Chevening Essay - Through Community service I gained my leadership skills and drive the change.

Chevening is looking for individuals who will be future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your own leadership and influencing skills to support your answer. (Minimum word count: 100 words, maximum word count: 500 words)

How I grew up to lead

It was about three years ago when I along with 12 other friends were sent to a remote village in Halimun-Salak National Park area. We went there on behalf of our university as a socially responsible group to perform community service for one month. As a team leader I proudly pronounce that everything run very nice with little or almost no practical problems, our programs and activities were a success.

For this community service I divided the team into 3 sub-groups and assigning each group's specific task; the first group was focused on education with the main goal is to leverage student interest in reading books and deliver new method on learning and teaching. We did this project by teaching the students in their school also after school. The second group was focused on social awareness, the aim of this group is to prevent the local from the side effect of the globalization such as misuse of drugs, alcohol, and cigarette by giving a seminar to the local, whether in their school or in the public. Last but not least, the third group were focused on a business opportunity in the community.

Even though I divided the team into 3 sub-groups and I worked on the third group. As a team leader, I still had an obligation to manage the team as a whole, with the aim that everyone feels that they are being heard and being understood, and no one feels left out. It was usually quite simple to tackle issues we faced later on, especially since we already had an understanding of how teamwork is crucial in problem-solving.

Before we start all of the projects we did field research to seek and consider any advantages or disadvantages to apply it and to measure the possibility of succeed. Especially for the third group, however, we decided to make a derived product of catfish. Just like other villages in Indonesia, most of the local are rely on the farming, but we found that this community also produces a catfish to be sell in the city. That is why it would be very useful to help them create the product which ready to eat such as shredded catfish. We do not only help them by delivering the idea but also guide them to create the recipe, packaging and marketing it.

Even though we succeed to run all of the projects, it doesn't mean that we are not face any constraints at that time. To start to drive the change we need to make some adjustment with the local by constructing a good communication while also respect their beliefs. When they feel that we are part of the community then we can start to convince them that we will give a good impact to the community. Just like what Marshall said, "respect for differences in people is one of the most important qualities of successful global leader" (Marshall, 2005).

Dicky, there is a sole focus on leadership in this essay, You completely neglected to offer the influencing information in your essay. Remember, you are supposed to showcase your ability to lead and influence people. The fact that you were a team leader only meant that you gave directions for your subordinates to follow. There was no real influencing involved because you claimed that everything went smoothly and thus, did not require you to practice any skills beyond leadership. That is not the kind of essay that will impress the reviewer. If you want to make an impression, you need to create a balanced essay that highlights both the leadership and influencing skills that you possess. If possible, relate it to a professional setting instead of a community based activity in order to show how you perform under stressful, work related situations. If you cannot do that, then you need to revise the essay to show how you perform conflict resolution, which is the whole point of the "influencing" discussion. A true leader knows how to end conflicts in his group by influencing the team members to perform as a cohesive unit. By the way, lose the quote and reference at the end. This is not an academic paper so the citation is not required. If you want to use that quote, put it at the start of the essay. That is where quotes are most effective. Just make sure though that the quote ties in with the content of the first paragraph and overall essay message. Otherwise, the content is unnecessary and only serves to confuse the reviewer.

Your whole essay is telling one tale. You need to elaboate it with your role rather than team accomplishment. You need to customize your end also .

@Holt

Hi, Holt, I thank you for your input, I also read all of your comments on other thread, very much appreciated.

@Tanveer Ahmed

Hi Ahmed, I thank you for your input too...
very much appreciated...