Dear reader,
Thank you for clicking my thread and interested to read my essay for Chevening application.
Please help me to review my essay, your feedback is very welcome :)
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)
Instead of as a title to hold, leadership for me is more about giving good influence to society that embodied by each individual. If leadership only emanates from a leader, not something that possessed and released by every individual, then this world will lack its positiveness.
One situation, made me lead a small team, not more than five members, to participate in one big international railway project tender. There wasn't an official statement from the office, appointed me to manage the team. My manager only casually chatted me, would I be willing to handle this tender, as I previously had involved in it. I was in London when I accepted this request while my manager and the rest of the employees is in Indonesia. My packed schedule in London wasn't an excuse to refute my responsibility for handling the tender. The first act I did was setting the milestone to accomplish the task successfully and on schedule. To communicate and discuss the goals I created, with the teams in Indonesia, every day I woke up around 2 AM due to 6 hours difference, so my team could start the day knowing what we should aim during the moment.
During this tender preparation, I positioned myself not as a commander, but more as a representative of the team. That's why, upon returning to Indonesia, my task shifted from managing the team, to liaise with external parties such as cooperate with upper-level management regarding important decisions and actively communicate with partners in Bangladesh related to bidding strategy. The preparation went well, all of the documents needed were ready, even though we were challenged with tight duration and short of help.
I recognize that I wouldn't be able to manage the team well if I hadn't led before. During University student, I was selected as Indonesia delegate to ASEAN-Korea Future Oriented Youth Exchange selected directly by the Ministry of Youth and Sport. The program aimed to connect future leaders of ASEAN-Korea and to strengthen the partnership and cultural aspect of participating countries. Seven months later, I also successfully applied to become the participants of 26th International Youth Forum in South Korea to discuss the renewal of SDG into 25 points, along with youth from more than 30 countries. After the forum was finished, we held such as online advertisement to influence and increase awareness of people about Sustainable Development Goals.
If we are only waiting for a certain position to make changes, then it will take forever to alter the world. Because basically, leadership is a bottom-up situation, not the opposite. A mother doesn't need to be "Head of Household" to lead, just by her influence. We can't control the position we have in society, but we can expand the influence we have in whatever position we hold. But I believe, obtaining Chevening award will get me engaged with future leaders and escalate my leadership capability even more.
@ndhnif
Hi. Thanks for being a part of the site! We're more than happy to help you in case you want our feedback. I hope this helps you in your Chevening application!
Firstly, be cautious of your usage of tenses throughout the writing. I have noticed how certain parts still need to be changed for the better. The first paragraph, for example, lacks a bit of academic standardization. I heavily recommend that you look into the more specific details of your writing to avoid these types of issues.
Furthermore, when you're trying to explain your experiences, I suggest sticking with values rather than having to explain everything. A brief two-sentence can be sufficient in explaining why this experience is beneficial for your application. Focus more on what the experience means to you, rather than what happened.
