CHEVENING - LEADESHIP AND INFLUENCE
Leadership is the ability to lead a group of people. A good leader must establish a vision, share the vision and also influence that is have a positive impact on his/her followers. My first real taste of leadership was in my second year in the University where I was appointed group leader for a project and I had to work tirelessly and assiduously towards the completion of the project. I always want to help others to grow as a person and open their minds to a new understanding this led me to embark on several volunteer roles.
During my final year in the University I co-founded the Mozilla Firefox Student Ambassadors Club in my Institution and we were able to organise two programs before I graduated. The purpose of bringing this club into my university was to promote wide range of Mozilla products which were unknown to many and also enlighten the students about the opportunities in Mozilla. I took up the role of Web Lead in the Club and trained interested students on the skills required to design an elegant website.
The first program we held was themed Tech meets Art, the motive behind this was to launch the club and also have artists paint pictures of Mozilla's products. The publicity for the program was great and we had a large turn-up; I made a presentation on Opportunities in Mozilla and this drew a lot of students to register with the club.
The Second one was themed Mozilla with kids, the motive was to invite high school kids over and enlighten them about their rights to choose their own career paths. Nigeria is a nation where the children are forced to follow the career plans their parents have for them. We were able to guide the kids on how to persuade their parents to allow them choose and follow their own career path. I also lectured them on basics of programming and several types of programming languages.
Another volunteer role I took up in the University was the role of web Designer in the IEEE chapter of my University. I was not the team lead of the Web group but in my final year I was given the task to train the new team members on the skills required to design a website. Despite the short time I was given, I was able to carry the team along and everyone contributed towards the development of the association's website ieeeui. This gives me joy anytime I look back in retrospect because then it seemed like an impossible task.
I am currently a management trainee at Solutions Media and Infotech Limited, Lagos Nigeria and I have been appointed by my head of Department as the Team lead for Internet and Networks based on my skills in computer networking. I have applied my leadership skills in this role which makes everyone in the company see my team as a family.
Very nice and on-topic text in general. I wish I could provide you with more details, but I'm not an expert
Holt Educational Consultant - / 15371 Afowowe, the Chevening scholarship leadership essay is meant to prove that you have the professional abilities, not academic related abilities to lead and influence the people in your country. The reason why the this essay requires professional experience is simple. The scholarship expects to be training the future social, economic, and political leaders of a nation. That means, that as a scholar, you should be able to embody the type of leadership and influencing skill that is useful in a professional setting. I do not mean to demean your experience in academic leadership, but that does not prove that you are a capable leader in a less controlled, more unpredictable setting. It is one thing to lead school projects and study teams, it is another thing to actually lead a group of people upon whom the success or failure of a project that you are leading has long term effects on a business or a society. That is the focus of the leadership and influencing skills of the majority of applicants. Their professional background suits the scholarship demands because they have actual experience in the required scenarios. It would help your essay tremendously if you can divert the discussion towards a more professional setting. That professional reference will allow you to better compete with the other applicants. Without it, your leadership and influencing experience will be considered amateur and unremarkable by the scholarship reviewer or review committee. You already mentioned that you have work as a Team Leader in your current company, so focus on the professional leadership and influencing demands of that job instead. Prove an instance when these skills were beneficial to you in the resolution of a work problem or implementation of a problematic company project.
I think you write too much discussion on your leadership skill in college and little information about the leadership and influence skill on professional experience. My suggestion is you choose the most experience in your university that relate to leadership and influence skills, but don't focus too much on it.
You should elaborate your experience as leader in your company by mentioning the aim of the job and how you lead the group of people, as you say on your first paragraph, to achieve the target. I also don't see your essay deliver the influence skill on the professional experience. You should deliver your leadership and influence skill in balance on your work as a leader. Put your discussion more on this topics instead of on your college experience.
I am going to apply Chevening too this year and I hope you can also give comment, feedback, and correction on my essays.
Good luck for us!
I think you can answer what the essay's question asked, but you mainly tell about your experience as university student. It will better if you much focus on your professional experience as a leader in Computer and Network Dept in your current job, I suggest you tell about what have you done as a leader at the department and how you solve and manage your team when your department face a critical issue, how your leadership capacity help your team to finally solve the issue
Actually I also prepare for this essay and looking for some reference
Good luck for us then!