Donna Fitzgerald of the Gartner Group wrote a excellent blog post on leadership. In that post, she deconstructs leadership into a powerfully simple model. She writes, “anyone can be a leader provided they have the a vision of the change they wish to enlist help in making, and the courage to be responsible for any harm that comes to the people they end up leading.”
(Italics are mine.)
My clients often struggle with the MBA leadership essay, particularly those who haven’t been in managerial or leadership roles. Ms. Fitzgerald makes a good point. You don’t need to have a leadership title. Instead, any story that demonstrates your vision and courage is a perfect candidate for the MBA leadership essay.
Let’s say you reduced ecological waste by convincing your company to phase out bottled water. That’s a potential leadership story. Or perhaps you represented a dissident’s opinion — an opinion that may not otherwise have been heard.
Many of us may not have managerial or military leadership stories to share. However, knowing leadership’s two simple components, vision and courage, you now know where to look for potential leadership stories.
Read the full article: Secrets of a Top MBA Leadership Essay: Vision and Courage