Following is my draft for Chevening leadership essay and I would love to hear your comments on it:
A Bryde's whale and a 6-square-meter plastic sheet are typically unrelated. It would be a horrifying tragedy, though, if the latter were discovered in the former's digestive tract and caused the former's death. The documentary "A Plastic Ocean" opened my eyes to the fact that our everyday decisions unintentionally contribute to biodiversity loss and environmental damage. Although addressing this challenge requires action on a global scale, I felt compelled to take even a small part in the effort needed.
I arranged an online survey to evaluate the amount of disposable plastic usage among my female colleagues. To raise awareness, I gave a brief presentation on the environmental damage caused by disposable plastics during one of our bi-weekly Women at Work sessions and asked participants to complete the survey. After analyzing the collected data, I discovered that plastic shopping bags were being used daily and in immense and unsustainable quantities. I shared these findings in the following session and initiated a small fundraising effort by collecting contributions from colleagues to purchase reusable shopping bags for distribution. A month later, I conducted a follow-up survey to measure the outcome, and the average reduction in plastic usage was around 60%. I shared the outcome result with my colleagues, and they determined to that they would reduce their use of plastic bags and encourage others to follow suit. This experience taught me that I should not be intimidated by the scale of a challenge, but instead to recognize the power of cumulative, modest actions.
In retrospect, based on my modest contribution to a global predicament, I perceived that a leader can only gain people's cooperation by defining an explicit goal, planning a clear path to reach it, and perspicuously communicating the shared interests in its achievement.
A Bryde's whale and a 6-square-meter plastic sheet are typically unrelated. It would be a horrifying tragedy, though, if the latter were discovered in the former's digestive tract and caused the former's death. The documentary "A Plastic Ocean" opened my eyes to the fact that our everyday decisions unintentionally contribute to biodiversity loss and environmental damage. Although addressing this challenge requires action on a global scale, I felt compelled to take even a small part in the effort needed.
I arranged an online survey to evaluate the amount of disposable plastic usage among my female colleagues. To raise awareness, I gave a brief presentation on the environmental damage caused by disposable plastics during one of our bi-weekly Women at Work sessions and asked participants to complete the survey. After analyzing the collected data, I discovered that plastic shopping bags were being used daily and in immense and unsustainable quantities. I shared these findings in the following session and initiated a small fundraising effort by collecting contributions from colleagues to purchase reusable shopping bags for distribution. A month later, I conducted a follow-up survey to measure the outcome, and the average reduction in plastic usage was around 60%. I shared the outcome result with my colleagues, and they determined to that they would reduce their use of plastic bags and encourage others to follow suit. This experience taught me that I should not be intimidated by the scale of a challenge, but instead to recognize the power of cumulative, modest actions.
In retrospect, based on my modest contribution to a global predicament, I perceived that a leader can only gain people's cooperation by defining an explicit goal, planning a clear path to reach it, and perspicuously communicating the shared interests in its achievement.
