Dear Respected Reviewers,
I am going to apply for Chevening scholarship, and would really appreciate your kind inputs on this essay. Thanks a million in advance.
In my childhood, when I had no idea what leadership was and what different types it had, I used to be one of the kindest, most flexible and the nicest kids around. I could never sit on my laurels being a one trick pony. So, I always used to get engaged in any form of extra-curricular activities, such as being part of school programs, sports events, study tours and picnic organizing groups. It helped me gain the respect of my peers as a social and capable kid, increased my likability because of my flexible and friendly attitude, and made me an integral part of those organizing groups. Therefore, I would say I was more of a facilitator than I was a leader at that time.
As I grew up into a high school teenager, I started studying the other people who I thought were better leaders or influencers than I was, and tried to figure out what transferrable skills set them apart in certain leadership criteria. I gradually singled out that confidence, effective communication and dependability are three important criteria for situational leaders. It spurred me to add these qualities to my repertoire, and gradually I established myself as an automatic choice for leading various school and social events. For example, I lead and managed the school cricket tournaments in my 10th, 11th and 12th grades; I managed the grand re-union of our school in the year of 2000, organized several blood donation programs for the Red Crescent Society of Bangladesh between 1997 and 2003, and distributed relief in 28 different villages during the great flood of 1998.
As I moved into my university life and professional life thereafter, I developed the passion of leading from the front. My communication ability has always been applauded and it helped me convey even the seemingly unpopular messages in a more digestible way. I firmly believe in the mantra that it is not what one communicates; it is how one communicates the messages. Unlike my boyhood days, while I'm still compassionate today, I am not afraid of taking unpopular decisions to fulfill my objectives. However, my ability to connect with people and my dependable personality has always enabled me to make it a smooth ride.
Forbes personality test reveals that I am predominantly a democratic leader today. However, as a leader I am flexible enough to adjust to different situations and people. In my professional leadership positions, I have managed numerous projects successfully, negotiated various conflicts peacefully, communicated with myriad levels of stakeholders effectively, and achieved organizational goals efficiently. For example, I have lead the USD 2 million ERP project for one of my previous employers (Hamid Fabrics), where I had to manage some very influential top executives and company owners, some notoriously bureaucratic mid-level executives, technically gifted software developers, technically layman end users and so on. On top of that, motivating people through the difficult change management process while adhering to project cost, quality and timeline was an achievement I am really proud of.
I am going to apply for Chevening scholarship, and would really appreciate your kind inputs on this essay. Thanks a million in advance.
In my childhood, when I had no idea what leadership was and what different types it had, I used to be one of the kindest, most flexible and the nicest kids around. I could never sit on my laurels being a one trick pony. So, I always used to get engaged in any form of extra-curricular activities, such as being part of school programs, sports events, study tours and picnic organizing groups. It helped me gain the respect of my peers as a social and capable kid, increased my likability because of my flexible and friendly attitude, and made me an integral part of those organizing groups. Therefore, I would say I was more of a facilitator than I was a leader at that time.
As I grew up into a high school teenager, I started studying the other people who I thought were better leaders or influencers than I was, and tried to figure out what transferrable skills set them apart in certain leadership criteria. I gradually singled out that confidence, effective communication and dependability are three important criteria for situational leaders. It spurred me to add these qualities to my repertoire, and gradually I established myself as an automatic choice for leading various school and social events. For example, I lead and managed the school cricket tournaments in my 10th, 11th and 12th grades; I managed the grand re-union of our school in the year of 2000, organized several blood donation programs for the Red Crescent Society of Bangladesh between 1997 and 2003, and distributed relief in 28 different villages during the great flood of 1998.
As I moved into my university life and professional life thereafter, I developed the passion of leading from the front. My communication ability has always been applauded and it helped me convey even the seemingly unpopular messages in a more digestible way. I firmly believe in the mantra that it is not what one communicates; it is how one communicates the messages. Unlike my boyhood days, while I'm still compassionate today, I am not afraid of taking unpopular decisions to fulfill my objectives. However, my ability to connect with people and my dependable personality has always enabled me to make it a smooth ride.
Forbes personality test reveals that I am predominantly a democratic leader today. However, as a leader I am flexible enough to adjust to different situations and people. In my professional leadership positions, I have managed numerous projects successfully, negotiated various conflicts peacefully, communicated with myriad levels of stakeholders effectively, and achieved organizational goals efficiently. For example, I have lead the USD 2 million ERP project for one of my previous employers (Hamid Fabrics), where I had to manage some very influential top executives and company owners, some notoriously bureaucratic mid-level executives, technically gifted software developers, technically layman end users and so on. On top of that, motivating people through the difficult change management process while adhering to project cost, quality and timeline was an achievement I am really proud of.
