CHEVENING : Leadership and Influence essay

Summary

This video tutorial guides viewers on crafting a compelling Chvening scholarship leadership and influence essay. It advises avoiding common pitfalls, such as excessive use of quotes and vague examples, and emphasizes the importance of clear, quantifiable personal leadership experiences. The video breaks down the essay writing process into steps: understanding the prompt, selecting a relevant theme, making bullet points, and constructing a draft. It also provides examples of strong and weak introductions and suggests using the STAR technique for body paragraphs. The tutorial aims to help applicants demonstrate their potential as future leaders or influencers.

Takeaways

• 📝 **Leadership and Influence Essay**: The video focuses on guiding applicants to write an effective leadership and influence essay for the Chevening scholarship.
• ✏️ **Personal Statement Importance**: Emphasizes that the personal statement is central to the scholarship application and requires a clear demonstration of leadership skills.
• 🏗 **Breaking Down the Question**: Advises to break down the essay prompt to understand the requirements and stay on track while writing.
• 🚫 **Avoid Common Mistakes**: Warns against using quotes and definitions of leadership, instead urging applicants to focus on personal experiences and clear examples.
• 🎯 **Theme Selection**: Highlights the importance of selecting a consistent theme that aligns with the examples and the field of study.
• 📋 **Bullet Points**: Recommends creating bullet points for the introduction, body, and conclusion to structure the essay effectively.
• 🌟 **STAR Technique**: Introduces the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique for elaborating on leadership experiences in the essay.
• 🔢 **Quantify Achievements**: Stresses the need to quantify achievements to provide depth and volume to the examples given in the essay.
• 🔍 **Problem Statement**: Suggests using a problem statement in the introduction to engage the reader and set the stage for the essay's content.
• 🏆 **Winning Essay Tips**: Provides tips on how to write a winning essay, including starting strong, using compelling examples, and finishing with a strong conclusion.
• 💪 **Encouragement**: Ends with encouragement, reminding viewers that while writing an essay can be challenging, it's not impossible to achieve.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the Chevening scholarship essay?

The main focus of the Chevening scholarship essay is to demonstrate the applicant's leadership and influencing skills, showcasing how they meet the requirement of being future leaders or influencers in their home countries.

What is the minimum and maximum word count for the Chevening leadership essay?

The minimum word count is 100 words and the maximum is 500 words.

Why is it important to avoid using quotes and definitions of leadership in the essay?

Using quotes and definitions of leadership can take up valuable space in the limited word count and may not effectively demonstrate the applicant's personal experience and individual contribution to leadership.

What is the significance of selecting a theme for the essay?

Selecting a theme ensures consistency in the examples used and that they remain relevant to the question and the field of study the applicant is pursuing.

How can breaking down the question help in writing the essay?

Breaking down the question helps the applicant understand exactly what is required and keeps them on track while answering the essay, ensuring that the response is focused and relevant.

What is the STAR technique mentioned in the script?

The STAR technique is a method for structuring responses in essays or interviews, standing for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. It helps articulate leadership examples and influencing skills by detailing the context, task at hand, actions taken, and the results achieved.

Why is it advised to start the essay with a strong introduction?

Starting with a strong introduction captures the reader's attention and sets the tone for the essay, making it more impactful and memorable.

How can the applicant use a problem statement in their introduction?

A problem statement in the introduction can be used to highlight a current issue in the applicant's industry or field of study, which they aim to address through their leadership and the skills they will gain from the Chevening scholarship.

What is the purpose of making bullet points during the essay writing process?

Making bullet points helps the applicant organize their thoughts and ideas, providing a structured outline for the essay and ensuring that the content remains focused and relevant to the question.

How can the applicant quantify their achievements in the essay?

The applicant can quantify their achievements by providing specific numbers or statistics that demonstrate the scale and impact of their leadership and influencing skills.

What is the importance of concluding the essay strongly?

A strong conclusion reinforces the applicant's main points and leaves a lasting impression on the reader, tying back to the introduction and emphasizing the significance of the Chevening scholarship in their future leadership journey.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Writing the Chevening Leadership Essay

This paragraph introduces the process of writing the Chevening scholarship leadership and influence essay. It emphasizes the importance of the essay in the scholarship application and provides guidance on how to approach writing it. The video promises to take viewers step by step through the process. The speaker acknowledges the difficulty of writing essays, especially at the beginning, and likens the task to climbing a mountain. The Chevening scholarship is looking for future leaders or influencers in their home countries, and the essay should provide clear examples of the applicant's leadership and influencing skills. The paragraph outlines housekeeping rules for the video, instructing viewers to get a pen and paper or typing device ready and to pause the video when requested to think through discussions and work towards having a draft by the end of the video.

05:00

🔍 Breaking Down the Chevening Essay Question

The paragraph discusses the importance of breaking down the essay question to understand what is required and to stay on track while writing. It provides the Chevening essay prompt, which asks applicants to explain how they meet the requirement of being future leaders or influencers using examples of their leadership and influencing skills. The paragraph advises against using quotes and definitions of leadership, instead focusing on personal experience. It also suggests selecting a theme for consistency and relevance in examples and making bullet points for the essay structure. The speaker provides a tip to identify a current problem in the applicant's industry and use it as a problem statement in the introduction to introduce leadership abilities.

10:03

📖 Crafting a Winning Chevening Essay

This paragraph provides guidance on how to write the introduction, body, and conclusion of the Chevening essay. It advises starting strong with the introduction by defining leadership in the applicant's field and considering common mistakes made by applicants. For the body, the paragraph suggests sharing one or two examples of leadership experience using the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and quantifying achievements. The conclusion should tie back to the introduction and the problem statement, and it should be strong, leaving a lasting impression. The paragraph includes an example of an introduction from a successful applicant, 'Real Person B,' who captures a good problem statement and makes the reader want to learn more about their contribution to leadership. The paragraph concludes with a hypothetical example of what Nelson Mandela's essay might look like if he were to apply, focusing on the theme of freedom and using the STAR technique to elaborate on his achievements.

Keywords

💡Chevening Scholarship

The Chevening Scholarship is a UK government scholarship aimed at developing global leaders. In the video, it is the central focus as the presenter guides viewers on how to write an essay for this scholarship. The script mentions that Chevening seeks 'future leaders or influencers in their home countries,' highlighting the importance of leadership and influence in the application process.

💡Leadership

Leadership is a central theme of the video and the essay topic. It is defined in various ways throughout the script, but generally refers to the ability to guide and direct others towards achieving a common goal. The video emphasizes the need to demonstrate one's own leadership skills through clear examples, rather than relying on quotes or definitions.

💡Influence

Influence is closely tied to leadership and refers to the capacity to affect the actions, opinions, or decisions of others. The script advises applicants to provide examples of how they have shaped the opinions and actions of people around them, indicating the importance of influence in the context of the Chevening Scholarship.

💡Essay

The essay is the key component of a scholarship application, as mentioned in the script. It serves as a personal statement or motivational statement, allowing applicants to express their qualifications and aspirations. The video provides a step-by-step guide on how to write a compelling leadership and influence essay for the Chevening Scholarship.

💡Personal Statement

A personal statement is a type of essay that reflects an individual's experiences, goals, and reasons for applying for a particular opportunity. In the video, the presenter explains that the leadership and influence essay is a form of a personal statement that should showcase the applicant's unique leadership qualities.

💡Motivational Statement

A motivational statement is similar to a personal statement but focuses more on the applicant's motivations and aspirations. The script implies that the essay should not only demonstrate past leadership but also convey the applicant's drive to become a future leader or influencer.

💡STAR Technique

The STAR Technique is a method for structuring responses to behavioral interview questions and is mentioned in the video as a way to articulate leadership examples. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. The script uses this technique to guide applicants on how to detail their experiences effectively.

💡Problem Statement

A problem statement is a clear definition of an issue that an individual or organization aims to address. In the context of the video, the presenter suggests using a problem statement in the introduction to set the stage for discussing how the applicant's leadership has contributed to solving a particular problem.

💡Quantify

To quantify means to express something in numerical terms. The script advises applicants to quantify their achievements when describing their leadership experiences. For example, Nelson Mandela is used as an example to show how quantifying the number of people he addressed (10,000) gives more depth to his leadership achievements.

💡Draft

A draft is a preliminary version of a written work that is subject to revision. The video encourages viewers to create a draft of their essay during the tutorial, emphasizing that it does not need to be perfect initially but should be developed into a polished essay over time.

💡Theme

A theme in essay writing refers to the central topic or subject that the essay revolves around. The script suggests selecting a theme that aligns with the applicant's field of study and using it to guide the choice of leadership examples, ensuring consistency and relevance throughout the essay.

Highlights

The importance of writing a leadership and influence essay for a Chevening scholarship.

How to avoid common mistakes when writing your leadership essay.

The need to clearly demonstrate your individual contribution to leadership.

The significance of providing detailed examples of leadership and influencing skills.

The advice against using quotes and definitions of leadership in your essay.

The importance of personal experience in leadership when writing the essay.

Guidance on breaking down the essay question to understand requirements.

The necessity of selecting a theme that aligns with your field of study.

The process of making bullet points for the essay structure.

How to start your essay introduction strongly with a clear stance on leadership.

The STAR technique for articulating leadership examples in the essay body.

The importance of quantifying your achievements in your examples.

How to conclude your essay by tying it back to your introduction and problem statement.

An example of a strong introduction from a Chevening awardee.

The use of a problem statement in the introduction to engage the reader.

An example of how Nelson Mandela might have written his leadership essay.

The significance of quantifying achievements, exemplified by Mandela's crowd size.

The structure of a good conclusion that reinforces the essay's introduction and theme.

Encouragement to start writing the essay to develop a winning draft.

The offer to answer questions in the comment section for further interaction.

Transcripts

[Music]

the first chevening scholarship that

you're asked to write is the leadership

and influence essay writing your essays

personal statement motivational

statement namemate is the heart of a

scholarship application and in this

video we are going to go step by step on

how to write your leadership and

influence essay for the shaving i know

writing essays can be quite problematic

especially at the beginning because you

don't know what you're doing you don't

know where to start from and myself at

the time when i was writing my own essay

it felt like a gigantic mountain that i

had to climb now let me take you through

how you can write your leadership and

influence essay

let's start with some housekeeping rules

this is not a passive video like most

videos you will come across so get your

pen and paper or typing device and

follow along pause the video when

requested to think through the

discussion that we're going to have

ahead and work towards having a draft by

the end of this video so housekeeping

rule number one pause this video and get

yourself a pen and paper or typing

device to follow along so the chevron in

question on leadership reads 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 you're given a

minimum word account of 100 words and

maximum to 500 words step one you need

to do while writing your essays is read

the shaving common mistakes chevening

states that when showcasing your

leadership and influencing skills share

an example of how you've clearly worked

either alone or with others to achieve

something positive just make sure your

individual contribution is clear then

also focusing on sharing one or two

detailed examples is much more impactful

than listing lots of examples emphasize

how you have shaped the opinions and

actions of people around you please

avoid using quotes and definition of

leadership instead focus your answer on

your own personal experience of

leadership so have these common mistakes

at the back of your mind as you're

writing out your own essay step two you

want to break down the question i'll

give you just a minute for you to go

back to the question and break it down

to your own understanding hope you took

off the time to break down the question

breaking down the question enables you

to understand exactly what is being

required of you and also keeps you on

track as you are answering the essay so

chevroning is looking for individuals

who will be future leaders or

influencers in their home countries then

we are also required to explain how we

meet the requirement using clear

examples of your own leadership and

influencing skills to support your

answers so as you answer this question

we need to make sure that we have clear

examples showing our leadership and

influencing skills again remember that

chevening is looking for future leaders

you do not necessarily have to be the

current member of parliament or an

executive director or ceo for

any company if you are still good for

you that's very good but if you're not

we're looking for the leadership

experience you currently have even in

your own capacity step number three is

selecting a theme selecting a theme

ensures that you're consistent in new

examples and the examples continue to

remain relevant not only to the question

being asked but to the field of study

you're looking to attain for example if

you have a theme in health then your

leadership examples need to be able to

match this theme other than mixing it

with hospitality step number four is to

make bullet points for the breakdown of

the question that we had so for our

introduction we need to have at the back

of our minds that chevening is looking

for future leaders or influencers in

their home countries so as you write

your introduction it needs to start off

strong ask yourself what does leadership

mean to me and what does leadership in

my field or theme that you selected

means also put into consideration the

most common mistakes most applicants

have written

um as we had earlier on scene before we

go to the body pause this video and take

a minute to write down bullet points of

what leadership means to you especially

in your field as you make these bullet

points put into consideration the common

mistakes that chevening spoke about also

have in mind what your theme is like we

said if your theme is in health have a

statement that could be related to the

health industry or that introduces your

leadership in the health industry and

lastly a quick tip you could consider

identifying the current problem in your

industry and use this problem as a

problem statement for your introduction

as you introduce your leadership

abilities in the body so we'll take a

minute to make bullet points for the

introduction remember we are just making

a draft and no need to make it perfect

it should be raw just as expected of a

draft for the body share your leadership

experience one or two examples to

support your statement about leadership

as written in the introduction so if

there was a problem statement you put up

in the introduction in the body we start

to see how you've contributed to closing

the gap of this particular problem and

so in this this is where we see your

leadership experience and

by using the star technique you'll be

able to articulate your leadership

examples and influencing skills give

more detail on the action taken and the

results achieved when describing the

action and the results achieved quantify

your examples as much as possible now

pause the video and we'll take another

minute to identify one or two strong

examples that we will use for our

leadership essay for our conclusion we

need to remember that we start strong

and need to finish strong so as you

conclude tied back to what you've

written earlier in the introduction and

your stand on having a world without the

problem statement usually we can build

on this once we have finished the

introduction and body but you can

quickly take a few bullet points on what

you think you would have in your

introduction after making bullet points

construct a few raw sentences again this

is a draft and does not necessarily need

to be perfect but use your bullet points

to construct some row sentences so next

we are going to look at an example of

two essays that i have reviewed this was

the introduction of a person i'm calling

real person a real person a starts off

with a quotation by chris hadfield and

states that ultimately leadership is not

about glorious surrounding acts it's

about keeping your team focused on a

goal and motivated to do their best to

achieve it especially when the stakes

are high and consequences really matter

it's about laying the groundwork for

others success and then standing back

and letting them shine and continues to

say i believe that a man is not only as

good as his word but as well as his

actions and attitude we live in a world

where the term leader is misconstrued

with the term both leadership to me is

about actively and deliberately creating

an environment for others to thrive a

thinking that is well captured in the

words of chris hadfield above some of

the things we can quickly see that are

wrong with this particular person's

essay is they use the quotation with

shaving advice against also a quotation

takes up a lot of your space if you're

trying to write 500 words leadership in

itself cannot be

extensively defined in only 500 words

starting off with a statement like this

will just eat up on your space real

person b is someone who recently got the

shaving award real person b steps in

their introduction the role of

leadership is often underrated and yet

it's the bedrock of any progressing

society africa regardless of her rich

natural endowments has failed to

progress as fast as expected many

african economies haven't grown due to

the leadership vacuum in her nursing

resources hence leaving many countries

dependent on foreign aid for basic needs

africa is not short of leaders my

continent is short of good visionary

leaders again earlier on in our

discussion we said you can use a problem

statement for an introduction

so that it can introduce your body and

what you have done about this real

person b captures a very good problem

statement and real person b's

introduction is captivating making me

want to read more about real

person-based contribution to leadership

in their country so now let's have a

full essay example here is nelson

mandela let's say he wanted to apply for

an emmy in peace resilience and social

justice at university of bradford his

theme would be freedom

so let's see what his essay maybe could

look like in his introduction would have

hearing the elder stories of my

ancestors vala during the wars of

resistance i dreamt also of making my

own contribution to freedom struggle of

my people if we are to critique just the

introduction we'll see that nelson

mandela's introduction shows futuristic

leadership then for the body he would

write as a founding member and leader of

the african national congress youth

league i initiated and led the defiance

campaign against apathy the first

large-scale

multi-racial political mobilization

against apathy laws under a common

leadership i assembled and addressed a

crowd of 10 000 to create awareness over

human rights i also embarked on an

international tour to encourage foreign

countries to support sanctions against

the south africa upper side government

after a series of negotiations are held

with the government apartheid was

dismantled and brought to an end now to

break this down we see that nelson

mandela ties his body to the

introduction first of all and secondly

the theme is still present and lastly he

uses the star technique in his body for

an elaborate breakdown of the star

technique check the link in the

description and it will guide you

further on how to use the star technique

while writing your essays one of the

things i want to point out in the star

technique that earlier spoke of is

quantifying your achievements we see

nelson mandela stating that i assembled

and addressed a crowd of ten thousand

now if he had stopped i assembled and

addressed a crowd would not know if this

was a crowd of five or if it was a crowd

of 10 or a quarter of a hundred but with

him stating 10 000 it gives more volume

and depth of his achievement for the

conclusion he would write despite

terrible provocation i never answered

racism with racism i have cherished the

ideal of a democratic and free society

in which all persons live together in

harmony with equal opportunities it's an

ideal it's an ideal which i hope to live

for and to achieve but if needs be it's

an ideal for which i am prepared to die

the chevening scholarship presents an

opportunity to study ma in peace

resilience and social justice which will

enhance my skill set as i continue to

fight for democracy equality and

learning in south africa see this is an

example of what a good essay would look

like i'm confident that with the draft

that you have created along the video

you'll be able to pano beat it and start

to develop a winning essay bona steve

start writing your essay now starting

now will enable you have a good draft

and develop it further into a winning

essay we've come to the end of our video

but not the end of our interactions in

the comment section below ask me any

questions and let's interrupt remember

it might be hard but nothing is ever

impossible good luck

[Music]

you