Personal Essay- Leadership

[JustBeingPatient]

I am having a hard time with a supplemental essay that states "Please explain a leadership role you have taken on and what you have learned from this experience. (1000 characters)"

I am having a difficult time coming up with a leadership experience. I have been searching around for examples and many are the typical leadership examples-- heading a project or a team, joining an organization. I cannot think of a time that I have had a "typical" leadership role.

I have worked at a variety of jobs for 14 years- in high school, college, and in the 6 years since I graduated. In these jobs I have been praised for my hard work and have been a vocal, creative, and contributory team member.
Some roles:

• small business owner, but I am the only employee
• voluntary team member in a committee at the hospital I work at that aims to involve the hospital more in the community
• middle and high school teacher

I would say that I can demonstrate that I take initiative, collaborate, have strong communication skills, and can work as a team member. However, I am struggling because I haven't "lead" other people or delegated tasks to them.

Is there an angle that I am missing?

What leadership experiences do you have?-- maybe hearing others' will help me figure out my own

Thanks!

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[theKingLT]

I am having a hard time with a supplemental essay that states "Please explain a leadership role you have taken on and what you have learned from this experience. (1000 characters)"

I am having a difficult time coming up with a leadership experience. I have been searching around for examples and many are the typical leadership examples-- heading a project or a team, joining an organization. I cannot think of a time that I have had a "typical" leadership role.

I have worked at a variety of jobs for 14 years- in high school, college, and in the 6 years since I graduated. In these jobs I have been praised for my hard work and have been a vocal, creative, and contributory team member.
Some roles:

• small business owner, but I am the only employee
• voluntary team member in a committee at the hospital I work at that aims to involve the hospital more in the community
• middle and high school teacher

I would say that I can demonstrate that I take initiative, collaborate, have strong communication skills, and can work as a team member. However, I am struggling because I haven't "lead" other people or delegated tasks to them.

Is there an angle that I am missing?

What leadership experiences do you have?-- maybe hearing others' will help me figure out my own

Thanks!

The 2nd one sounds good. 1st one is initiative but not leadership since you don't have any employees. 3rd one could be considered leadership but it's usually best if it's leadership among peers, not young students. For the hospital committee you can talk about planning events, the difficulties of bringing people together, etc. depending on what you actually did on that committee.

For mine I talk about the student organizations that I lead which I think is a pretty standard topic for leadership essays

 

[JustBeingPatient]

The 2nd one sounds good. 1st one is initiative but not leadership since you don't have any employees. 3rd one could be considered leadership but it's usually best if it's leadership among peers, not young students. For the hospital committee you can talk about planning events, the difficulties of bringing people together, etc. depending on what you actually did on that committee.

For mine I talk about the student organizations that I lead which I think is a pretty standard topic for leadership essays

Thanks for the input. I could talk about planning events, recruiting co-workers to participate and contacting local businesses to participate as well. I also helped with creating new community wellness events and helped lead some community dinners. I'll see how the essay comes out, thanks much!

 

[JMarcusDPT]

You can also write about how being a small business owner and being a teacher gave you qualities that will make you a good leader. Both of those experiences will definitely help you stand out as an applicant and allow you to demonstrate great traits about yourself.

 

[fsugrad]

You do not have to be in a "leadership role" such as the president of something or group leader or what have you. I read through so many essays and conducted interviews for a leadership organization and those who spoke only of how they were the group leader and took charge were some of the more superficial answers. You can have an incredible leadership experience just by being a part of a team! For your business, don't think that you can't use that as an example if it's what you're more comfortable talking about. Did you have to deal with customers/vendors/etc.? You can find an angle there for sure. Thing of very specific examples within your experiences, not just the experience itself. If you need help I have a lot of experience with this so feel free to message me!