international industrial gases company, where my leadership and influential capabilities were put to test. The company rarely hires fresh graduates which means most of its employees are seniors, people who are significantly older than I am, and a lot more experienced. The biggest challenge was convincing and managing the people I work with, given the huge age gap. Oftentimes, pride gets in the way as some individuals are reluctant to be managed by someone who is considerably younger in age. Nonetheless, I managed to safely and successfully carry out numerous plant shutdown activities, turnaround and commissioning projects throughout my MT career where coordination and teamwork is highly crucial.
In conclusion, I believe leaders are those who can direct others to act towards a common goal and those who impact the people around them, their society, for the better. I am confident that I possess the skills and aptitude that define a leader. With the Chevening scholarship, I intend to further develop my leadership capabilities.