Statement Of Interest In The Global Leadership And Change Program Essay Samples

There is a lot of material about what it means to be a leader, what qualities leaders should have, and the different leadership styles that exist. I was always interested in leadership because since I was in my childhood, I found myself in leadership positions quite often.
I began to play hockey when I was seven years old, and I was the team captain for all my primary and high school years. At school, I was also a 'prefect' student and a House-Captain. I developed many of my leadership skills I believe through sports. In my recent years, I learned new communication skills doing a sailing course, where the captain is the single voice to follow, and the rest must trust and obey.
The leader must also take care of many variables, speak out in a loud voice and confidence, and embrace the decision once made. Most decisions have to be done in a rapid way, and many risks are involved. I always find useful to compare sailing and particularly a sailing captain to what leadership is, what it requires being a good one, and the different skills he or she needs to have. The reason is that when one goes sailing, the wind can change, the current can change, and storms can also develop in no time. Sometimes the level of the water can be higher, sometimes lower. And a good captain has to be ready to consider those variables and be willing to change accordingly. However, no matter what happens with all the different variables that can affect the ship, the objectives remain the same, that means the location where the ship is going is the same. If there is no direction and no guidance from the captain, the sheep will suffer from all the mentioned variables, will go astray, and will never arrive at its destination, furthermore, it will sink. The same can happen in life, to organisations, countries and its leaders, sports team, and so on.
A leader for me must be someone who can influence other people, motivating them, knowing what each member can bring to the team, take the team, people, organisations, to the desired end. A leader must have excellent listening and communication skills, and needs to be able to observe, analyse, and use data to have the necessary knowledge to achieve the goal.
Many people have the skill of being great communicators and individuals influencers. However, they lack the knowledge to evaluate data, to think critically and thus they do not know how to set appropriate goals, divide tasks, and develop strategies to achieve these aims. To be a good leader, one must be able to do all of those, not just some. Otherwise, a manager cannot "lead" cannot provide direction and guidance.
In our world today, leadership has to become "global". As the PhD program in Global Leadership and Change describes, one should become visionary leaders, creating new directions and strategies, in a global world. There is a tendency in today’s world for organisations to go global, and for that reason, there is also a global community. Globalisation is affecting how to do businesses, how to do politics, and NGO’s are not left behind and in most cases, there are NGO’s that help in one part of the world, but whose benefactors are in an entirely different part with an entirely different reality. For that reason, it is important to understand that global community and how it affects behaviour and how to manage organisations considering these. Research and theory play an important part in understanding today’s global world and its community.
It does not matter which type of organisation a leader is located: NGOs, political or commercial organisations, ultimately, they all will require from their leader to create followers and to sustain them, and create stability and perseverance. Without perseverance, no organisation will succeed in achieve its goal. But in a world that is continually changing, there are necessary skills that are required not just to survive change, but also to use it in its favour. A ship uses the wind that is against, and places the sails in such a way that it still helps to reach its destination. A good leader in today’s world needs to learn the skills to use change in its favour, and create opportunities, and here is where risks play a significant role. I believe in today’s world; a leader must be ready to take risks, and adapt to changes and be always willing to make new moves, maybe moves that no one has done before, and so the results are still unknown. And in doing this, is how a leader will create stability, and he or she requires the necessary perseverance skill.
I remember when I was working as an operations manager in the Philippines. I was new to the culture, and I arrived with my western management styles. I had to develop new styles according to my team's culture and resources. I had to develop new communication skills accordingly as well. I learned a lot in that position because unless I changed to best use my resources, I was not going to be able to achieve my goals. Furthermore, I had to create followers as well. I had to gain their trust, and I had to show them how confidence I was for them to take risks as well.
In another occasion, I was fundraising for a charity. It was a hard project because people enjoy giving money to extreme circumstances, and they like to see people suffering much to be motivated to give money. The project I was fundraising was not "exciting".
No black children were starving with tears in their eyes. It was a management building of a charity in the Philippines, but due to the age of the building they had weak electricity system and it could cause a fire in no time. I struggle to fundraise because no one felt giving money for that was worth it. And I had to develop even more my leadership skills regarding creating followers and influencing people, motivating them, to achieve my goals.
I believe this course is essential for my career as a leader, and I do have the necessary experience to continue this journey.
After my knowledge in different leadership roles, one of the conclusions I took was the necessity of research. I believe that the PhD offers a great possibility to do research on the topic. To better understand human behaviour, our changing the world, the global community and how it continues to develop.
I would like to pursue in the future a career in NGOs, and I would like to aim to have a global leadership position to gain enough experience to start my own NGO one day. I have a vision, mission and values. I just need more theory, research skills, and further experience.
That is the reason why ultimately I would like to pursue this PhD. I am sure it is the next step for me, and it will provide me with the necessary skills and instruments to continue my journey.
I do not doubt I have already what it takes to do this PhD. I have experience and knowledge. But moreover, I am the leader by nature. I believe some people just have what it takes; they just have to develop it and work hard for it. I am one of those people. Now I would like to pursue this PhD to improve and develop my already existing skill as a leader to prepare me to go out there to achieve my goals.