Hi, I will be applying for chevening scholarship and this is my draft for the four questions:
1- We are 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. (500 word max)
I believe that leadership is the result of giving guidance and getting trust, guidance and trust will create the best conditions for a group of people to accomplish whatever goal is required as long as the leader is organized, has clear vision, has the knowledge and the proper attitude he will gain the trust.
I became aware of how to be an influencer and the responsibilities that comes with it at a young age when my cousins took me as their role model, so I was very keen not to do something way outside the box when they were with me as they will just do the same, when it was our teenagers my role has changed, when any of them had a new boyfriend or was in trouble she would come to be for guidance, and also gave me the opportunity to know the importance of trust when you become a guide for someone.
Things changed again after graduation and I began to get a new leadership role but this time was at my job, it started when I was in Delta/Unatrac group. My style in leadership has changed over the years when I first started it was all about details and perfection, over the years it has developed and changed to be more about confidence, trust and to allow people to express their ideas and that their ideas to be discussed, considered and applied.
I had the responsibility of handling the parts business of Perkins diesel engines in nine different countries, I consider my main successful project when I lead five countries to reduce their inventory value after the recession the company faced.
I placed the primary strategy but then discussed it with each team separately as a result we created a plan to for each country customized based on their local situation. The result was that in four month we managed to reduce the stock by total of 35% which was appreciated by the management.
By time this position became less challenging and I felt that I need to push my boundaries more so I joined Groupe SEB which is an emerging company thus the system is not yet fully applied and people tend to act based on their previous experience more than sticking to the culture of the new emerging place. There was a lot of problems in the logistics department and it was my responsibility to solve it.
The first thing that I did is to bond in a friendly way with the team, then to convergence of views of the team stressing that acting individually hurts us individually and affects the departments performance. This approach has succeeded and unified the team together under the same leadership affecting positively the department performance.
I believe that we are all born having the same skills and talents but the situations we face in life make some skills flourish and some other weakened, what I have became and accomplished till now is based on my personal experience, to become the better person that I seek and dream off I need to push my limits and that is why I am applying for this scholarship.
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2- We are looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage with the community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you meet this requirement, using clear examples of your networking skills, and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future.
I knew a friend who came up with an idea last Ramadan about collecting food leftovers from home and distributing it to people in need, we wrote a post on Facebook and we started collecting meals from our neighborhood, the post became a message on whasapp and our group of volunteers became bigger and bigger and the participants increased day after day, by the mid of Ramadan we were collecting meals from all over the city of Alexandria.
Honestly my friendly nature helped me with this task, I met wonderful elder and young ladies who just want to help and welcomed me at their homes, I made friendship with them, I baby sit their children while they finished packing the meals and by the end of Ramadan we were distributing over 500 meal per day. I saw so much good in people during that month and we continued our charity work after Ramadan to be done all over the year not just the holy month.
On the professional side networking is essential in the field of logistics and supply chain, we must have good relationship with suppliers, customs brokers, freight forwards and shipping companies, I developed my network over the years but when I joined the logistics diploma taught at Eton University.
I met colleagues working at the same field but at different industries and from different backgrounds, some were managers at big companies, others were just fresh graduates. After the course we formed our group where we constantly meet to share information and discuss the latest updates in the industry.
Networking is essential now a days and it affects every aspect of our lives, as much as the new cell phone applications and social media websites make it easy to expand your network as much as it makes it challenging to keep it up but is also put pressure on developing our networking skills as if we didn't by time we will be cut of the world.
One of the reasons I decided to get my degree abroad is networking, meeting people from different backgrounds with different future plans will definitely will be a great opportunity for me to enlarge my network which will reflect positively on my life professionally and personally.
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3 - Outline why you have selected your chosen three university courses, and explain how this relates to your previous academic or professional experience and your plans for the future.
*Please do not duplicate the information you have entered on the work experience and education section of this form (minimum word count: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
I am a graduate of business school who chose the field of logistics and supply chain as a career and had a diploma in logistics management, it has been 10 years now and the next step in my career is to have a managerial position in a reputable company , I became aware that the skills I have developed over the years were technical skills and that I need to invest more in my managerial skills to earn the position that I am eager for, the current position I hold is not fulfilling my eagerness to learn and it will not build up my skills the way I aspire for.
So I have decided to pursue my masters degree abroad as the local MBA programs doesn't meet my needs and as the frameworks and methodologies applied abroad are advanced than what is applied in Egypt which will give me an edge over my peers and in the market.
The University of Bath is one of the top 10 universities in UK and the University of Birmingham is a Russell group university , the programs I chose are:
University of Bath - MBA program: MBA is the perfect program for producing future manager as it covers various areas of business, having elective modules that enables me to tailor the MBA to my interest, the final project that put all the knowledge that I have gained into practice with reputable companies and the MBA career program were the most encouraging for me to join this course, it is the perfect program designed for me to reach my potentials.
University of Birmingham - Entrepreneurship & Innovation Pathway MSc : the option of a mixed pathway made me choose this program, from the modules I will be choosing : innovation management, strategic leadership and leading and managing Change and Crisis, I see that the latest module is what exactly we need to learn and develop as we lack such knowledge here in Egypt, this is what made me so excited for this program
University of Bath - MSc in Advanced Management Practice: this is a unique program and I see that it competes with the Bath MBA, it focus on improving every single skill required to be in a manager, it includes a module of Operations, Projects and Supply Management relates to my career and we will almost 20 weeks working for various organizations, how can we ask for more.
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4- We are looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan. Outline your immediate plans upon returning home and your longer term career goals, considering how these relate to UK priorities in your country.
(minimum word count: 50 words, maximum word count: 500 words)
Supply chain is about planning, executing the plan in a timely manner and managing the integrated systems involved in the process to attain the goal, it is very well known for all Egyptians that we face problems when it comes to planning, implementing the plans within the required time-frame as we lack the proper management in all organizations and sectors in the country.
Unfortunately management is a science that is underrated in Egypt and for me as a person who is will to be prompted by the beginning of the year I wonder how I would like to perform and what would I want to achieve as a manager, yes management should be about defining the goals, creating the business plans, problem solving but it is also about innovation, creativity, inspiring the team and bringing the best in them.
So my career plan after returning to Egypt continue working for reputable companies as it will enable me to practice the my newly developed skills, apply the frameworks and techniques I have learned and to transfer the knowledge and skills I gained to my subordinates to help create a new generation of leaders, managers and influencers.
After three to five years, I would go back to obtain a doctorate degree to be able to teach management, with the professional and academic experience I will establish an academic institution specialized in Managerial course that focus on practice more than materials. I believe that through such an institution I can make big changes to the current situation in Egypt.
