A Priceless Skill by Stephen

A Priceless Skill by Stephen - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leadership skills are essential for college success. If you want to achieve a future for yourself in which you can provide for yourself and live comfortably, that’s not going to happen if you never take lead of your life. Leadership is a general term that can be applied many different ways in your life and it’s important that you know how to take advantage of these leadership opportunities.

So what exactly does leadership entail? As I mentioned before, it’s a commonly used term that can have many connotations. Instead of coming up with a universal definition of leadership, it’s often easier to describe attributes of a leader. These could include, but are not limited to: good communication skills, patience, confidence, understanding, motivated, and open minded. Depending on the situation, the attributes of a leader can vary. But for the most part, a good leader is someone that has good intentions and wants to succeed at whatever task is at hand. It’s equally important that the leader is considerate of those who follow, takes their viewpoints into account, and is also efficient at communicating with whoever is involved. Having leadership skills is very valuable throughout life, especially in school and the work place.

Through my experiences with school and work, knowing how to be a leader when needed has never steered me wrong. In classes where group projects are frequent, there usually needs to be someone to act as a leader of the group to ensure everything gets accomplished properly and on time. Similarly in school clubs and also in the work place, leadership skills are going to help you reach the success that you’re working for. I am currently in a leadership position in the environmental club at College of DuPage and I’ve found it is integral to communicate with everyone else in the group and hear all of their opinions and goals. When everyone feels that they’ve been heard, it makes for a positive experience and even increases the clubs productivity level as a whole. But leadership doesn’t have to involve a group of people.

It is just as important that you can be the leader of yourself. Before you can really use your leadership skills in a group, you should practice in your own life. Have confidence with all of your actions. Take initiative so you can increase your productivity. Have patience and understand that not everything is going to work out perfectly. Communicate efficiently so others can hear your opinions. You don’t need to be the president of an organization to utilize your leadership skills. For example, applying for college scholarships is an act of personal leadership that can very positively impact your future. If you try to integrate leadership into everything you do, your chances of achieving your goals are much greater and you’ll also be setting a good example for everyone around you. There’s one more aspect of leadership skills that sometimes goes unmentioned: good leaders know when to follow.

In life, there will always be situations where you don’t have a main leadership role, and that’s completely okay! It’s so important that you embrace your importance as a part of a team/class/business so that you can share your ideas and knowledge instead of feeling like you’re less important than someone else. Sometimes you’ll be a leader and sometimes you’ll be a follower, just make sure that you use your leadership skills frequently and they will become second nature.