Leadership Skills Necessary for Success by Samantha

Leadership Skills Necessary for Success by Samantha - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

The late CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, once stated, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. As a leader essential in the new millennium with remarkable innovations in the technological world, he could not have been more accurate. Leadership skills are not only necessary, but imperative for college success. Simply put, the world is a competitive place to live in nowadays. With the ever increasing rate of young men and women furthering their higher education, the competition for occupations in the workplace is at an all-time high. People must learn to stand out in the crowd, rather than get lost in all of the chaos.

College is meant to provide the tools necessary for individuals to utilize in their future working endeavors. It is a breeding ground for the future leaders, not just here in the United States, but also globally. Skills are shared from professor to student with hopes that even the slightest bit of information will carry on to hopefully make the world just a little bit of a better place.

Leadership skills not only carry into the corporate world, but they also carry into life in general. Marriage requires both individuals to lead each other in order to live in harmony. Raising a family requires being a leader for your children. Many people often associate leadership skills with being bossy or perhaps overbearing and constantly desire for things to only go their way. On the contrary: a leader is someone who has the skills to stand up for what they believe in and have the determination to reach their goals. Their behavior is contagious and entices others to lead themselves, thus creating a snowball effect of making positive decisions and ultimately bettering their life and the lives of those around them. Martin Luther King Jr. was the epitome of a great and powerful leader. He said that “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus”, a statement of value and utmost truth.

Learning how to behave in a plethora of settings as well as how to act with various groups of people are some of the most important skills one could learn. College pushes the limits of students to voice their opinions, aiding in molding their personalities and exposing students’ passions. By gaining appropriate leadership skills in college, individuals have often four years or more to master these skills so that when it is their turn to enter the “real-world”, they have the confidence and training to make their mark like so many influential men and women before them. By having an open mind and a willingness to often step outside one’s comfort zone, leaders are born. The world can only benefit from more leaders, and the skills taught in college will therefore prove to be a contributing factor to leaders of future generations.