Leadership Skills: Useful but not Necessary by Wayne

Leadership Skills: Useful but not Necessary by Wayne - March 2015 Scholarship Essay

Leadership skills are needed in a variety of situations ranging from managing a store to leading a group in the military. However to say that leadership skills are needed for college success is not entirely true. To succeed in college or university a student only needs personal confidence and a drive or passion for the degree they seek. Leadership is the ability to direct others. What individuals need to succeed in academics is vitality: the state of being strong and active, of having mental vigor (Dictionary.reference.com). Self-confidence and a strong will or passion for your degree is what is needed succeed in academics. Yet leadership can help not only yourself to lead a successful academic career but also help others as well.

Throughout academics students are bombarded with distractions on a daily basis. In America, there are marketing ploys directed at every person for anything imaginable. The industry that has grown at exponential rates is the video game industry (venturebeat.com) and is directed at every person of any age, religion, ethnicity, gender, and is limited by nothing except the ESRP video game rating system. Another distraction are friends. While friendship is valuable and many students will make lifetime friends, college students find a completely different atmosphere when it comes to their social life. They have unlimited boundaries, no supervision, and find they can soar as high or sink as low as they want. Again, this all comes down to distractions. With strong vitality one can overcome these distractions and concentrate on their academic future.

When dealing with others, leadership can come in extremely useful as long as the leading student has influence or charisma as well. While a good leader can easily direct willing and able people, leadership begins to degrade without influence and motivation. You can have the greatest of plans and best of ideas, but if you cannot get people to do what needs to be done than your leadership skills alone are useless. With good leadership and proper balance of life objectives and social activities, any student can form study groups, research teams, and help support each other during with homework activities and tutoring systems. Influence is the greatest skill a leader can develop.

Any person choosing to go through college or university can have the mental discipline to complete any degree program, obtain good grades, and succeed in their academic careers without the use of leadership skills. However leadership skills can be developed and used for influence and networking. Leadership shows in people during interviews and workforce habits. Helping others to enjoy their academic career while also being able to maintain grades develops rapport with others and develops a spirit of influence that can help you succeed after college. Your leadership skills can help others reduce their distractions, focus on getting through their studies, make research time fun and enjoyable and teach others how to get along as a team players and become leaders themselves.