Leadership Skills are Essential by Mark

Leadership Skills are Essential by Mark - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Although the term might be "leadership", leadership skills extend far beyond the scope of simply being a leader or being in command. Instead, leadership skills help one develop many things they will use, even while not collaborating or working with others. There are three primary ways that leadership skills can help overall and are entirely essential for college success. Firstly, leadership skills develop a great work ethic, including one that does not rely on others; secondly, having leadership skills are important to have when collaborating with others; finally, having leadership skills allow a person to take charge of and speak out about a situation when necessary. Overall, leadership skills are crucial to being successful in college.

Looking at the first reason why leadership skills are needed, it develops a good work ethic, and one that does not rely on other people. A leader is a person who can work on his own and get his own work done, on time, that other people look to and trust knowing that they will accomplish their required tasks. If a leader does not fulfil their required tasks or create tasks for the people below the leader to do, the whole project can fall apart; this requires the leader to be self-sufficient and do good work on their own. Essentially, since there is nobody "above" the leader, someone with leadership skills rely only on themselves to get all of their work done without a person "above" them guiding them along the way. In a nutshell, having leadership skills builds up a self-sufficiency to do great work.

Related to the first reason, another thing that makes leadership skills crucial is the world of collaboration. Learning has been more focused in recent years on work-like environments - particularly, working with others in a hands-on or collaborative environment. Although the leadership skills develop the self-sufficiency in getting your own work done while collaborating, leadership skills also help someone while working directly with a group. Someone displaying these skills typically work well with others, since a leader typically is easy to work with. A leader would be easily approachable, and is someone who can be talked to about the task at hand, making someone with leadership skills an amazing person to collaborate with in college. Additionally, it also allows the person showing these qualities to guide a collaborative session if needed and shape the way the sessions work out to create the most productive work sessions possible.

The final reason that leadership skills are a necessity in college is the ability of a leader to speak out about or take charge of a situation. If something is happening haphazardly or confusedly, a leader can take charge and control the situation without being arrogant or presumptuous, and initiate a level of control on the situation to bring about the most productive results. Aside from being able to take charge, a leader is also far more likely to speak out about disagreeable situation over a person who "goes with the flow". If something bad comes up, the leader can step up and make sure that the disagreeable situation is resolved in the best manner possible. Because of the approachability of someone displaying true leadership qualities, people will listen to those they know show those qualities which allows the situation to be taken under control and back to the best possible productivity.

Essentially, leadership qualities do not only have to show when you are a leader. As such, they are very important to have for all aspects of learning in college, be it working on your own, collaborating with others, or even being willing and able to take charge of a situation when it is necessary. A good leader shows enough positive qualities, like approachability, confidence, self-sufficiency, and a good work ethic, that having the traits of a leader are important in almost every aspect of college life, extending well beyond when a person actually needs to be a "leader".