1)Chevening is looking for individuals that 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: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
I believe to lead is to analyze and solve problems, innovate and develop other people while influencing is to persuade and/or inspire others to commit to a particular vision. Also, to lead is to influence. Being a physician requires that I lead and influence others through my teachings and advices.
My first experience in a leadership role goes back to my years in high school when I was appointed as food prefect in the student government. My role was to make estimates of the amount of food to be prepared for a total of 460 students, make sure this food was cooked in good hygienic conditions and served at the right time. Notwithstanding the respect I owed the cooks who were elders, I always had to find a way to impact a change especially when hygienic standards were not respected; I had to earn my leadership position. The particularity in this experience is that I learned to persuade, create relationships and sometimes make concessions in order to make my points go through. I remember to have promoted hand washing and avoidance of fingernail painting among the cooks by sharing with them personal hygiene tips I had learned from my biology lectures. With the school administration's help, some of these tips were printed out and pasted in the school kitchen to serve as a reminder.
Working as a physician for about three years now has gone a long way to test my leadership and influencing skills and also taught me a lot. Apart from making diagnoses, it is my role to coordinate the activities of my nurses and participate in the organization of the hospital services. When I arrived at my current workplace, I found out that nursing services were inadequate. Almost all ameliorations I tried to impose were systematically not respected. At first, I took a more punitive and repressive role towards the nurses, but things got worse; I faced even more resistance. With time, I came to notice that building a more cordial relationship facilitated my work. I had to be friendly to my subordinates and open to their ideas so that they feel personally involved in the necessary adjustments.
I have succeeded to make weekly meetings with the hospital staff a regular practice. This is a medium for the staff to make appreciations on the quality of service offered and give ameliorative proposals. This same technique of interactive meetings has been adopted by the chief nurses to manage their personnel in their various units. This has permitted innovation and personal development in the hospital.
As a civil servant, I am in a good position to lead and influence people and opinions. I have learned a lot from my past experiences and my current job has proven to be a good opportunity to lead and influence others. The courses I have applied to study are centered on management and leadership. As a Chevening alumnus, I will be better equipped to lead in my hospital and community.
(minimum word count: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
a physician leads and influences others
I believe to lead is to analyze and solve problems, innovate and develop other people while influencing is to persuade and/or inspire others to commit to a particular vision. Also, to lead is to influence. Being a physician requires that I lead and influence others through my teachings and advices.
My first experience in a leadership role goes back to my years in high school when I was appointed as food prefect in the student government. My role was to make estimates of the amount of food to be prepared for a total of 460 students, make sure this food was cooked in good hygienic conditions and served at the right time. Notwithstanding the respect I owed the cooks who were elders, I always had to find a way to impact a change especially when hygienic standards were not respected; I had to earn my leadership position. The particularity in this experience is that I learned to persuade, create relationships and sometimes make concessions in order to make my points go through. I remember to have promoted hand washing and avoidance of fingernail painting among the cooks by sharing with them personal hygiene tips I had learned from my biology lectures. With the school administration's help, some of these tips were printed out and pasted in the school kitchen to serve as a reminder.
Working as a physician for about three years now has gone a long way to test my leadership and influencing skills and also taught me a lot. Apart from making diagnoses, it is my role to coordinate the activities of my nurses and participate in the organization of the hospital services. When I arrived at my current workplace, I found out that nursing services were inadequate. Almost all ameliorations I tried to impose were systematically not respected. At first, I took a more punitive and repressive role towards the nurses, but things got worse; I faced even more resistance. With time, I came to notice that building a more cordial relationship facilitated my work. I had to be friendly to my subordinates and open to their ideas so that they feel personally involved in the necessary adjustments.
I have succeeded to make weekly meetings with the hospital staff a regular practice. This is a medium for the staff to make appreciations on the quality of service offered and give ameliorative proposals. This same technique of interactive meetings has been adopted by the chief nurses to manage their personnel in their various units. This has permitted innovation and personal development in the hospital.
As a civil servant, I am in a good position to lead and influence people and opinions. I have learned a lot from my past experiences and my current job has proven to be a good opportunity to lead and influence others. The courses I have applied to study are centered on management and leadership. As a Chevening alumnus, I will be better equipped to lead in my hospital and community.