Are Leadership Skills Necessary For College Success? Why Or Why Not? by Connor

Are Leadership Skills Necessary For College Success? Why Or Why Not? by Connor - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Before you can get started in answering this question, you must define "leadership skills" and "college success". The definition of leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization. The definition of college success can be widely debated, so I'm just going to go with the main two: To achieve academic success and to find employment after college in your field of study.

Is it necessary to have leadership skills to excel academically? My answer is no. To have a high GPA (grade point average) you do not need to possess leadership skills. Students can just be very intellectual and book smart without the skills and still achieve academic success. Sure there may be some group projects, but even then you could just fall into the background of the group and just make sure your part is taken care without showing any leadership skills.

Is it necessary to have leadership skills to find employment after college in your field of study? Absolutely. Leadership is one of the top skills an employer looks for in a potential new hire. Having the ability to influence others toward the acheievement of a goal, having self confidence, being a team player, and having social skills by respecting others thoughts and opinions all fall under leadership.

You can get through college and achieve academic success without displaying leadership skills but to accomplish the final goal of landing a job in your field of study, which is the main reason for college education, you must possess leadership skills. Skills of a leader are honesty, trust, communication, sense of humor, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, abitlity to inspire, etc. In essence, I believe that it is necessary to possess leadership skills to fully reach your max potential. Not only to succeed in college, but to succeed in life as well.