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I stumbled into leadership right from birth being a first born and only girl to my sibling


Ljuma 1 / 1  
Oct 31, 2017   #1
Hi guys, i have really learnt a lot from this forum. i would appreciate your input in the essays i have prepared for the Chevening forum. I have combined all four questions. Only one essay at one time is allowed

LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE QUESTION


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)

Being picked on by your friends to initiate or implement an unprecedented activity or action can often be intimidating. For me, this has been the experience for a better portion of my life and while at times it can leave you baffled thinking 'Why did they pick me?, you still go ahead with the assignment. I stumbled into leadership right from birth being a first born and only girl to my sibling. At a young age, I had to stand up for my brother and protect him like the big sister I was. I believe that my protective nature led me to be chosen as prefect in my 2nd grade class.

During the drama festivals in my primary school, I was chosen to be the soloist of our traditional folk dance. Fast forward to high school where I was involved in many groups and in a few of them, I was elected a leader such as in the drama club. My fellow students usually picked on me to represent their ideas to management. This was quite humbling and I introspected to ask exactly what they saw in me that led them to place their trust in me.

After years of interacting with people, my leadership style can be described as inclusive, driven and collectiveness. Whilst leaders are known to take the step forward, few are able to take their followers with them on their path to success. A strong leader will always encourage his/her team players not only to achieve the impossible, but achieve it together. In college, the principles that guided me in leadership came to the fore as I led a team of ten students to win the first ever organized Students Association Council's week. The challenges included physical, intellectual and sporting events that each team signed up for and had to complete successfully. Under my leadership, my team conquered all and earned the prize.

During my internship at USAID, my supervisors entrusted me with leading the information docket and as a result, I spearheaded information collection and dissemination tool that was used not only in the office but in the field offices. Three months into my internship, I was given the responsibility of supervising the field staff as they implemented the 'Kenya Burning' Caravan. This was a road show that showcased some of the horrifying pictures of the post election violence in 2007/08. The caravan included musicians, thespians and counselors that were all preaching a reconciliatory message after the violence erupted in Kenya. My supervisor later on congratulated me for my performance and leadership role offered during this event.

Currently in my position, I have been the brains behind communication exploring different ways of passing information to our audience that include journalists, communicators and donors. This has included using unexplored tools such as Mailchimp, Spark Video and Whatsapp to ensure information to these stakeholders reaches them in a timely, concise and articulate way. Apart from receiving accolades from some of the organization's members for this great initiative, my director has also exuded confidence in my tasks and assigned me a supervisory role in the volunteer/internship docket where my responsibilities included scouting, engaging, assigning tasks and assignments to interns/volunteers while ensuring their work feeds into the organization's mission and vision.
asmaasalem 3 / 13 4  
Oct 31, 2017   #2
Dear @ Ljuma,

Chevening needs professional examples clarify your leadership or influence, that what I learnt from essayforum. Therefore there is no need to include your sibling, school and internship.

It's good to define the leadership concept from your perspective, then start to mention the leadership related situations at work.

As @Holt told me: What is your current occupation?

Discuss that and then think of an instance when you had to come forward as a leader.

What was the situation like? Would you say that your leadership and influencing skills were discovered or first presented at that point?

If you feel that is so then relate that story. That may be the best chance you have to write an essay that properly meets the prompt requirements.

Good luck...
OP Ljuma 1 / 1  
Oct 31, 2017   #3
@asmaasalem
Thank you for your comment. That is truly helpful. Will rework it.
Holt  Educational Consultant - / 14,767 4773  
Oct 31, 2017   #4
Jurna, the advice that Asma gave you is good, but does not totally apply to your essay. There are actually portions of this essay that can be used to create the foundation for your new version. You can start the new essay by opening with paragraph 3. That is what I see as the definition of leadership in your point of view. It would be best for you to leave out the college explanation though. Stick only to professional discussions as it helps to prove that you can be a future leader and influencer in your country. Although, defining the meaning of leadership is not really a requirement in this essay. It is more of an optional part. The requirement is on the examples of leadership and influencing and the strength that you can give those discussions. Focus more on that instead of defining your leadership. Since your USAID experience is also academic in nature being an internship, you can remove that part altogether as well. In reality, the essay does not contain any real leadership and influencing experience. You speak of your current position but you don't tell the reviewer what it is, what leadership experience you have and what influencing achievements you have. You speak of solely subordinate experience. There is no leadership and influencing involved so this essay will not work. You will need to find a professional reference for the prompt in order to create the rest of your revised essay.


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