how do i see myself as a leader essay

Ellie kulet

Defining myself as a leader essay.

Leadership is a concept that holds more than one definition and differs depending on the people involved, the end goal, and the situation at hand. Everyone has their perspective of leadership depending on their personal and learning experiences. Several reasons make it difficult to understand leadership that is agreed upon: philosophy problems, purity problems, position, and process problems. Leadership is often confused with management, but after you get a clear understanding, you’ll come to see that leadership and management have a different meaning. The main difference is that a leader always uses creativity and intuition (Zaleznik, 1977). At the same time, on the other side, a manager mainly solves the problems he or she encounters using rationality and control. It has come to be agreed that the best management always brings a certain degree of complete order and consistency to organizational goals and processes, while leadership brings along dynamic change. Good management offers stability, efficiency, consistency and keeps the employees focused and motivated to achieve a communicated vision. Leadership means a different kind of thing to different people, so does it mean different to me. Since I was young, my parents have believed that I am a natural leader simply because I like to get things done. From the day my parents mentioned this to me, I have self-examined myself and have discovered traits considered to be those of leaders. I am ambitious, dominant, and confident; therefore, I find myself taking the lead in most situations (Zaleznik, 1977).

My general idea of leadership always revolves around inspiring others, motivating, communicating with people, setting a vision, respecting people and their culture, and leading people by example. A leader must have a genuine and clear understanding of who they are, what they know, and their capability. To succeed in leadership, you must convince your team or followers that you are worthy of being followed. It would be best if you worked hard to make your followers build faith in you to lead. There has always been a dilemma on whether leaders are made or born, but I strongly believe that good leaders are made. If you can afford to have the desire and the inner push of willpower, you can become a very effective leader. Good leaders are developed through the never-ending process of education, self-study, and training (Zaleznik, 1977). Another lesson I have to believe strongly is that Leaders are not necessarily the first to come up with ideas but should be the first to seek new solutions to problems. The best way to become productive as a leader is by discovering new ways to accomplish some tasks while you keep calm and maintain a positive attitude. A leader does not always answer, but he believes that it is very important to have the initiative to make an answer appear.

As a learned leader, I have discovered my strength, and I am willing to use them to accomplish my life vision. The number one strength I have discovered is efficiency. I always see inefficiency as a problem that pulls time and consumes my inner energy from all my future goals. Inefficiency consists of irrationality and laziness. I am capable of rooting out such behavior in everyday life. The second and most important is energetic or the power of self-drive. It is evident in how I enjoy leading teams as we implement the plans and goals at hand. The third one is self-confidence, driven by my ability to trust in my abilities, make my opinions known, and believe in my capacity as a leader. The fourth one is strong-willed. I rarely give up when I believe in something, which helps me achieve my goals. I enjoy rising to the challenge of each obstacle I face in my run towards victory. The fifth strength in me is inspiring and charismatic. I have to discover that I’m able to invigorate others without applying much effort. The power just lay inside me, thanks to the course.

And just like everything that have strengths have weaknesses. I will disclose to you my downsides, hoping you won’t judge. The number one weakness is that I am stubborn and dominant. It’s without a doubt that my confidence and willpower sometimes go too far. I will try using every angle to win every single debate. It is Cleary shown when I push my idea, and I want everybody to support it without question. The second downside is I am very intolerant. Sometimes I find myself unsupportive of any idea that distracts me from my primary goals. I push that everyone supports an idea that is in line with my plans and goals.

The thing is that I never hesitate to make this fact clear to everybody around me without minding how they feel or what they say. The third downside is that I am very impatient. From the lessons, I have learned that some people need more time to think than others. I always interpreted that delay as stupidity or disinterest, making me miss interesting ideas and conversations from such people. I always find myself doing things in haste. The fourth downside is arrogance. I respect quick thoughts and firm convictions and find myself looking down on those who don’t match up. Some people take time to make a decision while others think quickly and give their stand. The fact that I know this now will greatly improve my relationship with more people. The fifth and the last is poor handling of emotions. I occasionally trample others’ feelings, eventually hurting my friends and partners. These downsides have downgraded my leadership greatly, but I am willing to face them and work hard to improve on them to be an effective leader both in the community and myself.

The course will surely benefit me in a great way. I was able to understand myself better as well as understand other people. I learned the different leadership styles (leadership by consent and leadership by force). I will work to improve my downsides and put into practice my strengths. Leaders have long been mentioned as dictators since they push agendas that favor them, but it is evident that any leader who leads by force is doomed to fail. People will always follow leaders who lead by consent because leadership through engaging others will always endure. I understand that inspirational leaders know when to tell people what to do and always seek ways to get the best from their team and not themselves. I will be a better leader in school, society, and, more important, in my own life. With this course, I have to believe that in order t lead, one should set the right example for others. I must possess attributes that I wish to see in others. Good leadership should promote empathy, devotion, and selflessness(Neck & Manz, 2010).

In conclusion, I would like us to note that leadership approaches will always consider the ultimate knowledge, together with abilities the leader has. A true leader can learn certain skills and turn himself into a very remarkable kind of leader. Leadership is acquired through the interaction between the leader, the environment, and the follower. Leadership is an integral and important part of human life. Leaders are evident in our own lives, schools, workplaces, families, social groups, and religious places. At some point, everyone must be a great leader of his own life, which is evident when one matures enough to make their own decisions. The thing that makes a person successful regarding leadership is the capability to challenge, create, energize, achieve, and decide what’s best for him and his followers. Leaders must learn to be bold and have good judgment. They must demonstrate emotional intelligence of the highest order. Leadership skills can surely be developed from a young age and are impacted by natural abilities and personal experiences (Neck & Manz 2010). The programs that focus on growing leadership skills should be introduced to discover leadership in every person.

Zaleznik, A. (1977). Managers and leaders: Are they different

Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (2010). Mastering self-leadership: Empowering yourself for personal excellence . Pearson Bolden, R., Hawkins, B., Gosling, J., & Taylor, S. (2011). Exploring leadership: Individual, organizational, and societal perspectives . OUP Oxford.

Written by Ellie kulet

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The Power of Knowing Yourself as a Leader

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Writing an Effective Leadership Essay: Tips and Examples

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Whether you’ve led a horse to water or led your team to a victorious championship, you’re probably more of a leader than you give yourself credit for. It turns out, college admissions officers want to hear about that horse and/or championship in your application essay. The leadership essay is one of the hallmarks of college essays, but what’s the right way to do it?

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a subset of college application essays that help college admissions officers understand your previous experiences as a leader. While that might seem extremely specific, it comes with the understanding that leadership looks and feels different based on the person and situation.

To give you a real world example: The president is ostensibly the leader of the United States. However, the president has a whole cabinet of other leaders for every other aspect of running a country. You might not be a leader of foreign policy, but you might be a leader on the football field or within your community volunteer group.

Leadership Essay Ideas and Topics

While you might see a few variations, almost all leadership essays go back to two main forms:

• What is your leadership style?
• Describe a moment when you showed leadership.

There’s inherently a bit of overlap with both of these. You’ll likely give an example of a leadership moment when talking about your leadership style, and you’ll probably talk about your leadership style when talking about a leadership moment.

In either case, the school will want you to use anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the idea. Go with what feels right, whether that’s leading a club or team in school or leading some ducklings across a busy highway. Even if your experience sounds cliché, it’s unique because it involves you.

How To Write a Leadership Essay

Probably the biggest trap that people fall into is “Well, I’ve never been a leader.” Even if you’ve never held some sort of leadership position at school or had an official title, chances are pretty high that you have exhibited some form of leadership at some point in your life. Beyond that, the actual writing of the leadership essay is fairly straightforward.

Formatting Your Leadership Essay

Your leadership essay will include an introduction paragraph, one or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Depending on the word or page limits, you can almost treat this like a five-paragraph essay .

• Introduction - Capture the reader’s interest, define good leadership in relation to you, and directly address the given prompt
• Body paragraphs - Give some background information using anecdotes to describe your leadership style or moment
• Conclusion - End with a compelling statement about your leadership qualities and how you hope to apply them to your education, career, and the world in general

How Long Should a Leadership Essay Be?

The length of the leadership essay depends on what the college or application system says. Thankfully, this is the one part of the essay that you don’t need to question. Nearly every school will provide a word limit, typically ranging from 250 words (for supplemental essays) potentially all the way up to 1,000 words.

In the rare event that you don’t see an obvious word limit, stick to a maximum of about 500 to 600 words.

Tips for Writing a Leadership Essay

Unfortunately, we don’t know your personal life, and we certainly don’t know moments where you exhibited leadership. So we can’t write your essay for you, but we can give you some tips to at least guide your writing process.

Define Good Leadership Before You Start

Before you begin writing your essay, think about what qualities make someone a good leader, at least in your opinion. What great leadership qualities do you have? What makes a “good leader”? Make a list before you begin writing your essay. 

Leadership qualities can include:

• The ability to motivate others
• Personal integrity
• Placing a value on relationships with team members
• Prioritizing the larger good over any individual

Review your list and choose the qualities you want to highlight. Write your own definition of what makes someone a great leader as it relates to the quality you chose. It should be one or two sentences long. Use that definition as the backbone of your essay.

Tell a Story About Your Leadership

It’s time to turn that list of potential leadership qualities into something meaningful and interesting. The best way to do that is with an engaging narrative.

You should obviously state good leadership qualities, but that shouldn’t be your entire essay. Tell a story about your leadership.

• Did you face a specific challenge?
• How did you overcome that challenge?
• How has your leadership style changed over the years?
• Was there a specific moment or experience that caused that change?

Really ask yourself questions and dig into the concept of leadership as a real thing that has had real effects on your life.

Write With Your Own Voice and Style

Although you shouldn’t be super informal in college application essays, they are also designed to help you display your own voice and personality. College admissions officers want to learn about you, and your writing style is inherently a big part of that, whether that means using humor or puns, maintaining a unique level of sincerity throughout the essay, or being invitingly verbose.

Don’t Be Down On Yourself

Whether it’s your personal statement , a supplemental essay, or this leadership essay, avoid being too down on yourself. Admissions officers want to hear about all your successes, trophies, and kittens saved from trees. They really don’t want to read a whole essay about you saying you’re a bad leader.

Humility is definitely an important leadership trait, but there’s a fine line between being humble and being hurtful to yourself. Even if you’re normally prone to some self-deprecation, try to keep it at a minimum for this essay.

Leadership Essay Example

If you’re not sure where to start, take some time to brainstorm ideas. Even the weirdest idea can blossom into something neat. If you need inspiration, one of the best things is to look at other examples of leadership. That could be from your favorite show, a good nonfiction book about sailors, or the essay below.

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Leadership Essay Introduction Example

The introduction should pull the reader in while directly answering the prompt. When in doubt, try to start with something concrete over something abstract. Or as writers and writing teachers like to say: Show, don’t tell.

The room was filled with the gentle hum of microphones and video cameras, cut only by the occasional cough or cleared throat. It was easy to feel out of place in this room full of wood furniture, leather seats, and powerful men capable of changing not just my life, but an entire sector of television programming as we knew it. I had never thought of myself as a leader, but I also knew that this was about something bigger than me, something that I could actually influence.

Leadership Essay Body Example

The body is where you’ll get more into the details of your narrative and connect it to ideas of leadership. Try not to get too hung up on the exact wording of what makes a leader. That can get far too abstract. Let your story speak for you.

I took a deep breath and began to talk. I wasn’t known to have a particularly commanding or powerful voice, but people always seemed to listen, including these men with their name placards and tall seats. They had been ready to cut funding for public broadcasting, which included programming that they had never seen. I was simply someone who lived in a neighborhood and cared about children’s education, beyond just math and reading. All I could do was be honest.

Leadership Essay Conclusion Example

Your conclusion considers the broader effects of your leadership. How might your leadership evolve or change? How can you apply that leadership to your education, job, or community?

To me, leadership is about connection. I know that I have a voice and an immense dedication to emotional intelligence in children. My ability to focus on other people goes hand-in-hand with my ability to speak through a tiger puppet. Both are about closing gaps and bringing people closer to a basic understanding. I hope to use my leadership abilities within the field of psychology to build more connections between people and communities.

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Reflecting on Yourself as a Leader

Schools need leaders who don’t yet think they are leaders and those of us teachers who are apprehensive about embracing the roles and responsibilities of leadership.

It took me a long, long time to accept the notion that as a teacher, I was also a leader; that as a department chair, I was also a leader; and that as a coach, I was also a leader. This was because I was operating within traditional definitions of leadership: I didn't have a formal leadership title -- like  principal -- nor did I have any kind of certificate or degree granting me the role and responsibilities.

But I was a leader -- for my students and for my colleagues -- because leadership has much more to do with how we think about what we do and why than it does about formal titles and degrees. And I imagine that many of you are also leaders whether you're aware of it or not.

Formal and Informal Leadership

Informal leadership is present and essential in all organizations, and informal leadership can be conducive to a school's health and effectiveness, or destructive. Think about your school: Whose thoughts and opinions are most respected and listened to amongst staff? In addition to those in positional leadership roles (the administrators), who else influences staff? Who has a loud voice? Who is respected? Who is feared?

Now think about yourself as a leader. Does the suggestion that you are a leader excite you or scare you? What does it mean to you to be a leader? What might be possible if you thought of yourself as a leader?

I'd like to suggest that in order to transform our schools, we'll need many, many more leaders. We'll need the leaders who don't yet think they are leaders and those of us who are apprehensive about embracing the roles and responsibilities of leadership, and we'll need to have reflected deeply on what we mean by leadership and on who we are as leaders. Towards that end, I'd like to offer you some prompts.

Transformation Starts with Self-Awareness

In my new book, The Art of Coaching Teams , I suggest that to develop healthy teams of educators who can do the hard work of transforming schools, we must start with ourselves as team leaders. We can't tackle unhealthy team dynamics or unfocused meetings until we know who we are as leaders and until we've explored our beliefs around power.

The first area for us to reflect on is around models of leadership in our society. Here are some questions from my book that can support this reflection:

• Who is a leader you admire?
• Who are the leaders in your community, city, and country?
• What kind of leadership do they demonstrate?
• How did they come to be leaders? Can you relate to them?
• What do you think makes a good leader?
• What kind of leader do you aspire to be?

Very few societies have shared agreements about what constitutes good leadership. Depending on your beliefs and values, a good leader might listen to all voices and take them into account when making a decision; or a good leader might consult with a few trusted advisors and then make a decision; or a good leader might make a decision alone based on his or her expert knowledge and experience.

Team leaders can benefit from exploring the big philosophical questions that surround the definition of good leadership. When we are aware of our core values, beliefs, dispositions, preferences, and histories, we can make conscious choices about our leadership stance.

What's Your Leadership Style?

Who you are as a leader is the next big area to explore. Here are some of the questions I offer to guide in this exploration:

• Who held power in your family when you were growing up? What kind of power was that? What was it based on?
• What were you taught about authority in your childhood home? What granted someone authority?
• Why do you lead in the way you do?
• What assumptions are you acting on as a leader about yourself, your team, and the work to be done?
• How does the system in which you are operating impact who you are as a leader?
• How do you negotiate power dynamics as a leader? Where do you notice power playing a role in your leadership?
• What kind of leader do you aspire to be? How do you want others to see you?
• What kind of leader does your team need you to be?
• What kind of leader does the community you serve need you to be?

Leadership is complex and contextual. Our circumstances heavily influence who we are and can be as leaders. In order to understand the complexity, we will all benefit from spending some reflective time considering our backgrounds, beliefs, and actions.

This reflection can help us embrace ourselves as leaders, refine our skill set, and create the change we hope to see in our schools.

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How to See Yourself As a Leader

• August 1, 2022

What does it mean when you don’t see yourself as a leader? 

It means you’re not contributing all of your talents to your organization. 

You’re suffering from self-doubt and you’re not having the impact that you could. 

You’re not distinguishable from anyone else and that means you’re replaceable. 

You know what you should be doing and that may be from preconceived notions that we’ve heard about what it actually means to be a leader.  

You hear phrases like “They were born to lead” but you don’t feel that way about yourself. 

If you’ve gotten to this point in your career, you need to read the rest of this post. 

How to See Yourself As a Leader  

Let’s first put away this notion that leaders are born and not made. 

People are born as babies. 

Leadership is learned over a lifetime. 

1. Your belief system. 

You must believe that you can lead. 

You must believe you have the knowledge, skills, ability and values to lead. 

I think you have all those things but it only matters how you believe in yourself. 

If you don’t have the right belief system, you won’t have the right behaviors. 

If you don’t have the right behaviors, you won’t have the right actions. 

If you don’t have the right actions, you won’t have the outcomes you need. 

So, what do you believe about yourself? 

How do you focus more on your belief system? Read more! 

Here are six books every leader should read. 

Reading helps demystify what leadership actually is. 

Leadership doesn’t develop in a day. 

Leadership develops daily by what you believe and what you do. 

2. Your passion. 

What is a problem you see in the world or at work? 

It could be hunger or homelessness. 

It could be someone always leaving trash around or a high turnover rate at work. 

You want something to be done, but no one’s done anything about it. 

If you want to be a leader, you need to take action. 

That means you have to do something. 

Nobody’s going to give you a crown, corner office or the title of leader. 

You have to show up and be a part of something that’s bigger than you. 

Be a part of making a difference. 

This is easy to do when you’re passionate about something. 

3. Understand your ability. 

You need to understand that you can be a great leader. 

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

You can be a great leader because you can serve. 

You’ve got to commit to helping other people. 

Before you try to lead people, be a servant first. 

The greatest among us are servants: nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers, and those that serve in our armed forces. 

They’re all servants and people that are talked about through history. 

There’s nothing stopping you from being great other than your willingness to serve.  

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A Full Guide On How To Create Good Leadership Essay

Attempting a leadership essay isn’t such a daunting task, provided you have a grasp of the necessary information needed for a leadership paper. To write this special essay, you’ll need to redefine what exactly an essay on leadership is, how to choose the perfect topic, what should be in the content, and how to organize and structure the paper. Let’s delve deeper!

What Is A Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a well-formatted, organized and specialized type of formal writing which elaborates on a generic leadership topic or a superior human figure exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals.

What Makes A Good Leader Essay?

There are some peculiarities needed to infuse in your write-up if, for example, you’re trying to learn how to write a leadership essay about yourself.

Also, if you’re just trying to produce leadership essays for college, then you’d first and foremost, learn  how to structure an essay , among other skills needed for this type of essay. Here are some qualities which can be found in a good essay about leadership.

• Choose a creative topic
• Avoid the passive voice (the active voice sounds stronger)
• Search for and study leadership essay examples
• Follow the appropriate essay style
• Focus on the essay structure
• Review the essay

How To Choose A Topic And Make A Great Title?

To choose a topic for a paper on leadership, you need to do some research on the concept of a leader (whether in the corporate industry, political society or even in the criminal world). You have to know the current leadership tendencies in organizational groups or society. You can choose to make a leader the point of your reference by explaining the consequences of their leadership abilities or inabilities.

In the body of your essay, don’t forget to mention several types of leadership styles and point out which one the subject portrays. Finally, you should not rule out making comparisons of famous leaders in the modern world or in history. An example of a great prompt for a leadership essay that deploys the comparison technique would be the leadership styles of President Trump and The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte as both leadership styles have been subjected to political reviews in recent times since their emergence as president of their respective countries.

Outline For A Leadership Essay

When writing a college or professional essay such as -long and short essays on leadership, planning is the key to perfection. The general outline for any essay, including leadership papers, include an introduction, the body paragraphs (which must be properly linked with transition words and/or phrases) and a recapitulating or finding-based conclusions. Here’s what your outline should look like:

Introduction

Knowing how to start a leadership essay depends on your introduction writing ability. The introduction is the gateway to the essay. Aided by punchy opening words, which are the hook, the purpose of the introduction is to draw the reader’s attention. The introduction presents the thesis statement and leaves the body paragraphs to sustain the reader’s interest.

Body Paragraphs

Having informed the readers of the topic of the essay in the introductory paragraph(s), the body paragraphs follow immediately.

Here, you can elaborate on the concept of leadership and do a meaningful interpretation of the subject – the topic or the thesis statement. Don’t forget to talk about your leadership philosophies and leadership experience in whatever capacity you might have found yourself in. Remember, people are more interested in personal experiences. They are great in helping to sustain readers’ attention.

Remember to state a thesis or hypothesis in the opening paragraphs – which is the intro. In each of the body paragraphs of the essay, try to relate your points to the thesis and use each point to prove its validity.

The conclusion is the end part of any well-structured essay. Its purpose is a no-brainer. You don’t want to leave your reader hanging by ending the essay cold turkey. Any standard essay without a conclusion is just as useless as an essay with no purpose. However, be careful not to present new ideas not mentioned in the body.

As mentioned, the conclusion serves to summarize the developed points, restate the thesis and/or present the findings. It is your last opportunity to create an impression on the reader, and this is where they take the message away. If your conclusion is weak, then we might say the essay’s objectives are not achieved.

What To Include In A Leadership Essay?

Here are some tips on what your leadership essay should include.

Your Definition Of A Good Leader And Why He Or She Is Important

Since your essay revolves around leadership and the traits of a good leader, you’ll need to define what it takes to be one. You may also take this opportunity to trash some common myths on what a leader is (i.e., a manager being confused for a leader).

For reference purposes, the concepts of leadership and being a good leader are explained:

Leadership is the quality of a leader and is that person capable of exercising a great influence on people and transmitting desire and optimism to achieve goals. A leader is a guide; someone with ideas and goals that can spread to a large group of people who still believe he or she can lead them in the right direction.

There are many types of leaders and therefore, of leadership since people generally always look for a person or group that shows them a direction to follow. You can find religious, political, social, or philosophical leadership. Leadership can be exercised in a traditional way. In many countries, there is a monarchy. The king or queen is a leader with limited political power, at least in western democracies, but still have the respect and consideration of the people. Their words continue to be heard and taken into account, especially in problematic times. There are other types of leadership that are not given by birth, such as legitimate leadership exercised by, for example, political leaders freely chosen by their people, or charismatic leaders.

In a way, charismatic leaders are what many understand as leaders since they are people who, by their way of behavior and characteristics, get many people to follow and adhere to their ideas. Some charismatic leaders can become legitimate leaders if they choose the path of politics. A traditional leader can also be charismatic. There have always been kings loved by his people more than others. But it can also be a person who prefers independent movements outside of power.

Charisma is the personal magnetism a person has. It is something very difficult to define but makes one capable of convincing others without too much effort, making people follow and trust the leading figure. Charisma can be used positively or negatively. The leaders of the most destructive sects are very charismatic people that are capable of convincing their followers of the eeriest ideas, including donating all their belongings or committing collective suicide.

Examples Of Your Leadership Style

In the content of your essay, you may consider giving an interpretation to your (or your chosen leader’s) leadership traits. Below are some examples of leadership qualities that separate a good leader from a bad leader.

What qualities are necessary for leadership

• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Strategic thinking
• Commitment and passion
• Knowledge and experience
• Leading by example
• Active listening
• Ability to enhance talent
• Setting goals and expectations
• People investment
• Discernment
• Concentration
• Positive attitude
• Problem-solving
• Self-discipline

Leadership Essay Example

To know how to do essay fast, you’ll need some ready-made essay examples for the sake of guidance and inspiration. You may find below a leadership essay written by Oliver Smith useful in your leadership paper.

Writing a leadership essay should be easy. A good essay on leadership starts from the hook, and the thesis statement in the introduction. The points developed in the body paragraphs help affirm the hypothesis. Finally, the conclusion offers the reader a summary through the restatement of the essay’s main idea.

As required for every essay type, your essay on leadership has to follow a definite style and format. Examples are MLA, APA, Chicago and AP styles. Take your time in choosing a creative but new topic and also in writing the content. By following this guide, everything should be as perfect as possible.

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How to Write a Leadership Essay That Takes the Lead

Every year millions of high school students apply for college. And every year, at least one of those colleges requires a leadership essay.

While you may have never served as a manager, fought against injustice, or led a rebellion, you have at least some inklings of leadership inside you. After all, one of the greatest fictional leaders, Daenerys Targaryen, didn’t think she was much of a leader at first either.

The point of the leadership essay is to bring those qualities out and show you—and your readers—how you can be a mother of dragons, breaker of chains, and master of essays.

So it’s time to stop looking up to other people—at least for a little while—and start seeing yourself in a new light. If you’re not totally convinced, I’ll help you dig deep and write a leadership essay that’s bound to lead the pack of other applications.

What Is a Leadership Essay Anyway?

In short, a leadership essay seeks to do two things:

• Define leadership
• Show how you are a leader

The best way to do this is to list characteristics that successful leaders have and show your reader how you exemplify these traits.

Leadership essays, in general, are going to be pretty different than the essays you’re used to writing for class. Instead of focusing on literature , authors, or literary devices, leadership essays focus on your personal qualities.

More likely than not, the first (and possibly only) time you’ll encounter a leadership essay is when applying to a university or for a scholarship. It seems a little unfair because you don’t have a whole lot of practice writing these types of essays, but that’s why I’m here.

Let’s dive a little deeper into how to write your leadership essay.

Elements to Consider When Writing a Leadership Essay

Now that you have a rough idea about what a leadership essay is, you can start writing it, right?

First, let’s review a few things you should keep in mind as you write. These elements will help you stay on track and find inspiration so that you can really wow your readers.

• Write about yourself. When some students hear the word “leadership,” they’re inclined to think this kind of essay is similar to or the same as a hero essay . But hero essays focus on other people. Leadership essays are all about you .
• Be honest. The point of any leadership essay is to let the admissions faculty know more about you. Yes, you can (and should) get creative in your essay—but don’t lie about who you are or what you’ve accomplished. If you don’t feel like you’ve accomplished anything, just wait until you get to the brainstorming stage. Ideas will just start flowing.
• Don’t list leadership skills you don’t plan on explaining later. Your definition of leadership shouldn’t be one you find in a dictionary. Instead, think about the leadership skills you possess, and list those so that you can explain them later in your essay.
• Leadership essays aren’t like other essays. They don’t have to (though they can) follow the five-paragraph format . They are a little more informal, more like a story. You can either use one story to explain all of your leadership skills or use different examples for each skill. Either way, make sure it all flows together logically.
• It’s okay to write in first person . This isn’t academic writing. Plus, you’re talking about yourself. First-person writing makes it personal.

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Steps to Writing an Awesome Leadership Essay

Okay, I know you’re itching to get to the good stuff. So here are all the details about how to actually write a leadership essay so that you can get started ASAP.

Before you start trying to think of the specifics or the structure of your leadership essay, you need to know a little bit more about the leadership characteristics you have.  Brainstorming techniques are perfect for helping you identify your leadership characteristics.

Think about any leadership situations you’ve been in—the leader of a group project or sports team, any position within a school club, showing leadership among younger siblings. Really anything can be turned into leadership experience as long as you worked with other people.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be someone’s superior to be a leader.

Let’s say for the sake of giving examples that Khaleesi herself was writing a leadership essay. Her brainstorming might include the following traits:

• Stand up for what I believe in
• Kind but tough when I have to be

Having trouble coming up with a list? Try reading what other students have to say about their leadership in these example essays .

Once you have some ideas of what leadership qualities you possess, it’s time to start organizing them and creating the structure of your essay. Do you plan on writing one story or giving several different examples?

Whatever the case may be, you’re going to have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The difference is mainly what you do with the body paragraphs.

Daenerys’s outline might look something like this:

• Thesis statement
• Loyal and stand up for what I believe in
• Punished/killed slavers and vowed to free slaves around the world
• Fearlessness and determination
• Ignored distractions like the Iron Throne and Khal Drogo hallucinations to rescue dragons
• Used diplomacy whenever possible but was stern when needed
• Killed leaders who were talking about harming me and arose from the ashes unburnt—for a second time

Write your introduction

You’ll notice on the outline that I have a hook and thesis statement under the Introduction section.

A hook is a way to get your readers’ attention  and make them want to keep reading. Unlike your teacher who has to read your essay to give you a grade, admissions staff don’t have to read anything they don’t want to. So make sure your intro really hooks them and draws them into your essay.

One of the best ways to write a hook is to start at the climax of your story. This shows readers the excitement of your essay and makes them curious as to how you got to that point. Other types of hooks might be to include quotes or clearly set up your story from the beginning.

A thesis statement  tells the reader what your leadership essay is really about. In this context, it’s just a mini-outline of your leadership essay. You can be more creative here than in other essays, so play around with it a little to see what feels right.

Let’s see how Daenerys may write her introduction:

As I stepped out of the burning hut, I thought this was what I was born to do—lead the Dothraki across oceans and all the way to the Iron Throne, where I would take my rightful place as leader of the Seven Kingdoms. While leaders come in many forms, truly great leaders have loyalty to their subjects, courage and determination in the face of adversity, and the sense to know when to forgive and when to punish. In my rise to Khaleesi and beyond, I have acquired these very traits.

Can you spot the thesis statement?

That’s right, in Daenerys’s thesis statement, she outlines the characteristics of leadership that she’ll address in the body paragraphs (loyalty, courage and determination, and balancing forgiveness and punishment).

Write the body paragraphs

The meat of your essay is all in the body paragraphs. This is where you show your readers what a great leader you are. Use descriptive language and vivid examples .

Don’t just say, “I show courage by doing this.” Instead, your descriptions of events should give the reader a clear picture of how you demonstrate courage, or any other leadership trait you have chosen.

One of Daenerys’s body paragraphs could go like this:

I went through a series of rooms, each one more difficult to get through than the last. The first was my true end goal—the Iron Throne. It’s what I dreamt about constantly, and now it was right in front of me. I could see it, feel it, but it wasn’t what was important at that moment. I heard my dragons calling for me, and I knew I had to press on if I was going to get them and myself out alive.

The final step is to write your conclusion. Let the reader know the impact your leadership has had on others or what you’ve learned about yourself in terms of your leadership.

Here’s what Daenerys’ conclusion might look like:

Although I grew up being told my brother was the last dragon, I realized in time that title was meant for me. Slowly, I became bolder and stronger in my convictions, helping to save the lives of thousands and realizing my role as the Mother of Dragons.

See? It’s not that hard to write a leadership essay, is it?

Here at Kibin, we consider our editors to be leaders. They fearlessly fight grammatical errors and work hard to make students’ essays shine. So if you’re not sure that your writing is up to par with that of a leader, we’re happy to take a look and make suggestions .

Now take a good look at yourself and all the awesome leadership qualities lying within, and bring them out on paper. Good luck!

Psst... 98% of Kibin users report better grades! Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays .

About the Author

Eden Meirow is a full-time copywriter and part-time freelance writer. Along with her BS in marketing from Florida State University and MA in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University, she has spent the past 7 years learning how best to reach and teach people using the power of words. When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation.

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Leadership Essay

27 August, 2020

12 minutes read

Author:  Richard Pircher

As a college student, you must write essays on a regular basis since the latter is one of the most common types of home assignments. All this means is that in order to get good grades and be successful with writing the papers, you need to have a sound understanding of the structure. Additionally, what you should never neglect is the variety of essay types. Indeed, your essay will significantly differ from one type to another: description essay will most likely have a structure that is slightly different from an argumentative one.

What you may have already encountered in your academic life is the work on a leadership essay. Although it sounds pretty complicated and vague, it is mostly possible to master an essay on leadership. Below is a guide for you to get an insight into this particular essay type.

What is a good leadership essay?

A good leadership essay is the one in which the essay writer has fully covered the topic of leadership and understood its core ideas. More specifically, to end up with a flawless leadership essay, you will need to indicate what makes a person a good leader. For achieving the latter, you will most likely need to conduct research and trace how a particular person reaches his or her goals. In other words, the task is to discover which actions the person undertakes, what their followers say about him or her, and how the person organizes the work. So, a leadership essay implies providing real-life success examples and further revealing them.

Above all, a good leadership essay is the one that follows a precise, clear, comprehensive structure. Structuring your essay about leadership in the most coherent way leads to a win-win situation: you have fewer troubles and barriers to writing a brilliant essay, and your teacher is able to comprehend the essay easily. This guide is what you will need to refer to to get an insight into how the flawless structure for a leadership essay looks like and how it will let you take a benefit.

How to write a Leadership essay?

To write a leadership essay that stands out, you first need to brainstorm all the ideas that you have and come up with a topic for your essay. If you are struggling with this step, you may think of some of the most influential people, read about them, and find out what makes them unique. Or, you can pick any topic which is mentioned at the end of this article. After you have chosen an issue, it is time to structure your essay appropriately.

As you already know, an essay constitutes three essential sections: introduction, main body, and conclusion. Below is the more detailed description of each of the parts.

Introduction

Of course, your leadership essay introduction will always vary depending on the topic of the essay. However, you can always begin by stating your vision of leadership regardless of the topic. Additionally, to motivate the reader and instantly catch his or her attention, you may use a quote of a famous leader, or simply a quote which you find relevant to the topic. Be aware that you should avoid outlining the essence and the role of the leadership in your introduction; leave it for the body paragraphs.

What you may also do in your leadership essay is ask a question, which will most likely intrigue the leader. Or it will at least give your reader an overview of what you will dwell on  in your essay.

Body Paragraphs

You will need to divide the main body into 3-5 paragraphs to make the structure more comprehensive. What you have to do at this point  is  give your reader a sound understanding of your ideas. Therefore, try to fit each idea in a single body paragraph so that you do not confuse your reader. Do not hesitate to indicate your examples to strengthen your arguments. For instance, you may explain a fact that makes a particular person you are writing about a real leader.

Also, always stick to your thesis statement and don’t forget that the body paragraphs should reveal the parts of your thesis statement.

As you may already know, you need to restate your opinion and briefly summarize all the points from the main body in conclusion. For instance, if you wrote your essay on qualities of an effective leader, state the most fundamental qualities and indicate why they matter the most. Besides, try not to copy what you have already written in the body – it is better to restate your opinion using different words. And, of course, beware adding any new and extra information; indicate only those points that you have already outlined in the text. Finally, keep in mind that it is always favorable to keep your concluding remarks short.

Leadership Essay Examples

Writing a leadership essay requires some research and time. In case you feel the necessity to go through an essay example, below is a leadership essay sample you can refer to.

Is leadership an inborn or an acquired feature?

Is everyone capable of becoming a leader, or is this ability innate? A lot of researchers have been struggling to answer this question. One assumption about leadership implies that the leader is the person who possesses particular characteristics. Another assumption claims that leaders are capable of acquiring specific features over their life span. As the evidence shows, leaders own many features that distinguish them among others and make more and more people become their followers. These might be cognitive abilities, psychological traits, professional qualities, and a lot more, and all of them will be either acquired or innate. Based on the importance of leadership qualities, such as commitment, stress resistance, and the ability to make quality decisions, it is reasonable to claim that leaders are made, not born. 

One can deem commitment as one of the top fundamental qualities of the leader. In essence, such a feature indicates that a person is passionate about the common goal, strives to be a team player, and makes every effort to reach a shared goal. As the history shows, none of the successful companies was uncoordinated by an influential, committed leader: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft – all of these companies are examples of dominant teams led by a dedicated leader. A committed leader also inspires his or her team to achieve common goals and put more effort into the shared activity. Besides, commitment is unlikely to be an innate feature; it instead comes with experience. This is so, since commitment implies dedicating oneself to the shared task, and one can reach it only via learning and continuous self-improvement.

Stress resistance is another incredibly important feature that every good leader should possess. This is because only a stress-resistant leader has sufficient capabilities to overcome any complexity and not let the anxiety and stress prevent him or her from making proper decisions. Besides, such a leader will most likely have a positive influence on the team, as long as leading by example will motivate the team members to attain the same emotional stability. What is so far familiar about stress resistance as an effective leader’s feature is that it can be either innate or attained. However, although some researchers admit that emotional stability is something one is born with, it is not entirely true; many people still put a great effort into self-improvement, changing the attitude to unfortunate situations, and so on. Therefore, being resistant to stress can be mostly attributed to a personality.

An ability to make high-quality decisions most likely determines the chances for an enterprise’s success. In particular, such quality is incredibly fundamental for a company of any size and professional orientation. Additionally, it is one of the top tasks of a good leader to make final decisions. What he or she should do implies brainstorming, discussing various opinions in the group, making forecasts, analyzing all the pros and cons. However, the leader is the one to make a final decision. Thereby, he is in charge of researching the market, discovering all the hidden truths, and analyzing the organization’s potential and capabilities to result in the most effective decision. As it flows logically from the latter, an ability to make sound quality decisions is purely a professional quality. This leads to the conclusion that one has to work hard to become a genuine leader and master the skill of making effective decisions. 

Overall, the leader may possess a multitude of different skills and master them perfectly. However, what has so far become transparent is that any leader, regardless of which team he leads, must possess three essential qualities. These qualities are commitment to the common goal, ability to handle and resist stress, and, finally, an ability to make effective decisions. All of the three qualities are most likely to be acquired over a lifetime. The statement below leads to the conclusion that even though some qualities can be innate, most are not the ones that leaders are born with. Hence, this answers an essential question: leadership feature is acquired, and not necessarily inborn.  

20 leadership essay topics

When coming up with your next leadership essay topic, it is imperative to brainstorm ideas and think of what leadership might be related to. If you are struggling with a topic of the importance of leadership essay or any relevant type of essay, you may quickly take a look at some of the possible topics we prepared for you:

• What are the main qualities of the leader?
• Successful Time Management as a feature of an effective leader
• The role that rhetoric plays in leadership
• The most exceptional leader in the history of the 20-th century
• The role of female leadership
• What are the challenges of the leader of the 21-st century?
• How college helps students develop leadership skills?
• Qualities of the leader that motivate people to follow them 
• Top things to avoid doing to become a team leader
• Examples of effective and ineffective leadership in the history
• Top techniques for developing leadership skills
• The interconnection of creativity and leadership 
• Is a university’s role fundamental in developing leadership skills?
• Dictatorship as an anti-example of leadership
• Liberal vs Authoritative leadership: which one works better?
• The influence of the leader’s role model on the followers’ mindset
• Main difficulties that the new leader may face in a new team
• Leadership of today vs leadership of the past: what has changed?
• Reasons why I want to become a member if the leadership program
• The role of cognitive abilities for the leader 

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To be a great leader, you need to start by leading yourself

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Most people go into top positions with good intentions, but those often crumble due to the demands — and perks — of the job. If you want to succeed, devote some time and energy to self-leadership, says consultant Lars Sudmann.

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community;  browse through  all the posts here.

Being a leader is a little like being a parent, says Lars Sudmann , a former corporate executive, in a TEDxUCLouvain Talk . Beforehand, we have all these rosy visions of how we’re going to do it, how incredible we’re going to be, and how we’ll sidestep the mistakes that we see other people make.

But when it’s our turn to assume the role, we find that reality doesn’t match our expectations or imaginations. Sudmann, for example, believed that he would ace his first leadership role. Then, he held his first major staff meeting, an employee asked a question about the company’s email signature, and the proceedings — and his command of them — completely fell apart.

After some months, Sudmann realized he was fighting against certain entrenched factors that keep all leaders from improving. Like many in the working world, leaders have too much to do and not enough time to do it; desperate to look effective, they race around like headless chickens and don’t clearly think through their priorities and strategies; and being in a position of power causes them to assume that the people beneath them will take care of a lot of problems.

Sudmann, now a management consultant in Belgium, found a potential solution to these “classic leadership problems” in Marcus Aurelius , the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. Rather than spending his time trying to learn to rally and guide others, Marcus Aurelius focused a surprising amount of his energy on mastering self-leadership. Sudmann also came across an instructive quote from Dee Hock , the founder of the Visa credit card: “If you look to lead, invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself.”

Sudmann has found this orientation tremendously helpful — first, as a leader and, more recently, as someone who helps other leaders succeed. Below, he breaks down three actions that go into self-leadership.

Be aware of your shortcomings

Leaders need to know all of their biases, predilections and weaknesses. It’s crucial information for a boss to have, but it’s not always easy for them to receive such feedback from their colleagues and underlings. Even when they’re told they won’t face retribution or punishment for their comments, many people still find it difficult to offer genuine criticism.

Instead, try what Sudmann calls the “character traits check.” Think of someone you’ve worked with who — in your opinion or the opinion of trusted colleagues — was a bad leader or boss. What were the things they did that caused those negative judgements of them? Next, ask yourself: Do you share any of those behaviors? Then, says Sudmann, give yourself a score for 1 to 5 (1 being you don’t really share the behavior to 5 being you share it to the nth degree).

Perhaps you had a leader who kept important information away from her employees, which made it difficult for everyone below her to do their jobs. Or, maybe you had had a micromanager? A yeller? Someone who played favorites — and let everyone know it? You probably also experienced leaders whose actions were less dramatic or egregious but still detrimental. Maybe they were a vague communicator? Or they always told you they’d get back to you “later” but “later” somehow never arrived?

Don’t be surprised if some of their behaviors hit home with you. “What we find bad in others very often resonates with ourselves,” says Sudmann. After you identify your potential areas of improvement, make a plan for how you’ll work on them. Try to do a character traits check every month.

Engage in daily reflection

Every day, take 5- 10 minutes to think about the challenges you’ve recently handled and the ones you’ll soon face. While Marcus Aurelius was fond of reflecting in the evening, Sudmann likes doing this over morning coffee. Questions to pose include: “How did my leadership go yesterday? How would the leader I’d like to be have faced the challenges I faced? What about my challenges today? What could I do differently?” Write down your thoughts so you can refer back to them and learn from them.

Regulate your feelings

No matter how much preparation and reflection you put in, there will be employees, colleagues, clients and associates who anger, frustrate or annoy you. Sudmann candidly admits there will be “all these moments you face as a leader when you think, “Argh! Stop doing this!”

That’s where the practice of “reframing” comes in. When those teeth-grinding times occur, suggests Sudmann, “stop and ask yourself … on a scale from 1 to 10, how important is this issue right now?”

You should engage with 9s and 10s right away, but you’ll find that many things which shatter your calm will be of lesser importance. With anything that’s a 6 or lower, either excuse yourself physically (“I need to take a quick break; be right back”) or figuratively (“Let me take a minute to go over what you’ve said”). Then, give yourself a moment to think: “How would the leader I aspire to be handle this situation?” The answer will come to you.

Watch his TEDxUCLouvain talk now:

About the author

Daryl Chen is the Ideas Editor at TED.

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Leadership Short Answer Example Essays

That's me, third from the left.

Update: Check out these UT Fall 2020 Leadership Short Answer Examples!

I wasn't what you would call a typical leader in high school. We were notorious high school sports hooligans.

If we had to write this prompt when I was applying to UT, I probably would have talked about covering our bodies in house paint and spray painting letters in support of our school's Men's Basketball Regional Semi-Finals in Waco. Our parents weren't too pleased.

UT wants you to discuss in 250-300 words your Leadership experiences and how you see yourself as a leader on campus.

>How do you show leadership in your life? How do you see yourself being a leader at UT Austin?

I provide tips and strategies in this previous post , and here I reproduce seven submissions students and I worked on. 

Leadership Short Answer: Working with the Visually Challenged

“You can do it. I will help you!” Those words cemented a special bond with Jeeva, a visually impaired young man. We accidentally collided one day in a crowded library. Overcome with guilt, I treated him to ice cream at a nearby kiosk. Jeeva was worried stiff about an upcoming diploma exam, so I offered to help. Our spontaneous encounter was the best part of my summer break! I cherish those next ten days that we spent studying.

Tutoring others is my favorite way to learn because it solidifies my knowledge while allowing me to see how others solve problems using different methods. I read aloud to him, summarized key ideas, and we discussed concepts. I realized that Jeeva listens much better than me. At times it seemed like he could anticipate and even read my thoughts just by the tone of my voice. He worked hard, and we both felt more confident about the material. Encouraged by his commitment, I recorded mp3 lessons that he could listen to and review.

I felt a sense of purpose working with Jeeva. The joy in lending my eyes through reading, the challenge in describing objects and material things I took for granted, the satisfaction of transcribing his notes led me to a volunteering organization. I have since spent over 50 hours helping other visually-challenged children and young adults like Jeeva. I also encouraged and facilitated my cousins to volunteer their time helping the visually-challenged. Jeeva is now a teaching assistant at a school.

At UT-Austin, I wish to volunteer my time with the Texas Technology Access Program to design devices for the visually challenged. I believe I can create devices that can anticipate the challenges faced by people with disabilities and that can facilitate simple yet effective steps to prevent injuries.

There are two basic ways to approach this prompt - discussing one or a few experiences. This essay is an excellent example how focusing on one experience can provide more depth to your profile and add context to your resume.

Focusing on one topic allows you to tell a story and illustrate your leadership qualities rather than dividing your essay between two or three examples. Telling their story with Jeeva personalizes their essay in a way that many "service/volunteering" essays fail to do.

The prompt requires that you suggest how you see yourself as a leader on campus. They do an excellent job identifying a niche organization that directly relates to their previous experiences and career ambitions in electrical/computer engineering.

Interested in writing your best essays? Complete my questionnaire for a free admissions consultation.

Leadership Short Answer: Rocketry Group Projects

I have demonstrated leadership through my technical activities. My resume and extracurricular activities are well-rounded, but I focus on engineering-oriented activities. I enjoy solving technical challenges, and we always compete in groups. I often take the lead in helping direct the overall vision of our efforts. I enjoy coordinating group members to capitalize on everyone’s strengths and minimizing our overall weaknesses. My experience as a co-captain and captain for the TARC Rocketry Challenge Club suggests that I have a track record for accomplishing our goals. I also like taking complex topics and distilling down the most important parts to explain to new members crucial concepts in simple ways.

I have also completed three internships in different engineering fields. My experiences expose me to different professionals, and I take small lessons from each environment and employ them in my life. I see that engineering in the real world also depends on groups, so I recognize the importance of being an effective team plater. I also created an after-school engineering club for like-minded students to discuss current events and the latest technological developments. I see myself continuing my efforts when I enroll at UT. I want to contribute to classroom discussions and join relevant organizations so I can continue exploring my interests and connecting with interesting people.

This essay takes the second approach, discussing more than one activity. They spend the first half of the essay sharing their favorite activity and organization. It directly relates to their first choice major, Aerospace Engineering.

The first half is a great combination of highlighting teamwork and problem solving abilities while suggesting that they have the interests and curiosities required to succeed in college.

The second paragraph references a few different leadership experiences including internships and founding their own organization. It's okay that they don't develop their ideas too thoroughly because it signals to their reviewer to pay close attention to their expanded resume where they elaborate on their commitments.

Leadership Short Answer: HOSA and Public Speaking

I remember hesitating outside the health science classroom before my first HOSA meeting freshman year. I felt unsure if my time and efforts would be worth committing myself to such a large club. I took a breath and entered.

Before my freshman year, public speaking terrified me. Confronting my fears rather than avoiding them, I registered for HOSA’s “Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking” competition. I felt foolish competing in an event that showcases my weakest skills. Months before the first round of competition, I began drafting my speech. I practiced for weeks, refining my text, recording my voice, and presenting to the bathroom mirror.

I timidly arrived at the competition, and some senior competitors exacerbated my already stretched nerves by picking on me. When my turn came, I executed my speech exactly as I had dozens of times alone. I felt comfortable with my performance; finishing without embarrassing myself was good enough for me. I listened passively to the award ceremony, and felt shocked when they announced “Second place, Ram Visha!”

I ambled up to the stage, my heart trying to escape from my chest, in a mixed state of wonder and pride in my accomplishment. Aside from my newfound interest in public speaking, I have learned that if you put yourself out there and give your best efforts, trusting in the process will help you grow.

To me, leadership means the courage to overcome your fears, learn from failure, and inspire others to do the same. Serving as an Officer for my school’s HOSA Chapter, National Honor Society Chapter, and Band, I do everything I can to ensure the success of the organization I lead and its members. I will continue these positive habits as I transition to a leader on UT’s campus.

This is another effective example how focusing on your most memorable activity or experience allow you to illustrate a story that indirectly demonstrates your leadership qualities. Anytime you can share a story rather than simply telling your reviewer how you're a leader is preferable.

They use their Leadership short answer as an opportunity to show how they overcame adversity and converted a weakness into a strength. Discussing HOSA also relates to their first choice major of Biology with a pre-med interest.

They round their essay out well identifying specific opportunities on UT's campus that appeals to them.

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Leadership Short Answer: Family, Community, Founder

I am the oldest of three siblings, and I strive to set a positive example for my younger brother and sister. Early in my mother’s battle with Leukemia, I did chores without asking, and they began emulating my behavior. We tried our best to relieve some of the stress in our family. I am proud of starting a local “Lick Leukemia” walk in support of my mother and another family friend who both have leukemia. It is a community effort, and we project to raise $10,000 this year.

At school, I founded our Investment Club. I have grown this into our school’s most popular student ran and funded the organization. I also co-founded our school’s Model U.N., which was the only first-year group at the state competition to win an award. My classmates elected me as Treasurer of our student body where I am responsible for keeping monetary records and handling funds.

On the field, I won the starting quarterback job during my sophomore year after having not played since fifth grade. I led our team to the second round of the playoffs, our first trip in five years.

I will continue serving as a leader in college. You only get one shot at college, and I want to have meaningful experiences helping others. I am excited to work alongside like-minded, driven, service-oriented Longhorns. I want to join the Texas Blazers service organization and Capital Community. I hope to start a business-specific organization. During my visit to Austin, I attended a service at First English Lutheran Church and met a UT student involved with University Campus Ministry. I look forward to reconnecting with him and learning ways to continue my ministry work.

This essay is a great example how you can discuss more than one activity or experience. Instead of simply stating that their mother fought cancer, they take it a step further how they advocated and raised money to help other families. It's also a good example how you can be a leader at home or in your family and not just in formal extracurricular activities.

They eventually gained admission to McCombs Business, so highlighting their founding of an Investment Club relates to their first choice major. Reviewers look for Leadership experience and students who are well-rounded, so touching on a few other Leadership roles is an effective way to make this argument.

Sharing a visit to campus is a great way to answer Why UT is a great fit for you. They paint a full portrait of how they see themselves as a leader on campus and no doubt their reviewer had a favorable impression after reading this and their other essays.

Leadership Short Answer: Winless JV Lacrosse Season

Zero wins and twelve losses. Our coach referred to our Junior Varsity lacrosse team as “quite possibly the most unathletic group he’s ever coached.” As team captain, classmates questioned, and teammates held me accountable for our historically-poor performance. We were mostly sophomores and juniors, and I agree with our coach’s bleak assessment. We didn’t have the size, strength, speed, or experience to compete. I could have answered people’s condescension with negativity, but I instead responded with the opposite. I told them about everything that went right.

We went into every game believing that we could win, and with each successive, sometimes last-second loss, our confidence collapsed, and our morale dropped. Rather than letting each loss carry over to next week’s practice, I took the initiative to challenge my teammates and encourage them to keep working hard. Surprisingly, we didn’t argue much, and I can confidently say that we walked into every game with a winning mentality. It can be easy to become negative, but I think my optimism helped our team come close in many games. In some ways, we outperformed expectations even if that didn’t show up on the scoreboard.

I pride myself on keeping my head held high no matter how tough the situation. It’s easy to be a leader on winning teams. It’s much more difficult to lead perennial losers. I lead through kindness, motivation, and conscientiousness. At UT Austin, I plan to lead a student organization that focuses on fortifying the morale of struggling students. Mental health issues are a big concern on college campuses. I want to be an advocate for struggling students to help alleviate these anxieties and pressures. I trust that my ability to lift people up from pessimistic positions will be a crucial measure of my years at UT.

This is one of my favorite short answer submissions from any that I worked with. It's kind of an opposite-leadership response. It's easy to say you're a leader in a state championship band or a nationally competitive robotics team. It's another thing entirely to maintain a positive attitude, continue going to practice, and giving your best effort when you're on a team clearly lacking talent.

They take a nuanced perspective to winning, losing, and competition. Implicitly, they demonstrate characteristics like maturity, patience, and resilience. I particularly like their Why UT statement connecting their own struggles with wanting to volunteer with UT Mental Health Services.

It's an outstanding example how, at first glance, an experience that may have few redeeming qualities for admissions reviewers can be reframed into a very powerful statement about your personality and ability to handle setbacks. 

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Leadership: Sports and DECA

I am most proud of my athletic leadership. Unlike research, communication, and the social sciences, sports don’t come as naturally. I played on Anderson’s junior varsity football team, and I took to heart the coach’s emphasis on leading by example. Our football team wasn’t very good and, with morale low, I made it a point to take the lead on sprints and drills. I wasn’t always the most athletic, but I was one of the coach’s favorites because I tried my hardest. I had to compensate against other naturally talented and experienced players.

My fondest memory from high school was when I recovered a fumble during our spring game. The whole defense came off the sideline and started celebrating like I had won the game! Despite my fleeting moment of glory, I realized football isn’t for me. I played golf during my sophomore and junior year. I always stayed after practice to hit by myself no matter how many blisters had broken open. Soon, my teammates looked to me for advice often alongside my lighthearted teasing.

At Anderson, I competed in DECA business finance events. I was elected officer but couldn’t serve since we moved to Singapore, but as a member, I created study guides and tip sheets to help chapter members prepare for competitions. Currently, I am an officer in my international school’s Business Club. I teach members about investing while organizing guest speakers and business projects in collaboration with school faculty.

At UT Austin, I want to join the Computational Finance club and the Undergraduate Investment Team, where I can learn more about quantitative analysis and apply my financial theory knowledge to manage portfolios. I can continue my service past high school by joining UT’s Alpha Phi Omega chapter and give back to Austin.

What's interesting about this submission is what this student chose not to share. Their resume was outstanding and undoubtedly one of the strongest in the applicant pool even for Business Honors where they eventually gained admission. At first, I was unsure about their choice to discuss sports, but after working through a few drafts, I saw their point of view and reasoning for discussing football.

Playing JV football and recovering a fumble in the spring game was probably at the bottom of their resume and would otherwise be unremarkable. They committed their other essays to a few more prominent activities. By focusing on their area of most improvement - athletics - they provide a different dimension to their application than if they had discussed their more obvious leadership activities.

They balance out their prompt citing a few examples to demonstrate their interests and competencies in Business and illustrate effectively how they see themselves as a leader in UT's Finance community.

Leadership: Hosting a Film Festival

During Spring 2017, I was chosen to be the Director of the Second-Annual Pegasus Film Festival. Over a hundred DFW-area high school students entered their short films in a jury-judged competition. The top twenty-two films were screened at the Studio Movie Grill in Richardson to an audience of over 300 industry professionals, friends, and family. A Q&A with the filmmakers concluded the evening.

My film teacher recognized my ability to visualize the desired outcome, plan a timeline, and complete a large project in a timely fashion. She trusted that I could complete a large task with many moving parts and execute the event smoothly. Given the complexity and magnitude of the festival, I had to engage, encourage, and communicate with my team, the student filmmakers, the community, sponsors, our venue, and industry professionals to make our vision a reality.

Booker T is a community of artists, creative revolutionaries really, but artists tend to get bogged down in the details and fail to finish projects. People who can complete projects are a precious commodity. Managing artists can be like herding cats, temperamental, scratching cats. I hosted many meetings with festival volunteers to build our vision and coordinate roles and responsibilities. I strived to communicate effectively with my peers. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions on the best way to do things. With some advice from my friends and trusted faculty, I incorporated their suggestions to create an agreeable style. Conceding changes and allowing volunteers to “make it their own” really improved morale and performance.

I learned that leadership is a fluid exercise, always changing, and accommodating others to elicit their best ideas and efforts. I intend to continue my efforts in artistic and technology organizations at UT-Austin and the annual South by SouthWest exposition.

I like this essay because it focus on a specific event that showcases their leadership abilities. It's rich in detail showing their specific roles, responsibilities, and challenges for hosting a successful film festival. They do an effective job of quantifying how many people attended, how many films they screened, and how many people they coordinated to host the event.

Their essay focuses less on how they see themselves as a leader at UT, but by telling their story, they implicitly answer the question. It's preferable to provide specific, concrete examples to support their points rather than simply asserting that they're an effective communicator or team player.

I would love to discuss your application and future goals. Complete my questionnaire for a free admissions consultation.  

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Why Do You Want to Be a Leader? Essay

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Introduction, leadership strengths, leadership statement, live coaching experience.

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• Kotter International. (2012). Leadership tip: It's how you act, not your position. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/06/06/leadership-tip-its-about-how-you-act-not-your-position/
• Robichaux, R. (n.d.). To be a better leader, start on the inside, with inner work. Retrieved from https://www.betterup.co/inner-work/

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Essay #3: Personality and Leadership

by cnr5112 | Dec 5, 2014

As a leader, there is typically a conflict between the leader we aspire to be and the leader we actually are. While one can determine the characteristics of the leader they aspire to be, it is the opinions of others that largely reflects the actual characteristics of a leader. When describing myself as a leader, I am more likely to highlight all of my most positive attributes. While I am aware of where I fall short as a leader, which is an important element of understanding oneself as a person and leader, I am not as likely to highlight those negative attributes when describing my leadership skills or style. Therefore, I am portraying the leader I aspire to be. Alternatively, if someone else were asked about my leadership, some of their statements might corroborate mine, while others might be vastly different. Those I am leading have a better sense of who I actually am as a leader. Therefore, it is important to me to be open to constructive criticism and feedback on how my leadership style impacts others. One’s personality definitely plays a major role in determining how a leader might describe themselves. I have found that my sense of self and my perception of my abilities greatly shape how I characterize myself as a leader. My personality, especially the person I aspire to be, also plays a role in changing how I would describe myself as a leader.

As a leader, I value honesty, transparency, relationships, communication, hardwork, and fun. Being a leader has taught me many wonderful lessons, and also been one of the most challenging experiences of my life. When I consider that I am being entrusted with leading others and an organization to new heights, it creates a welcomed fear within me. While I might have visions, plans, and goals, I recognize that sometimes, we cannot plan for certain outcomes. This has especially been true in my experiences in S.M.A.R.T. Yet, despite some of the setbacks I may have encountered, I want others to describe me as a leader who was honest and upfront. I am one of the first people to remind others that I am not perfect, nor do I aspire to be. When I make a mistake, I aim to own up to it, whether it be with other members of my executive board or the general membership. Such transparency is important because it establishes a trusting relationship between myself and others. I believe it also reminds them that they are welcomed to make mistakes as well. I am not perfect and I do not expect them to be either. Additionally, I want people to describe me as a leader who was relatable and “just like them.” While it has been an honor to be the President of S.M.A.R.T., I strive to not take the title too seriously. I am more concerned with the work that needs to get done than the title I hold. Therefore, it was one of the best compliments I’d received when another executive board members described me as seeming like “one of the members.” I was proud of this comment because I want others to see me, in some respects, as one of them. To me, it is very important as a leader to not expect my members or others to do something that I would not do myself. Thus, when they see me as one of them, they are able to relate to me a bit more and see me as Charisma the person and not associate me as closely with my title. In the same regard, I am also cautious about maintaining the respect and responsibility of actually leading. While I want others to see me as one of them, I also want them to respect the authority I do have in the organization. This is not to suggest that I am a dictator or ruler, but as a president, there is a certain authority and expectation of respect that comes with the position. I hope others are able to see me as relatable without disrespecting me. Lastly, I want others to describe me as a leader who is passionate and cares. My passion is what motivates me to keep going. Throughout my years in S.M.A.R.T., it was my love for our mission and purpose that kept me dedicated to the organization. It is important for me that others recognize the dedication and passion I have for what I am leading. My philosophy is that I would rather not do something at all if I know I cannot give it my full effort. Therefore, if others perceive me as the leader who shows that she does not care, I feel like I am failing at fulfilling my purpose as a leader.

My personality plays a major role in the aforementioned potential descriptions of my leadership. I am a very goal-driven person and I believe the leader I aspire to be, and be perceived as, is also very ambitious. While I rebuke being called “perfect,” I have come to terms with my strong desire to be the best. I believe my leadership descriptions also invoke this sense of wanting to be the best- I want to be relatable to my members but also a respected authority, I want to show my passion by being involved in everything and being an example, I want to be honest and transparent. Ultimately, I hope to be taken seriously but also perceived as humble. While I welcome constructive criticism, I know if a comment is too critical, I will take it more personally than I hope. I recognize that as a person, and as a leader, I enjoy making others happy. In my personal life, I would prefer to be perceived in a more positive light than negative. Therefore, even in my leadership (wanting to be accepted by others, etc.), I can detect that there is a fundamental desire to be liked by those I am leading. I recognize that sometimes, leadership requires making decisions that are not pleasing to everyone, and I believe I am able to handle those situations when they arise. However, I would much rather make most of the population happy. To me, this is merely compromising to meet the needs of others, which is important because leadership is more about others’ needs to me than my own. My personality also plays a role as I am a rather outgoing person, and my desire to be relatable and establish relationships with others is definitely reflective of this. Lastly, I would also describe myself as someone who is very charismatic. I would hope that the way I carry myself and lead inspires something within others. An underlying theme with all of my leadership descriptions is this desire to be an example for others to follow. The charismatic aspect of my personality definitely shines through in this respect.

Overall, I believe our personality plays a great role in shaping how we describe ourselves as leaders as well as how we hope others might describe us. It is difficult to separate one’s personality from their leadership. I can definitely see how my personality impacts my decision-making and interactions as a leader. While I tend to be sweet and understanding as a person and as a leader, I also have a side of me that gets “fired up” and can be dominating and uncompromising. While I try to keep that side of me at bay, it does come out every now and again, whether I am passionately arguing a point on behalf of my organization or if I am upset about something in my personal life. It is interesting to actually analyze the ways in which our leadership is impacted by our personalities. While I have always been aware of the correlation, I have never explicitly examined exactly how it does have an impact.

Essay Papers Writing Online

Tips for crafting a compelling and authentic personal essay.

Writing an essay about yourself can be a daunting task, but when done right, it can be a powerful tool to showcase who you are and what makes you unique. Whether you’re applying for college, a scholarship, or a job, a well-crafted essay can help you stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

When writing a personal essay, it’s important to strike a balance between being informative and engaging. You want to provide the reader with insight into your background, experiences, and goals, while also keeping them interested and invested in your story. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of writing a compelling essay about yourself, from brainstorming ideas to polishing your final draft.

Essential Tips for Crafting

When crafting a compelling essay about yourself, it is important to think about your audience and what message you want to convey. Here are some essential tips to help you create an engaging and authentic essay:

A Powerful Personal Essay

Writing a powerful personal essay is a way to express your unique voice and share your personal experiences with the world. By weaving together your thoughts, emotions, and reflections, you can create a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience. To craft a powerful personal essay, start by reflecting on your own experiences and exploring the themes that matter to you. Pay attention to the details and emotions that make your story come alive. Be honest and vulnerable in your writing, as authenticity is key to connecting with your readers. Additionally, consider the structure of your essay and how you can effectively organize your thoughts to engage your audience from beginning to end. By following these tips and staying true to your voice, you can create a powerful personal essay that leaves a lasting impact on your readers.

Choose a Unique Aspect

When writing an essay about yourself, it’s important to focus on a unique aspect of your personality or experiences that sets you apart from others. This could be a specific skill, talent, or life experience that has had a significant impact on your life. By choosing a unique aspect to highlight, you can make your essay more compelling and memorable to the reader. It’s important to showcase what makes you different and showcase your individuality in a way that will capture the reader’s attention.

of Your Personality

When writing about your personality, it’s important to showcase your unique traits and qualities. Describe what sets you apart from others, whether it’s your creativity, resilience, sense of humor, or compassion. Use specific examples and anecdotes to illustrate these characteristics and provide insight into who you are as a person.

Highlight your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses – this shows self-awareness and honesty. Discuss how your personality has evolved over time and mention any experiences that have had a significant impact on shaping who you are today. Remember to be authentic and genuine in your portrayal of yourself as this will make your essay more compelling and engaging to the reader.

Reflect Deeply on

When writing an essay about yourself, it is crucial to take the time to reflect deeply on your life experiences, values, beliefs, and goals. Consider the events that have shaped you into the person you are today, both positive and negative. Think about your strengths and weaknesses, your passions and interests, and how they have influenced your decisions and actions. Reflecting on your personal journey will help you uncover meaningful insights that can make your essay more compelling and authentic.

Your Life Experiences

When it comes to writing an essay about yourself, one of the most compelling aspects to focus on is your life experiences. These experiences shape who you are and provide unique insights into your character. Reflect on significant moments, challenges you’ve overcome, or memorable events that have had a lasting impact on your life.

• Consider discussing pivotal moments that have influenced your beliefs and values.
• Share personal anecdotes that highlight your strengths and resilience.
• Explore how your life experiences have shaped your goals, aspirations, and ambitions.

By sharing your life experiences in your essay, you can showcase your individuality and demonstrate what sets you apart from others. Be genuine, reflective, and honest in recounting the events that have shaped your journey and contributed to the person you are today.

Create a Compelling

When crafting an essay about yourself, it is essential to create a compelling narrative that captures the attention of the reader from the very beginning. Start by brainstorming unique and engaging personal experiences or qualities that you want to highlight in your essay. Consider including vivid anecdotes, insightful reflections, and impactful moments that showcase your character and achievements. Remember to be authentic and sincere in your writing, as this will resonate with your audience and make your essay more relatable. By creating a compelling narrative, you can effectively communicate your story and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is crucial when writing an essay about yourself. It helps to create a compelling and engaging story that showcases your unique qualities and experiences. Start by introducing the main theme or message you want to convey in your essay. Then, build a coherent storyline that highlights significant events or moments in your life. Use descriptive language and vivid details to bring your story to life and make it more relatable to the readers. Include a clear beginning, middle, and end to ensure that your essay follows a logical progression and captivates the audience throughout.

Emphasize the lessons you’ve learned from your experiences and how they have shaped your character and outlook on life. Connect these insights to your personal growth and development, demonstrating your resilience, determination, and self-awareness. End your essay on a reflective note, highlighting the impact of your journey on who you are today and what you aspire to achieve in the future. By following a strong narrative structure, you can craft a captivating essay that showcases your authenticity and leaves a lasting impression on the readers.

Highlight Your

When writing an essay about yourself, it is essential to highlight your unique qualities and experiences that set you apart from others. Consider including personal anecdotes, achievements, strengths, and challenges that have shaped your identity. Focus on showcasing your authenticity and individuality to make your essay compelling and engaging.

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Interview questions answered: What is your leadership style?

Great leader can make all the difference in any team at the workplace, or outside of it. Once you interview for a job in which you will lead someone–be it only one person , or a department of dozens of employees, or anything in between and beyond, you can expect to get at least a couple of questions about leadership.

They can inquire directly what leadership means to you, whether you consider yourself a leader or a follower, or they can ask you to share with them an example of a successful leadership from your last job. We analyze all these questions on different pages of InterviewPenguin.com , and no we will look at another one–the question about your leadership style .

Before I proceed to 7 sample answers to the question, I want to make sure you understand two things. First: job interview is not a school exam at the college of management. Second: people sitting in the interviewing panel are not teachers. And though we have many categorizations of leadership styles and you can relate to one of them in your answer, the most important thing is to describe, in a language they will understand , how you lead the people who work under you, and the great results you yield with your leadership . Or how you plan to do it, if this happens to be your first job application for any leadership role. You do not need any special terminology for this purpose…

Let’s have a look at the sample answers. I tried to come up with a variety of answers on my list, including some unconventional answers. Just to make sure at least one of them will resonate with you. Do not forget to check also my concluding thoughts at the end of this article.

7 sample answers to “How would you describe your leadership style?” interview question

• I would describe my leadership style as results oriented . In an ideal case I’d like to have goals in place for every single employee –regardless of how simple their job is. Once we have the goals in place, we can set milestones, or daily schedule for everyone, and I can lead them on their way to continuously attain their goals , by checking their progress daily, making sure they know what they are supposed to do, delegating work, counseling them, and so on. It is also important to me to lead people in the way that they can see the bigger picture . Their work may seem routine or even lacking sense at times, especially here in automotive. That’s why I make it a point to personally explain everyone the role their work plays on the final product, the role they play in the team, and why it is indispensable. In my experience, it works wonders with their motivation . At the end of the day, we are all looking for a purpose, for a meaning to our everyday work and existence…
• I would characterize my leadership style as highly democratic . Always trying to empower the people , and make them participate on the decisions we make in the department, I am no strict leader. In such a working environment everyone learns from everyone , and the entire department grows under my leadership. In my opinion, in an organization of this size, with so many employees working under me , empowering people and letting them to make decisions on their own, any time a situation allows it, is the only way to meet deadlines and progress faster than our competitors. Of course, it is my role as a leader to make sure every employee understands our values , and the direction we follow in the company, and decides accordingly …
• Working on a construction site , I believe that only leadership style which works is a strict authoritative leadership . Let’s not be naive. Most of the people working here do not love their jobs . If they had better education or an opportunity to do something else to pay their bills, they would not be here . Hence they will do just as much as they have to, in order to keep their job and get their wage. If I do not set a specific deadline for finishing something , they will work slowly, spend a lot of time smoking cigarettes, and simply won’t progress at a desired pace. Hence it is crucial to set strict goals, to be present in the workplace , and do not allow for too much of independent decision making of the laborers. In my opinion, this is the only way to succeed as a construction supervisor.
• I can talk about an example from my last job . Leading a group of seven creative people in a graphic design department, the best thing I could do was to set an overall direction for the team , tell them the final goal of each campaign, and then simply let them brainstorm, dream, imagine, and work. You can call it Laissez-faire leadership style if you want. And I would love to do the same in your company. Of course, it is crucial to have weekly or even daily team meetings , to make sure people stay on the task, and progress, and to encourage them and give them feedback and everything. Except of that, however, I believe it is best to let people work independently. Interfering too much would only limit their creativity.
• This is my first application for a leadership job , and it hard to define my leadership style at work. However, I have an experience with leading some sport teams , such as at the college, or a group of friends. And I would characterize myself as a positive leader . I never hesitate to recognize someone for a good job they’ve done , praising them for their work. In my opinion, praise beats criticism. I also try to lead by an example. I would never ask someone to stay longer in work if I was to leave at time. In my opinion, this approach can yield great results, though I haven’t tested it yet in a corporate environment.
• I would describe myself as a flexible leader . Having led various people and teams in my long managerial career, I’ve learned that different things work with different people and teams. Hence I do not like to limit myself to one leadership style only. As a good leader, I always try to assess the strengths and weaknesses of my team members . And I also like to test their decision making ability with some seemingly trivial decisions. If I see that the team works great without strong intervention from my side, I won’t intervene. On the contrary, if I see that the motivation drops quickly and so does the effectiveness , or other problems occur in the team–such as regular conflicts, I will opt for a more authoritative style of leadership. And when it comes to exceptional employees , people I can imagine in my own role one day , I will give them a special attention and try to work with them as a coach. To sum it up, I try to adjust my leadership style to the people I lead, situation in the business, and other circumstances. The goal always remains the same: to achieve the best long-term results for the business .
• It would be probably better to ask my former subordinates . What I wanted to achieve, and how I wanted to lead them, and what they perceived, can be a completely different story. Anyway, I always tried to give a special attention to every employee . Regular one on one meetings  formed the core of my leadership. Understanding what each employee wanted, and how it related to the goals of the business, as well as what their strengths and weaknesses were, I tried to coach everyone to achieve their best at work . Was I hard sometimes on them? For sure I was. But I did it with the best intention , and at the end of the day I also had goals to meet as the leader of the department. And I never hesitated to praise someone for a good job they’ve done…

Think about the job, working environment, and a fitting leadership style before your interview

Different working environments require different leadership styles . You will hardly succeed letting ten construction workers “do whatever they want”, letting them a complete freedom in the workplace. If you did so, you may as well return to the construction site after six hours and find people talking together and smoking cigarettes, having made no progress whatsoever.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, leading a team of creative engineers with an iron fist would not only hinder the progress of the team. Such people would simply leave the company , because freedom to decide and to think creatively and implement their own ideas is the reason why such people love engineering .

* Special Tip: This isn’t the most difficult question you will face while interviewing for any decent leadership role. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, solving problems , and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace and with the people you manage. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package . Up to 10 premium answers to 50 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

These are two extreme examples, of course, but I hope you got the point. Think about the company, values they try to promote in the workplace, type of people you will lead, and a style of leadership that should work well in such an environment. It should help you decide about the right answer to this tricky interview question.

Describe your leadership style in three words

Trying to avoid lengthy answers , the hiring managers may sometimes ask you to describe your leadership in three words. It is especially common on job application forms, and during the first rounds of hiring process, While I personally do not like the question, since each word can be interpreted in various ways , and without you elaborating on the “three words” they can make a completely wrong impression about your leadership style based on such a short description, you may face the question, and it is better to prepare for it .

One of the three words in your answer should perhaps characterize your leadership in general, such as authoritative, autocratic, democratic , etc. The other two words should help them understand the way in which you actually lead the people or project. Some good words you can use (depending on your way of leading others) include: friendly, inspiring, motivational, goal-oriented, demanding, personal, coaching . Choose some of them and then hope that the person reading or hearing the words will understand them correctly :).

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also sample answers to other tricky interview questions about your leadership:

• What does leadership mean to you?
• Are you a leader or a follower?
• Who inspires you?
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Myself as a Leader

 A leader also needs to make sure that these future leaders feel confident and empowered to take up the challenge of leadership. Being part of many teams, I have also had my share of leadership especially in school and organizational activities. In every group I led, I made sure that jobs were evenly distributed based on the expertise and interest of the person. The project should be a group effort.

I made sure that everyone shared their opinion and contributed in creating ideas and action plans. Although we did not and could not follow through on every single idea, knowing that their input was important and considered gave every member a feeling of empowerment and self-assurance. They felt more secure and trusting towards the team. It also made them more passionate and interested with working for the goal because they were part of the creation of this shared vision. Although it was not totally their own idea, they still helped shape the idea and did not feel compelled to work on something that was alien to them.

My experience as a member of the team helped me realize just how important team leaders are, as well as the influence they have over their members. Their simplest comment can cause teams to crumble or work harder. I appreciated learning how a leader’s action and beliefs can help shape the team’s performance because it made me aware of the responsibility now that I have chances of being a leader. I was fortunate enough to have experienced being handled by many good team leads. They gave me aspirations and understanding of what makes a good leader.

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I also appreciated being led by my negative–thinking lead. It has shown me what a leader should not be and gave me a lesson for discerning which ones I should follow. Conclusion In teams, we see the adage of strength in numbers is true. Most of the time, however, the strongest number is one. The team begins with one, and it will end if there is only one. Leaders are and need to be that one. They need to be the one who provides direction, inspiration, and strength for the entire team.

1. Church, AH. The power of teamwork--fact or fiction. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc [online]. 2006; Available at: http://www. siop. org/tip%5Cbackissues%5Ctipoct96%5C/church. aspx. Accessed 25 November 2008.

2. Kouzes JM, Posner, BZ. The Leadership Challenge Workbook. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass; 2003.

3. Changing Minds.The leadership challenge. Available at: http://changingminds. org/books/book_reviews/kouzes_posner. htm. Accessed 15 January 2009.

4. Lewis, JJ. Leadership quotes. Wisdom Quotes. Available at: http://www. wisdomquotes. com/cat_leadership. html. Accessed 21 January 2009.

A Critical Evaluation of Myself

Life is a continuous succession of events. The happiest incidents always linger in our minds as sweet memories. The most memorable incident in my life is the transition of Hong Kong into an integral part of the great country China. This brought about great changes in the life style and the political affairs of the people.

I am proud to be a Chinese citizen now. Actually, I was born in Shanghai and brought up in Hong Kong. I consider myself to be very lucky to be the part of a very large country with a glorious past and a rich cultural heritage. The ‘great wall of china’ is one of the greatest wonders of the world. This beautiful structure clearly demonstrates the glory and power of ancient China.

Growing up in modern Hong Kong was a great opportunity. Hong Kong has an international culture firmly rooted in age-old Chinese traditions. Life in Hong offers a fine blend of tradition and modernity. My life itself is proof of this wonderful fusion.

Though I come from a traditional family, I was given the freedom to choose my life and pursue my career. I chose to major in art for my graduation. This may appear a bit odd for a person living in a commercial metropolis like Hong Kong. My ambition is to become a great artist. I believe I can achieve my dream because I am a very imaginative person. My specialization is photography and each time before I take a picture, I imagine how it would look like. This critical thinking power has greatly helped me to become an excellent photographer.

All great countries are built upon the solid foundations of their culture. A number of great kings belonging to different dynasties who ruled China built up its great traditions. I love the Tong dynasty very much because they had developed China into a very powerful nation. Today China is a modern nation built upon the foundation of its tradition and culture.

The success of a country is defined by its harmonious blending of the past and the present as in the case of Japan as well. The Japanese are rooted in history and tradition, but they are ready to embrace the new as my Japanese friend Satoko Nishikawa (2009) says: “ In the city, there are tall buildings and old temples next to each other.

Japanese culture is very traditional but at the same time people like to embrace the new. Japanese try to find a guide into tomorrow by taking lessons from the past”. Similarly, my other Japanese friend, Lidia Asato talks about the advantages of the fusion or blending of two diametrically opposed cultures. Born and brought up in Peru, Lidia  Asato (2009) though a full-blooded Japanese, grew up imbibing the Peruvian culture. Unlike the Japanese who are low profile and disciplined, the Peruvians are extroverts with a sense of humor.

Mylinh Phu (2009), my Vietnamese friend also believes in accepting other culture without losing one’s own identity by declaring that “I grew up in America but I am proud to be a Vietnamese.  I still maintain my own culture by teaching my children how to speak Vietnamese”. This attitude is a clear proof of the power of critical thinking in myself as well as in my friends.

A Time That I Felt Proud Of Myself

After a few minutes, the ids' swimming instructor started to notice me and my aunt, so she came towards us; she introduced herself and then asked if I had an appointment. I told her that I had an appointment with Ms. Jane. She seemed clueless but sent me to change into my bathing suit while waiting for Ms. Jane to arrive. I did what she said; my aunt and I went to the locker room, and I could still feel my body was so tense. Had to calm myself, so I began to chant in my head, "You can do it! You need do it for yourself and for your diploma! " When was done changing into my bathing suit, walked by the side of the pool. Eared at the blue water at first and felt like a fool who did not know what do. I was debating in my head if should practice first a little bit or wait for my instructor, but eventually I got into the pool and treaded water, which was my weakest skill. Attempted to do it for one minute but after few seconds could not keep kicking my legs, so I went to hold on the side of the pool; imagining myself with nothing to hold on to while taking my feet to the bottom really scared me to death. After an hour of trying and waiting, I began feel more anxious and impatient because Ms.

Jane was still not there. I felt like giving up, but I had to remind myself that I did not want to do this test at another time; I wanted to get over this fear and not to worry about it anymore. Then, I saw Ms. Sioux coming in my direction, and then she told me that she received a message that Ms. Jane was not going to make it tonight. However, she could substitute for my swimming test. When Ms. Sioux finished teaching the kids' swimming lessons, she came towards me and asked if I was ready for my swimming test; I kept my face calm and said "yes," even though pep inside I was shaking.

Then she instructed what I had to do in my test; so the first thing was the freestyle stroke which was also the easiest one, in my opinion. Started by pushing off the wall with my legs while facing forward. At first, I was worried when I swam across the pool back and forth, but in the end, Ms. Sioux told me I did a great job doing it. Then, the second thing that had to do was the backstroke; I began to think negatively like what if I might bump my head to the wall? What if I could not swim straight while doing it?

There were so many what ifs in my mind, but I pushed them away and took a deep breath. I floated on my back, relaxed my head, and then started to kick my legs backward and forward. I moved alternately both left and right arms. Just like what did in the freestyle stroke, I swam back and forth across the length of the pool. One thing that only bothered me was I got short of breath easily and felt like was drowning when was not inhaling that much. Ms. Sioux told me that the last thing I had to do in my test was one minute treading water, which was my worst nightmare.

Panic started to rise up in my chest, but I kept repeating in my head that I had to get over this. Started kicking with my legs and moved both my arms Fontana and backward horizontally. Had a hard time though keeping my head above, and it felt like the water made it hard for me to move also. I only had twenty seconds, but I started to feel tired and was about to sink in, so swam toward the side of the pool. Wanted to cry in frustration because I felt like a failure. Ms. Sioux told me to take my time and did not have to rush because I only had one last chance to do it.

I took a deep breath before my last attempt. When she said "go," started again, but then I could feel my arms and legs really ache and was having difficulty breathing. I was really about to give up, but then I remembered that I had to get over this or else I was not going to get my diploma. It was my last chance, so I kept repeating in my head, can do it! It is now or never; just ignore the pain! " I tried to calm myself and concentrate on my breathing. Thought positive things until I didn't know my one-minute was over. I could not believe it at first that I really did it, but Ms.

Sioux congratulated me and made me write my name on a piece of paper that she would send to my principal. My aunt Jan Nell congratulated me as well, then I began to call my friends and my parents, but one thing that I would never forget was what my mom told me on the phone, "I'm so proud of you! Could not believe that you finally overcame your fear and accomplished all your graduation requirements. Keep this lesson with you: do not let any fear stop you from getting further in your life and achieving your goal. And even if you did not pass your swimming test... Always remember, I would still be proud of you. "

Characteristics of myself

Characteristics of Myself Kerri Larson Organizational Behavior Southern Institute of Technology Personality can be defined by the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that "determine how an individual reacts to and interacts with others" (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 42). It is very important as it helps define what type of person you are. An individual's characteristics play a large role when it comes to understanding one another. These patterns make every individual unique and distinct from each other.

When I think of personality, I think of it as someone's entire being including perception, learning and titivation. Inner awareness of self and person-situation interaction make up an individual's personality. When I think of my personality, I like to assume I can describe myself as sociable, motivated and ambitious. These characteristics I believe really were ingrained as core values in my life after working hard from such a young age. Having understood the importance of personality, attitudes, values relating to motivation in the workplace, I reflected on my own personality and how it has affected me and the individuals work with.

Growing up, my family wasn't wealthy. My parents aired extremely young and my sister and were born not too long after. I don't remember things in a negative way as a child, but after my parents divorced, things were different. We never had money to buy the toys wanted or go on the trips like my friends. I remember growing up thinking that my friends had what they wanted so why couldn't we. My parents both remarried a few years later and my step-parents were now permanently in the picture. Since my father moved away, my step-father ensured that we had discipline in our life.

There were never enough chores to do and work to be done round the house. My step-father was teaching me work ethic at that age and had no idea how chores would shape the way I work today. It was my fourteenth birthday and as would have said at the time, I was "made" to look for a job before I could play with my friends. I did as I was told, and got a part time job working at a fast food restaurant. This was obviously not my dream job and after a couple of job changes, I worked full time throughout high school earning money to pay for things wanted.

Of course I did not always make the best decisions, but I learned that nothing comes for free and that o have to work hard to get a head in life. When I look back at this, I don't see punishment but a form of discipline which has made me who I am today. Worked endless hours, two jobs at a time and even though wasn't making exponential amounts of money, I was supporting myself and doing the things that wanted. I remember thinking to myself that never wanted to live on the bare minimum. I didn't need the finest things in life, but comfortable living was something I couldn't live without.

Although gained the value of a hard work ethic and discipline, I was yet to receive another life challenge that loud shape my attitudes and values. I was born in Slave Lake, Alberta on May 11, 1984. I was raised and continued to live in Slave Lake throughout my life. Remember the phone call clear as day from my mother. I was coming home from a beach holiday with my boyfriend at the time and I had heard the news that my aunt and uncle had lost their home to a wildfire near town. We had a long drive from Calgary the next day, so we decided to come home early.

We arrived, unpacked and headed to the store to get food. There was threat that town could be under alert, but nothing had happened. We decided o go for lunch at Subway and then go home to pack a bag, just in case. I remember the truck radio on before we went inside stating "I repeat, we are not under evacuation notice". We ordered our lunch and got back in the truck. There was no radio when we started the drive home. As we drove closer to our home, which was only a five minute drive away, the smoke got thicker and we noticed more and more cars evacuating the area.

The wind had pickup for so much that the shingles were ripping off our roof like Evolve. The police arrived to our door at the same time as we arrived and stated we had eve minutes to evacuate and leave. The fire was going to hit town. On May 14th, 2011, evacuated my home and sat across the highway in a nearby parking lot watching my home being engulfed in flames. I arrived home at 1 :pm and was evacuated by 4:pm. I was 27 years old and my life at that moment changed forever. Three hundred and seventy eight homes burnt down including my parents. There was nothing left to salvage.

I lost my job and broke up with my boyfriend of three years. Although my life was tested, I picked up my life, moved to Calgary and took a job with TACO Structures & Logistics. Darted in as a temporary entry-level position with a chance to stay on permanent. I worked hard for long hours, stayed motivated and showed the organization that I deserved to be there permanently. Within six months, I was asked to stay on and have been with them ever since. I learned not only that hard work pays off, but staying motivated and ambitious were also key factors to my new success.

After almost four years and three promotions, am managing a small team in our Calgary office. I can honestly say, that even though the fire destroyed many lives, my life has done nothing but grow in a costive way. I see life differently and try not to take the little things for granted. I am more motivated to live a more positive life and ensure that I help others and my community as much as can. When I think how this has shaped my life, I am more motivated to succeed not only at work, but in life as well.

Since I started working in Calgary, can admit that it hasn't been perfect. I have had much change in managers and team members and when you look for stability in your work environment, these constant changes make a huge impact. I was recently in a situation where I faced a situation where I isn't sure could work for my organization anymore. There are certain things need and look for when working and as time went on, these values Were being tested more and more. When I think Of what I need as an employee or even an individual, trust is probably the more important characteristic.

My manager is the person should be able to trust with my work, comments, feedback and criticism. Was assigned to a large task by my manager which would be completed in a few weeks. At the end of the task, I was required to summarize any issues and work with departments on corrective actions. When it came down to summarizing with my manager, he hose to consult another employee who was not involved. I felt betrayed that my manager did not trust my judgment and decisions. Wasn't aware of how much trust and support meant to me and what the value of that meant as an individual. Also felt since I am a young professional, there was distrust based on the fact that there was a generational difference between my manager and I. Research suggests that generational differences exist in the workplace among the Baby Boomers (born between the mid-sass and the mid-sass), the Generation Seers (born between the mid-sass and the late sass), and he Generation Yes (born between 1979 and 1994). (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 80) My manager was a baby boomer while am a Generation Y and was one of the only Gene. Y on our team. Let that since I was younger, was not trusted due to the lack of knowledge and understanding which made me feel weak and not respected. My negative emotions ultimately sabotaged how felt about myself and my work ethic. Negative emotions can led to a number of deviant workplace behaviors. Anyone who has spent much time in an organization realizes that people often engage in voluntary actions that elate established norms and threaten the organization, its members, or both. (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 58) Trust is important.

If you don't have trust, then how can anything else follow? The foundations of demodulating and leadership are built on trust. A few weeks went by and the disappointment turned to anger. I could no longer have displayed emotions, "those that the organization requires employees to show and considers appropriate in a given job" (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 55). My felt emotions, "an individual's actual emotions" (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 5), were surfacing and the office was becoming an unbearable place to be.

I was so disappointed I had to talk to someone, which led me to a small room with human resources. The disappointment built from such a small Issue, that felt I could almost leave the organization which wasn't the most rational decision. We must have the ability to experience emotions to be rational. (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 56). The value of trust was so important to me, that felt could no longer work there or it would lead from negative emotions to something worse. The key to good decision making is to employ tooth thinking and feeling in our decisions. Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 56). After discussing my options and realizing that the choice of resigning was not the option for me, I decided to think positive and overcome the negative aspects of the scenario. What I also realized that this made me more motivated as an individual to prove that I was capable at completing and excelling in my career. I knew that was competent and hardworking and that one small issue was not going to deter me from proving to my manager and myself that was qualified to be there. I was taking a more proactive approach to my personality.

People with a proactive personality identify opportunities, show initiatives, take action and persevere until meaningful change occurs. (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 52). In the end I was given the different opportunity to work for another leader. I used this opportunity and took that motivation and was honest with my new manager. I spoke up about the values and motivation I was looking for in a leader and that if this was provided to me, I would provide the same. I took my negative emotions and transformed them into something positive.

Because of this, I was also remoter to manage the team I worked in. Even though he was also another Baby Boomer, we both held the same opinion on trust and taking pride in your work. I used the opportunity to motivate my team when they felt discouraged and ensured that instead of mistrusting them, that they had the opportunity to show me as a leader, what they were capable of. I am not the perfect manager, but ensure that my team sees the importance of bringing themselves and values into their work and that each person brings something different to the table.

Motivating them to see that everyone's opinion is important and how this makes a bigger impact in the workplace. It not only betters them, but betters our organization. When I think of the meaning of the values I've gained over the years, they have ultimately defined what person I am today. I maintain my integrity because I apply these values to my life in whatever situation I am in. Since an individual's effectiveness in the workplace often depends on his/her personality, attitudes and values, along with his/her motivation to succeed, it is important to understanding these characteristics of individuals.

Considering these characteristics can be crucial or an organization to operate successfully. At the same time, it is essential that individuals understand the values associated with the organization in order to avoid any conflicting feelings toward the work they are employed to do. By recognizing and appreciating each others characteristics, values and behaviors, employees and the organizations they are part of, form a highly- beneficial symbolic relationship. Thus, it becomes imperative for employees to remain motivated and for organizations to keep them motivated.

Recognizing the importance of personality, attitudes, values and motivations s something that everyone needs to do in life. I personally believe that people are tested and that this importance isn't realized at the same time in life. People face different external forces and life is never the same for everyone. Personalities are important to recognize as it strongly influences one's expectations, self-perceptions, values and attitudes. (Wisped). Understanding your own personality as well as others gives you the ability to communicate effectively and understand others better.

When you have the ability to understand others personality as well as your own, you gain the ability to recognize what motivates them, what is and is not important to them and where attitudes exist. It is also important to understand the difference between personality and attitudes. Attitudes can change more frequently where personality is more deeply ingrained. In organizations, attitudes are important because they affect job behavior. Employees may believe, for example, that supervisors, auditors, managers, and time-and- motion engineers are all conspiring to make them work harder for the same or less money.

This may then lead to a negative attitude toward management hen an employee is asked to stay late and help on a special project. (Nancy, Robbins, & Judge, 2014, p. 88). Attitudes are our feelings towards certain ideas or issues. They become almost contagious and can be greatly influential among peers and co-workers. Our attitudes are the manifestation of our values and they are expressed through what we say or do and reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior and are an integral part of every culture.

With worldview and personality, they generate behavior. Being part of a ultra that shares a common core set of values creates expectations and predictability without which a culture would disintegrate and its members would lose their personal identity and sense of worth. Values tell people what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable and constructive. They answer the question of why people do what they do. Integrity alongside values is equally important to the workplace.

It gives individuals the ability to bring themselves and their personalities to the organization but stay to true the organizations values as well. Integrity, strong ethics and values are crucial o an organization's success not only because the individuals understand what is right and wrong is, but they practice this in all they do. Work ethics can be described as not only how someone feel about their job or career, but also how someone does his/her job or responsibilities. This involves attitude, behavior, respect and communication.

When you reflect on the importance of personality, values and attitudes and how they contribute to motivation in the workplace, it is equally important to remember that they all have different influences on different motivational processes. Motivation is different for very individual as each person's preferences are different. Moreover, there are also external drivers of motivation. Those external drivers contribute to the level of the motivation of employees in terms of better performance within organizations. The core thing of motivation is to give people what they really want most from the work.

The more the managers provide what they want, the more they can expect what they are looking for like productivity, quality, and services. A positive motivation philosophy and practice should improve productivity, quality, and service. Motivation helps people to achieve locals, to gain a positive perspective, to create the power to change, to build self-esteem and capability, to explore potentiality with creativity, to manage their own developments and their own abilities. When I consider my workplace and co-workers, I attempt to ensure that I bring my values and my personality to work every day.

Of course I was not always like this and there were days when I am not so motivated and ambitious. As well when I consider all the external forces one experiences on a day to day basis, personality is always changing. Ironically my workplace offers a similar course o this course and I learned a little about organizational behavior prior to registering. One of the most interesting parts of the course was that I participated in a personality report and the results were not necessarily new or surprising, but realized how much my personality affects others.

We took part in the DiSC Workplace model and had flying colors in dominance. I'm highly motivated, direct, result-orientated and focus on success and growth. Upon returning to work, I was adamant that one of my key co-workers take the same profile report. We used this opportunity to understand what each there's personality type was and what influenced and motivated each other. Even though we work so well together and have a great working relationship, it was still beneficial to understand what her priorities and influences were.

I could better understand her as a person and become a more effective leader. The other interesting factor I learned was that I am very task/job driven. I am extremely motivated by personal success and job-related functions. I learned that need to ensure that I consider others and contribute more to how they are feeling and what personally motivates them. When focused on completely ark or a project, need to also consider that factors such as personality, work ethic, values, skillet and knowledge all contribute to the quality of work rather than deadlines, budget and resources.

I feel now that even though this was such a small opportunity to participate and understand how complex personalities are, learned so much about howl really affect and influence others. Understand why it is important to recognize what my values are and how my personality is affects others. In conclusion, the key point is that personalities, attitudes and values all contribute to motivation in individuals n different ways. It is what is unique about us that define how these characteristics contribute and shape who we are as individuals.

Discovering Yourself Reflective Essay

Katrina Wright Reflective Paper February 27, 2010 PDC-111 “Discovering Yourself” The topic “Discovering Yourself” was about the many different learning styles. This topic also was about how different individuals use various learning styles. My favorite assignments that I completed when this topic was covered are the Discovery Wheel and the Learning Style Inventory. The Discovery Wheel weighed strengthens and weaknesses of self- discovery, career planning, time, reading, notes, and tests. The Learning Style Inventory measured the importance of things

From “Discovering Yourself” I gained knowledge about how to become a better learner and utilize the skills in school and in the workplace. I also feel this topic was beneficial because it taught me things I never knew about myself. I never realized that I needed to practice time management skills. I learned that I am a good career planner and a good note taker. I also learned that I must practice managing time and taking tests. I discovered that some people learn better by hearing, others by seeing, and others by doing. Additionally, I learned I am a visual learner. This topic means a lot to me because it helped me find myself. Discovering Yourself” has helped me be successful in college by showing me skills I need to practice. I can apply the knowledge I gained from the assignments completed on this topic to school and at work. I can apply what I learned from this chapter in school by acknowledging that I am a visual learner. For example, if something is said during a class lecture instead of relying on memory, I will write it down to better understand. I can apply practicing time management to the work field. For instance, if my boss says there is a meeting on the second Friday of every month, I would write it in a planner to help me better manage my time. Tests” The topic “Tests” was about how to become a better test taker and what to do before and during a test. This chapter covered memory techniques for taking test. Additionally, this topic was about why you should not cheat on tests. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entries16 and 18. In journal entry 16, I was instructed to look back on a time I had difficulties taking a test. In journal entry 18, I was instructed to make a list of excuses I make to avoid taking a test. From the chapter “Tests” I gained knowledge about how to become a better test taker.

This topic was beneficial because I feel it entailed valuable information that is important for now and in the future. I learned that the key to mastering a test is study, study, study. I also was taught that if you are relaxed you retain text quickly and remember it more accurately. Furthermore, I learned to use mnemonic devices to remember things. This topic means a lot to me because it is important in everyday life. In my opinion, “Tests” will help me in college because it has taught me how to do well on test, which will improve my grades. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school.

I can apply what I learned about being relaxed to work. For example, if I were given an assessment at work about what was covered at training; I would know to be calm so I could recall events the events at training. I can also apply mnemonic devices to work. For instance, if I was a grade school teacher I could use the mnemonic device Roy G. Biv to help children learn their colors. I can utilize mnemonic devices in school while taking a math test. I would use PEMDAS. (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) to remember the order of operations. “Time” The topic “Time” is about how to stop procrastination, organizing time, and managing time.

It is also about how to use a long-term planner. My favorite assignments that I completed in this chapter were journal entry 8 and critical thinking exercise 14. Journal entry 8 instructed me to think about a time I waited until the last minute to complete an assignment and the repercussions of procrastination. Critical thinking 14 directed me to complete a planner for a whole week’s activity. From the chapter “Time” I gained knowledge on how to spend time productively. This chapter taught me not to procrastinate and to plan for future. This chapter was beneficial to me it had important information about how to use time. Time” means a lot to me because it taught me not to let life pass me by. I feel this chapter will help me succeed in college because it showed me the importance of planning, which will make planning to complete assignments easier. I can apply the knowledge I gained from this chapter’s assignments to work and school. I can apply not procrastination to school. For example, if I were given an assignment two weeks before it was due I would do it in advance to ensure quality. I can also apply not procrastinating to work. For instance, if I wanted to become a police officer I would start getting in shape now to do well on the physical health test.

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3 Ways on How to Describe Yourself as A Leader

A leader has many characteristics that separate him from the public and his organization can keep an eye on him. To describe yourself as a leader is an art. Companies implementing the Six Sigma method require staff with leadership skills.

If you were interviewed for an internship or entry-level job, “Are you a leader or a follower?” If you hear the question, you might consider this question the “appropriate” question, which means that the interviewer is trying to evaluate whether you are a good cultural fit for the company, team, and location you are applying for.

Recruitment managers will occasionally try to test whether they have leadership skills through questions related to an exam, or they can simply ask “Describe yourself as a leader” and know How To Establish Yourself As A Leader

This is a way of presenting yourself and your ideas as a way to express yourself. Do not respond like a dictator or someone leading a boss in the same vein.

A person to whom a separate question is to be asked to lead the team will be appointed as a director or CEO . The Six Sigma system requires employees who have leadership skills to lead companies

A leader who executes and gets results not only from the team. I am definitely inspiring and encourage my team to grow.

Defining yourself as a leader You have to remember that great things happened. Consider these examples to help you decide how to describe yourself in an interview: I am passionate about my work.

I am ambitious and driven I am extremely consistent. I am a human being and I am a natural leader. I am results-oriented. I’m a great communicator.

Match your answer with your corporate values: As you describe your leadership skills – try to pick examples and, first, tell us about yourself.

Describe yourself as a leader

As with any binary question, the interviewer wants to hear your response, because of whether your response is true or not.

To describe yourself as a leader is an art. All the time, actions speak more than words, so talking about your past performance can help strengthen your answer.

Here are some things to remember when preparing your answers

As a leader, you must be a good listener and communicator. If you are always speaking you can not do it! Listening to colleagues’ ideas can build new ideas to build your confidence. Leading brainstorming sessions are essential in this process.

Leading from the front

You can not strengthen yourself as a leading leader unless you can lead from the front to a predictable business environment. This is a leader’s basic quality that almost all develops.

This step requires a certain level of maturity that prevents you from jumping into easy and quick decisions. Accept the decisions you make that will not be easy.

An advanced manager should avoid being emotional while disciplining his colleagues or subordinates. Your actions will be fair and will be a step toward the company’s goals.

Following the implementation of the plan, a leader well-known marks another important quality. If you do not follow, due to the lack of direction, the projects must run into problems and eventually fail.

Start by explaining how you see yourself

Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower? These mentions and explains why. However, we recommend you bring that other kind of being able to.

The interviewer probably wants to know that you are capable of being both a leader and a follower, and you can set the right time for each, depending on the situation.

Say something: “I can be a leader for the most part, though I can think of several times when it was good for this team for me.”

Give an example (no more than 60 seconds) of when you accept the charge.

It can be a club leadership position, a group project leadership position, a time when you started your own business, and so on.

Give a brief example of when you follow the instructions.

Your best bet is to think of a time when you were not an “expert” on this team, but someone else was, so you learned from them as well. Make sure you are honest in your entire answer to make sure you have the right personality to play the right role!

Say something like: “All my friends tell me that I’m the leader of my team, because I’m always planning a trip to our team, who was president of all his clubs in college and who attended the group project.

Anyway, I can remember when I was a follower. For example, I’ve never played softball before, so when my friends started a softball league (with me at On), I saw a few games and read a few articles, but in the end, I do to take charge of a softball-best friend and I would go, what should be the batting order. “

Related: Importance, Purpose & Role of Leadership Skills in the Workplace

3 ways to Describe Yourself as a Leader

A leader has many characteristics that separate him from the public and his organization can keep an eye on him. To describe yourself as a leader is an art.

Do you remember any events when thinking of ways to get across your ideas and get things done? It’s likely your goal and a new job or an old run to an old one.

Your new system was a statistic of your maturity, with the ability to perform effectively and effectively as a team player.

3 ways you can establish yourself as a leader

1. Establish yourself as reliable. Today’s business environment requires reliable problem-solvers. If you become more reliable your trick increases as a recognized leader.

2. Resourcefulness is the next important step. Being able to find or find answers to problems will always be valuable.

Also, making yourself available always gets high management attention. The importance of data never defines the success of operations; however, all business systems still depend on the interaction of people.

3. Reach yourself to your junior colleagues as well as your junior colleagues. It enhances your reputation as a team player and a great motivator.

The first steps to defining yourself as the leader of your organization are to take on new responsibilities and to meet them.

It claims your position as a trusted person. But no small achievement to achieve this – it takes a very strong character.

How to “Describe Yourself as A Leader” in an Interview?

If a recruiting manager asks this query, it is generally a clue that they will consider leadership qualities when making their decision. Direct managerial or supervisory experience isn’t always required.

The position itself may not call for leadership abilities. It is a signal, nevertheless, that the organization hopes to add additional leaders in the future.

Here are some details to provide when responding to this query:

a. Develop a System

The hiring manager is interested in learning if you have found a leadership style that is effective for you. They are aware that there is no one approach that works for everyone. Additionally, you must project the voice of a calm leader. It’s improbable that the firm would seek an autocrat.

b. Give example

Avoid stating that you’ve never had to lead somebody by giving examples. Find a time when you were in command, even if you had to go back to high school when you captained the chess team. After that, you can give a concrete instance of how and when you applied your leadership abilities.

c. Why Thing Is Important

Your leadership style is the “it” in this situation. You must express it and give reasons for why you believe it is useful in general or works for you specifically.

How Would You Describe Yourself as A Leader?

You must first recognize that not every occasion calls for a particular style. For instance, when a deadline is approaching, coach style is generally not the best choice. A stronger hand may be necessary if the company is experiencing a crisis. Consider what you believe to be “excellent” management before describing your management style.

Finally, you must emphasize that you are not wed to a certain leadership approach. This is due to your belief in flexibility, where appropriate. Instead of firmly adhering to one approach, you evaluate the issue and make a decision from there. For instance, you could favor a democratic work environment while acknowledging that employees’ safety and health depend on clear instructions.

Since it relies on the corporate culture, there is no “best” or “worst” style. Organizations in the contemporary period often try to avoid having dictatorial leaders. Employees appear to respond to this leadership style less frequently, according to the evidence.

Coach-style leadership is becoming more popular, yet many businesses choose democratic, transformational, or transactional styles. The fact is that, unless you have managerial or supervisory experience, you probably haven’t identified your ideal leadership style.

“Describe Yourself as A Leader” Examples

Let’s look at some sample responses. Please be aware that an interviewer can question, “What is your management style?” in place of this.

“While I have yet to identify my leadership style, I am aware from experience that the most effective leaders are flexible and adaptive. These people respect each other, are considerate of others, and pay attention to the requirements of their team. My previous boss knew when to press and when to back off. For instance, he would train staff members who needed more training while it was calm. However, he stepped up and was quite clear about what he expected when things became crazy. Despite never having had a management position, I captained my college’s debate and chess teams. I made sure that each team member understood their responsibilities and would change their roles based on the best match-ups. Regardless of the outcome, I would always offer constructive criticism after games. Both groups won back-to-back national championships. “I think it’s better to change leadership philosophies as needed. As an illustration, I enjoy gathering the team when there is free time. I believe that a close-knit team functions effectively and am aware that this approach is more successful in the long run than it is in the short run. When a challenging scenario arises, I want to take rapid action, assign assignments to the most qualified team members, and get to work myself. I try to avoid being overly strict unless there is a crisis.”

What not to say in the interview

Before anything else, be careful not to claim that you have never guided someone. Find a prior instance that you can use as a springboard, if necessary. This is a lot better approach than claiming that you are a natural leader yet have never managed or supervised anyone.

Additionally, you must demonstrate adaptability. You should never claim to enforce a tight system that you expect subordinates to follow. Any response that shows you have little regard for your team or that you think you are better than your subordinates should be avoided.

A good leader is praised by colleagues because they believe in him and his abilities.  Problems with your colleagues, related to personal or work, and actually trying to solve them, earned them the respect which is marked as a good leader.

A leader has many characteristics that separate him from the public and his organization can keep an eye on him. Make sure you practice responding to as many interview questions as you can when getting ready for one. One of the most significant questions may be, “What is your leadership style?”

Make sure to emphasize in your response that you are adaptable and familiar with the corporate culture. It would be beneficial if you further demonstrated your concern for your team’s well-being while demonstrating your ability to make difficult judgments.

To describe yourself as a leader is an art. Not all leaders are born; Some are created through thought, desire to draw, and win.

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20 Smart Answers: “Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?”

By Status.net Editorial Team on April 10, 2023 — 10 minutes to read

Why Do They Ask This Question?

When you’re asked “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?,” the interviewer wants to gain insight into your career aspirations, personal goals, and how you envision growing within the company or industry. This question also helps interviewers understand whether your long-term goals align with the opportunities that the company or job may provide.

Before you go into the interview, take some time to reflect on what you genuinely want to achieve in the next five years. Consider the following aspects:

• Areas you wish to specialize in or skills you want to refine
• Leadership opportunities you’d like to explore
• Professional certifications or training programs you plan to complete
• Any goals related to the company’s values or industry trends

Understanding your own goals will help you create a truthful and thoughtful response that showcases your ambition and commitment to personal growth. Moreover, demonstrating how you plan to utilize and develop the skills gained in this role will show the interviewer that you’re a good fit for the company.

It’s important to remember that your answer should be tailored to the specific position or industry you’re interviewing for. You want to show the interviewer that your long-term goals are a natural progression from the job you’re applying for. Feel free to express enthusiasm for the company, industry, or role, but avoid making unrealistic claims or commitments.

Tips for Structuring Your Answer

Being honest in your response means sharing your true career aspirations, while still trying to keep your goals realistic and attainable within the company. Your response might include the following aspects:

• Specific job titles or roles you aspire to reach
• Skills you plan to develop or improve
• Any certifications, trainings, or educational goals you intend to achieve

Be Adaptable

Show flexibility in your answer by acknowledging that change is inevitable and that you’re willing to adapt to the company’s needs as well as your own professional growth. You can tell your interviewer that you’re open to new opportunities within the organization.

• Highlight your ability to learn new skills and take on new challenges
• Discuss how you can grow within the company and contribute to its success
• Emphasize your willingness to embrace change and adapt as needed

Show Your Commitment

• Express how you see your professional growth aligned with the company’s goals
• Discuss the ways you intend to contribute meaningfully to the organization
• Reiterate your excitement to be part of the company’s future

Addressing Uncertainty

It’s natural to feel uncertain about your future, especially when asked to predict where you will be in five years. However, using some strategies, you can form a thoughtful response that communicates your aspirations and adaptability.

Firstly, consider discussing your long-term goals in broad terms. Even if you’re unsure about the specifics, try to focus on the direction you’d like your career to move. For example, mention professional growth opportunities or attribute you’d like to develop. This approach demonstrates ambition without being too rigid.

Example: “In five years, I hope to have built on my skills and gained more responsibility within this company. I’m eager to learn from experienced team members and eventually take on leadership roles.”

Secondly, when you are not entirely sure about the exact positions or steps, you can emphasize a growth mindset. Talk about continuously improving and adapting to changing situations, which would show that you’re flexible and resilient.

• Constant learning
• Embrace challenges
• Adapt to change

Example: “I’m committed to continually expanding my knowledge and improving, which is why I’m enthusiastic about your company’s focus on innovation. Wherever I see myself in five years, I’ll be ready to adapt and grow.”

If future possibilities are vague, mention that you’re open to exploring various paths or contributing to different projects. Clarify that you’re excited to work with the company and discover opportunities to make a meaningful impact.

Example: “I’m excited about the wide range of projects your company is involved in. While I may not know the precise role I’ll fill in five years, I’m eager to contribute to a company like yours and find my unique path.”

Setting Realistic Goals

When crafting your answer to the oft-dreaded question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, it’s crucial to set realistic goals. Establishing achievable objectives demonstrates not only your ambition but also your clarity about what it takes to advance your career and thrive in the company.

One way to set realistic goals is to consider the job role and how it aligns with your long-term aspirations. Analyze the job description and requirements, and think about how they fit with your personal growth plans. Start by identifying the necessary steps to progress in the company or your field, and incorporate them into your answer. Here are some tips to help you:

• Reflect on the skills or experience you need to acquire in the next five years. For example, perhaps you’ll need to complete a specific certification or training to advance in your industry. Mention this in your response, acknowledging the importance of self-development and continuous learning.
• Consider potential career paths within the company. Research and identify possible roles you might transition into, ensuring your answer aligns with the organization’s structure and growth opportunities. This demonstrates a commitment to the company and its future.
• Think about your personal life and how it may impact your career trajectory. It’s essential to recognize that your personal circumstances could play a role in determining your career path over the next five years. By balancing work and personal life, you can set realistic expectations for yourself and your employer.

As you formulate your response, keep in mind that it’s perfectly normal to not have an exact plan for the next five years. However, it’s crucial to demonstrate a strong work ethic, flexibility, and willingness to learn and grow within your role and the company.

Aligning with Company Vision

It’s also useful to consider the company’s vision and values. Doing so shows interviewers that you have done your research and genuinely care about the potential role you might play in the organization’s future.

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the company’s mission statement and objectives. Visit their website, read up on any press releases, and research the history and recent accomplishments. This information will give you a solid foundation to align your long-term career goals with the organization’s vision.

Next, reflect on your personal values and career aspirations to find a meaningful connection with the company’s ethos. Use your research to identify opportunities for growth within the organization and emphasize how your contribution can serve as a catalyst for furthering their mission.

• Review the job description thoroughly and understand the key responsibilities and required skills.
• Reflect on your unique strengths and how they can contribute to the role and the company’s success.
• Think about possible career milestones within the role and how they align with your long-term goals.
• Consider the company’s projects or initiatives you would like to be involved in or lead, helping the organization grow and evolve in the future.
• Prepare to communicate these points with confidence and enthusiasm during the interview.

An example of a well-aligned response could be:

“In five years, I see myself holding a leadership role within your company’s marketing department, where I can contribute to the development and execution of successful marketing strategies. I’m especially excited about the potential opportunity to work on your company’s sustainability initiatives, as I believe strongly in environmentally-conscious business practices.”

Focusing on Skills and Growth

When answering the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”, focusing on skills and growth is an excellent approach. This shows employers that you’re dedicated to improving yourself professionally and highlights your commitment to the role you’re applying for.

Improving Current Skillset

Identify the key skills relevant to the job you’re seeking, and consider how you can enhance these skills over time: this can include further training, mentorship, or hands-on experience.

For example, you might say something like:

“In the next five years, I plan to hone my expertise in project management. I would like to collaborate on more complex projects and learn from experienced professionals in the field. I also plan to pursue a certification in Agile methodologies to streamline processes and deliver higher-quality results.”

This answer demonstrates your ambition, as well as a desire to contribute positively to the organization.

Acquiring New Skills

Besides improving your current skillset, it’s important to consider acquiring new skills. Employers appreciate candidates who are adaptable and committed to their professional development. Think about which additional skills could help you be more effective in your role or support the company’s goals.

“I am eager to learn more about data analysis tools like SQL and Python to inform and optimize our marketing strategies. I believe this will allow me to contribute more effectively to data-driven decision-making within the team and help the company achieve its larger objectives.”

“In the next five years, I plan to become an expert in Python programming and machine learning. I’m committed to taking courses and attending workshops to expand my skillset, which I believe will be an asset to your company’s tech team.”

“My goal is to develop my skills and expertise in this field, and in five years, I hope to have become an expert in my area of work and be recognized as a thought leader in the industry.”

Leadership-Focused Examples

Discussing your aspirations for a leadership role demonstrates your interest in taking on responsibility and driving teams to succeed. Emphasize your ability to guide others and create a positive work environment:

“As someone with a passion for teamwork and collaboration, I see myself in a leadership position in the next five years. I’m eager to mentor junior colleagues and help foster their professional growth, while also contributing to the overall success of the company.”

“In five years, I see myself as a senior member of this organization, having taken on more leadership responsibilities and contributing to the growth of the company.”

Career-Focused Examples

“In five years, I see myself in a mid-level management position within the marketing department. I plan on using the next few years to further develop my skills in marketing strategy and data analysis, and I truly believe this company is the perfect place to grow and achieve those goals.”

“I am excited about the opportunity to learn and grow in this role, and in five years, I hope to have taken on new challenges and responsibilities within the company.”

“I am passionate about making a positive impact in the world, and in five years, I see myself working on projects that have a tangible impact on people’s lives and the environment.”

“In five years, I hope to have built strong relationships with my colleagues and clients, and have a reputation for being a reliable and trustworthy partner in business.”

“I am committed to continuous learning and personal growth, and in five years, I hope to have completed additional training and certifications that will help me progress in my career.”

“I am excited about the potential for innovation and new technologies in this field, and in five years, I hope to have contributed to the development of new products or services that can benefit our customers.”

“In five years, I see myself in a leadership role within the company, mentoring and coaching others to help them achieve their full potential.”

“In five years, I hope to have made a significant impact in this company and have grown both professionally and personally. I see myself taking on more responsibility and leadership roles, while continuing to develop my skills and expertise in my field. Ultimately, I would like to be seen as a valuable asset to the company and contribute to its continued success.”

“In five years, I see myself having made a meaningful impact in this industry and having established myself as a thought leader and expert in my field. I am someone who is constantly looking for ways to innovate and improve, and I hope to have brought new ideas and approaches to the table that have helped move the industry forward. I also hope to have built a strong network of contacts and collaborators who share my passion for this work.”

“In five years, I see myself having built a successful and fulfilling career in this industry, while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance. I believe that it’s important to have a sense of purpose and meaning in one’s work, but also to prioritize personal relationships and hobbies outside of work. I hope to have found that balance and to be living a life that feels both rewarding and fulfilling.”

Your answer doesn’t need to be set in stone or overly specific; instead, focus on showcasing your skills, growth potential, and flexibility in the ever-evolving professional landscape.

To summarize:

• Align your goals with the company’s objectives
• Emphasize your desire for growth and development

Crafting the perfect response takes time, so give yourself an opportunity to reflect and practice before your interview.

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How i See myself as a Servant Leader

How it works

To build a true action plane one needs to know where they are starting from. For me the past several weeks has helped me see just that. We have read about and taken many assessments on the different Leadership Theory approaches and I have found similarities in my own style in some of these approaches and some areas that I need to work on. Learning about the Leaderful theory was the most difficult for me to grasp but as we learn about various other approaches, I see it is not such a stretch to become Leaderful after all.

I will start my action plan by reflecting on where I currently see myself as a leader.

I learned from the 360 assessment that I fare well in communicating and managing conflict but have some room for improvement managing personal biases and judgements to gain a clearer understanding of others. The scores I received showed that respondents see me as someone that is honest and has integrity, these qualities are very important but there is so much more then being honest to be a great leader. Establishing stretch goals and developing strategic perspectives is the area I really need to show some growth.

One of the tools we talked about was Katz’s three skill approach and he says that top leaders need be conceptual, this is what sets them apart from middle managers. Top leaders have ideas/vision and are not afraid to take action/risks (Raelin 2010). After reading about Katz’s three skill approach I was immediately able to identify that I am stuck in middle management land. I am very task orientated and need to move away from focusing on getting the job done and looking to the future, to see where we need to grow as an organization and focus more on building up the people I work with.

Another great way I found to realize what kind of leader I am was when we were asked to assess our learning styles. The notion of a learning style disseminated by the work of Peter Honey and Alan Mumford and in particular their Learning Styles Questionnaire, which refers to one’s preferences in the way to approach learning. I mentioned previously that in order to be a great leader one needs to know more about their own leadership style, I feel that knowing your learning style is equally as important.

The three ways that I learn best is to first listen, then talk it out with others if possible, finally by doing and acting. I am a hands-on learner. Of course, it is important to listen to instructions and it is always best to get a second opinion on the best way to go about doing something, but in the end, I just must do it to learn best. I see myself as an activist when it comes to Honey and Mumford’s learning styles (Raelin 2010). I am willing to try anything, even if it sounds scary, and when I do something new, I will fully involve myself in the new experience.

Other Leadership approaches we discussed that I noticed a connection with are servant leadership and along with situational approach is where I see myself as a leader. In my life whether at home or at work it is easy for me to understand others personal needs and help people develop (as a mother and manager). Perhaps this comes easy for me because I work primarily with young people and most of them want to develop. There were other approaches we discussed in the past few weeks but for the purpose of my action plan I will only focus on those that seemed relevant to me.

I feel that I am in a good position and have done a lot of work in becoming a better leader and not just a great manager. I am ready to take the next step and be more perceptive and conceptual. Reading about the three-skill approach helped me see where I am and where I want to be. I am in middle management, I have equal knowledge in the technical, human, and conceptual arenas. I have always been able to get the job done, I can now do this without running over the people I work with and for the most part I can work with the ideas that others give me. I want to come up with and articulate these ideas, my hope is to be more comfortable with this when I achieve my MSLD.

Over the course of this class I have realized that “leadership is important for the success of your organization and the fulfillment of the people working in it” (CIMA 2018). Also, that leadership takes many shapes and there are many theories. I do know that having a leaderful organization depends on the culture in which the organization embraces and for now I believe this is easier done on a smaller scale. I look forward to learning more about this and hope to be able to incorporate the Leaderful approach in the department I oversee.

Because I see myself as an activist, in learning style, this means that I am a bit of a pragmatist as well because I am always moving on the next thing. If I were to reverse my learning style role, I would try to be more reflective. If I was to take time to ponder experiences and observe them from a different perspective, then I would likely save time in the long run and save on unnecessary resources for failed attempts at what I am jumping to and from. To make room for more learning I will stop rushing through decisions, I will keep pushing myself to do more, I will observe others and reflect on other perspectives.

I have already mentioned that I relate more to the Situational and Servant approaches, that the Leaderful approach is more attainable then I originally thought, that I am a hands-on learner, and I that I need to become more conceptual. Now that I have a better picture of the Leader that I am I can plan where I want to go and where I need to grow.

To become the leader I wish to be, I need to focus on setting challenging goals for staff members, not only myself. Additionally, I need to allow staff members to take the lead so that we can make small steps to be a Leaderful department. My short-term goal will be to utilize the upcoming coaching for performance conversations I have with each staff member to set more challenging goals, for each person. By doing this staff members will recognize their potential, feel empowered and therefore they should want to take over the day to day operations so that I can look towards the future.

My mid-term goals will be to make bigger decisions on my own, I will take the risk. This has been another area that I feel I need to grow, because great leaders are not afraid to take risks. I know I have been stuck in the comfort of middle management for many years, I like the safe feeling that others making big decisions gives me. By doing this, it should allow me to take the next step to be the leader I desire to be.

My long-term goal is to reach the point where I create vision and strategic plans, as conceptual leaders do. I will need this skill to move forward in my career. A great leader cannot be stuck in the day to day operations because they are creating a future for their organization. I look forward to adding these skills to my tool kit. I will need to work on strategic management and organizational awareness, these are two competencies top leaders need to use.

At this point in my leadership journey I feel that I have built upon my ability to use leadership language. This class has taught me a lot about the many different approaches and although I relate more toward Situational and Servant approaches, I see aspects of other approaches in my interactions with staff and my direct supervisors. I look forward to learning the skills needed to be more conceptual, the next two years should prove to be very insightful.

I talked about my short, mid, and long-term goals and briefly explained how I would achieve these goals, but how will I assure I am heading in the right direction? I plan to ask the director of our department if she will be my mentor, I feel I can learn a lot form her. Because she is not my direct supervisor there will not be any confusion in the mentoring process and my annual performance evaluations. I can assess my growth through my annual evaluations because my manager has been pushing me to take the next step in truly leading my department and not just running it. After a few sort months in my journey to achieving my MSLD, I see what he has been talking about.

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More From Forbes

How To Establish Yourself As A Leader

• Anyone can be a leader, whether it’s your official job title or not.
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Anyone can be a leader, whether it’s your official job title or not. Leadership is most often thought of in terms of title, but it’s also a mindset. If you view yourself as a leader, you’re already on the path to success.

There are a few defining characteristics of leadership that will help you stand out and excel. These apply to leaders at all career stages – from the aspiring manager all the way up to the CEO. Good leadership is the same at all levels.

Be a master communicator .

If there’s one aspect of communication that can really help set you apart from others – it’s your ability to listen . While talking is relatively easy, being a good listener takes more skill. Listening allows you to evaluate a situation from another perspective, to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and understand a different point of view. It gives you time to reflect on what’s being said and formulate a productive response.

Master the art of communication in all of its forms – speaking, writing, and virtual. You have to be confident in your ability to deliver a message face to face, over a conference or video call, email or messaging. Pay as much attention to the delivery of your message as well as the way it’s received.

Be an expert.

Being a leader isn’t about knowing everything. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite. It’s about having expertise in a particular field or skillset. There’s a reason that teams are made up of multiple people, each one serving a different role. Every team member brings their expertise, and together they are powerful.

Share your knowledge so people know that you’re the person to go to for advice. Become the person known for delivering solutions. Focus on the results, and do what is necessary to achieve them. Think outside the box and be creative. Allow yourself to be flexible in your mindset, and try multiple approaches until you find the best one.

Be curious.

The best leaders are always learning. Learning comes in a multitude of ways, from formal training to reading articles like this one. Look at every situation as a learning opportunity. Ask powerful questions that invoke thought and invite change. Seek out knowledge in as many ways as you can. The more you know, the more prepared you’ll be for whatever comes your way.

Be a teacher, not a boss.

The best way to demonstrate your expertise is by teaching others . A leader establishes themselves and gains respect by sharing knowledge, not by being a dictator. By being a teacher, you’re able to inspire others – perhaps to lead, to learn, or simply to participate more.

There are many ways to share your knowledge. Volunteer to be a mentor or give a presentation at a monthly meeting. Reach out to your supervisors and let them know that you have something of value to contribute.

Ask for help when you need it.

Great leaders know when to turn to someone for help. You can’t lead alone. Asking for help does not make you any less of an expert or a leader. You will gain more respect by asking for help when you need it, than if you were to try it single-handedly and not succeed. It’s also important to give credit where credit is due. Never try to hide the fact that you got help. By owning it, you’ll show maturity and willingness to be a team player.

Don’t be afraid of failure.

It’s okay not to succeed 100% of the time. Rather, it’s encouraged! Some of the best products from the biggest brands were the result of failures. To quote Henry Ford , “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Those are words to live by – and a great motto to adopt to establish yourself as an insightful leader.

Making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn and grow, and failure should be looked at as a stepping stone to success. Athletes spend thousands of hours practicing and perfecting their skills. Business can be approached in much the same way, as a skill that needs to be honed through practice.

Together, these components highlight the qualities that reflect top-tier leadership. Figure out ways that you can incorporate them into your current job. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask for opportunities to shine. And the best way of all to establish yourself as a leader – do all of the above and exceed people’s expectations.

How have you stepped up as a leader? Join the conversation on Twitter .

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How to Answer: Would You Describe Yourself as a Leader or a Follower?

Just like with any binary question, the interviewer wants to hear your response, followed by a reason for why you feel as though that response is true. As always, actions speak louder than words, so speaking about your past performance can always help make your answer even stronger.

Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing your answer.

1. Start by explaining how you see yourself.

Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower? Mention this and explain why that’s the case. However, we recommend bringing up that you’re also capable of being the other type. The interviewer most likely wants to know that you’re capable of being both a leader and a follower, and that you can figure out the right time for each one based on the situation.

Say something like: “I tend to be the leader in most situations, though I can think of plenty of times when it was better for the group for me to follow along.”

2. Give an example (no more than 60 seconds) of a time when you took charge.

This can be a leadership position in a club, a leadership position in a group project, a time you started your own business, etc.

3. Then give a shorter example of a time when you followed instructions.

Your best bet would be to think of a time when you were not the “expert” in the group, but someone else was, so you followed along and learned from them. Make sure you’re honest in your entire answer since you want to ensure that you’re the right personality fit for the role!

Say something like: “All of my friends tell me I’m the leader of our group since I’m always the one planning our group trips, the one who was President of all of her clubs in college and the one who tends to present after group projects. However, there are plenty of times I can think of when I’ve been a follower because it was best for the group. For example, I’ve never played softball before, so when my friends started a softball league (with me in it), I watched a few games and read a few articles, but I ultimately let my softball-pro friends take charge on where I should go, what the batting order should be and so on.”

By demonstrating that you can be both a leader and a follower, you’ll show the hiring manager that you’re a true team player and a cultural fit for any role. This is a great way to stand out from the crowd and help potential employers see your value.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as 10 Tips for the Perfect Cover Letter  and find answers to common interview questions such as Are You Willing to Travel?

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How to Make Your Leadership Potential More Visible

If you’re an aspiring leader trying to get to the next level, this episode is for you.

• Apple Podcasts

Do people see your leadership potential?

Suzanne Peterson says many talented professionals miss out on leadership roles for relatively intangible reasons. But she argues that aspiring leaders can learn to alter their everyday interactions in small ways to have a big influence on their professional reputation.

Peterson is an associate professor of leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, and the coauthor of the HBR article “ How to Develop Your Leadership Style: Concrete Advice for a Squishy Challenge .”

In this episode, she explains how to adopt markers of different leadership styles, so that you can be seen as both influential and likable. She also discusses why it’s important to focus on relationship building as you progress in your career. As she says, “Mid-career and rising senior level, now it’s all about the relationships. It’s all about how you’re perceived.”

Key episode topics include: leadership, leadership development, managing yourself, power and influence, leadership style, reputation management, aspiring leaders, careers.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

• Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Defining and Adapting Your Leadership Style (2020)
• Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast .
• Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org .

HANNAH BATES: Welcome to HBR on Leadership , case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, hand-selected to help you unlock the best in those around you.

What’s your leadership vibe? Is it confident or compassionate? Aggressive or collaborative? Or maybe none of the above.

Suzanne Peterson says many talented professionals get held back from leadership roles for relatively intangible reasons – like their vibe. But she argues that aspiring leaders can learn to alter their everyday interactions in small ways that can have a big influence on their professional reputation.

Peterson is an associate professor of leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to adopt markers of different leadership styles to be seen as influential or likable or both. You’ll also learn how to shift your thinking from a focus on competence alone, to building relationships that will help you move forward.

If you’re an aspiring leader trying to get to the next level, this episode is for you. It originally aired on HBR IdeaCast in November 2020. Here it is.

CURT NICKISCH:  Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review.  I’m Curt Nickisch.

There’s a roadblock many people run into at work.  They get the feedback that they’re not ready for a promotion or a new project and when they ask why, no one puts a finger on it.  They’re missing a certain something – something intangible.  Which, to be honest, is not very helpful.  But it’s common that when it comes to leadership to identify leaders that it’s a bit squishy.  For too many superiors, leadership is a vibe that someone gives off and some people give it off more evidently than others.  And some people show it much better than others.  Our guest today has some advice for this situation: how to know your own leadership styles, how to understand how others see it, or don’t, and then how to change your behavior so that you can break through to the next level.

Suzanne Peterson is an associate professor of leadership at the Thunderbird School of Management at Arizona State University.  She’s also a partner at the consultancy CRA and she’s the coauthor with Robin Abramson and R.K. Stutman of the HBR article, “How to Develop Your Leadership Style: Concrete Advice for a Squishy Challenge.”  Suzanne, thanks for coming on the show.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Thanks so much for having me, Curt.  Happy to be here.

CURT NICKISCH:  Does that situation I just described sound familiar?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  It absolutely does.  And it’s, it truly is a squishy challenge and I have to tell you as much as this applies to people at work, what we find is this is relevant to anybody.  I mean whether you are trying to be more collaborative with a team, whether you want to impress that new father-in-law, whether you’re trying to influence your spouse, be more authoritative with your kids, be a trusted friend, hoping to impress team, you team at the University that you’re going to work with at a group, at an MBA class.  Style matters and it tends to be something that we find people are constantly trying to navigate, but it isn’t always at the level of awareness of what am I doing, or not doing that really makes a difference in how I’m perceived?

CURT NICKISCH:  It sounds like it’s not only your own awareness, but also the awareness of managers above you.  I mean, hey, I was thinking about, well let me just end it there.  It’s not only your own awareness, but also the awareness of managers above you as part of the problem.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  It absolutely is and all too often when we’re talking to managers of people we coach and we simply say, what’s the biggest challenge here?  Usually we’ll hear something like, you know they’re just not really ready yet to sit at the table.  They just don’t quite have the gravitas.  They’re not engaging enough.  They’re not charismatic enough.  They’re not dynamic.  Or, it can be another version of you know, they’re a little off putting.  They haven’t really figured out how to manage the relationships.  They’re not politically savvy.  There’s something that comes up, but when it comes to actually delivering say a performance review, they’re not very good at actually saying, let me tell you what it would look like for you to be more influential.  Or, for you to disagree a little differently than you do.  They simply give these large, general buckets that leave people feeling a little bit confused in terms of I understand what you mean, but I don’t know what to do on Monday.  And that’s a frustrating place to be.

CURT NICKISCH:  It made me think of, and this is a digression we may take out of the interview, but thinking about this made me think about how the U.S. Army develops leaders for instance.  And they actually turn leaders into leaders before they’re ready, not when they show something that they’re ready.  They will make somebody a Second Lieutenant and put them in charge of a squad and a platoon, and their job actually is to learn how to be a leader in that time.  It’s recognized that they’re going to fail at it for some time, but they’re not, they are really to lead the squad there.  They’re to learn to lead it and then lead to make Captain and be a Captain.  So, so when I thought about that I just thought it was, it’s interesting that it seems like people have to show their leaders before they’re given leadership authority or recognize this leader, leader’s.  And that isn’t always the way to develop people the best.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Boy, I think that’s right and it really hits on this idea that what happens to most, is early in our careers, and when everybody starts out, there’s a deep focus on competence.  You have to show you’re good at your job.  You’re a subject matter expertise.  You have the technical skill.  You have everything you need to really get to the next level to prove you, you can perform.  But then all of a sudden there’s a little bit of a plateau where just being good at your job doesn’t really get you into the ballpark anymore.  People say we expect you to be good at your job, but now we want these intangibles that we’re really never taught.  We were supposed to figure it out along the way.  So, it’s not surprising that early in our career we will focus more on am I really, do I have the merit to get to that next level?  But that mid-career and rising senior level, now it’s all about the relationships.  It’s all about how you’re perceived and really there was no real develop along those, the way for that like there is in the skill based areas.

CURT NICKISCH:  So, if your own manager can’t put a finger on it, and you can’t put a finger on it, and you’re in that place to be, how do you start working on it?  What can you do?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, well this is really interesting.  And as we started this work, when my colleagues and I are not working on leadership style, we’re actually spending our time much more focused on leadership behavior.  This notion of —

CURT NICKISCH:  Sorry.  I’m going to stop.  I feel like I’m jumping to advice a little too quickly.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  OK.

CURT NICKISCH:  And maybe not.  Maybe we’ll get there, but, but so you’re in that position where your manager can’t put a finger on it and you don’t really have a lot of guidance and it’s not a fun place to be.  What’s happening there?  Like what, what is it that that manager can’t put a finger on, that you can’t figure out?  What’s going on there?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Well time and time again, when we talk to managers, they can, they are able to tell us a feeling.  They’re able to say, this person just doesn’t really have what it takes.  They seem tentative.  They seem unconfident.  They throw out these attributions again, but they’re never able to say what exactly is that person doing?  And then the real problem is people when they’re given this feedback of you need to be more confident, or you need to be more assertive, they take that as being personality.  And so it’s very difficult to say, you know, maybe I can’t change that.  Maybe I’m not confident.  Maybe I’m not assertive.  Maybe I am a little too direct.  Whatever feedback I’m getting, we read it as quite attributional and really what we like to say is, style and personality are not the same.  Personality is much more who you are, largely unchangeable.  It can be changed a little bit over time, the research has shown, but by and large it’s considered immutable.  And style on the other hand is not personality.  It’s a set of behaviors.  It’s a set of habits.  It’s what you do.  So, the quickest thing we come to when we talk to a manager, or somebody that we’re coaching, and we say you know, people really find you arrogant.  Well, frankly, we don’t care so much whether the person is or isn’t arrogant by personality.  Instead what we’re looking at is well, what is the behaviors that equal arrogance?  Because the truth is when you’re arrogant, typically you might interrupt.  You might hold the floor too long.  You might have nonverbal’s that very quickly are dismissive to other people.  And you might even have a tone that sounds quite off putting to some.  That’s what arrogance looks like behaviorally.  And we can change those things if we can bring it to awareness.

CURT NICKISCH:  So, when the manager say, you’re putting off these attributions and they say not confident.  What are those, what are those behaviors that they’re.  What are the behaviors that are leading to the manager or supervisor having that opinion or giving that attribution?  Like, what are they seeing?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, what we found very quickly is that when we’re working with leaders, and my colleagues and I spent most of our time really looking at leadership behavior.  And leadership behavior, we’re looking at the behaviors of the world’s most admired leaders regardless of what area that is.  And really over 30 years ago we just started studying behavior, to identify the secrets of these world class leaders.  And after exhausted interviews with leaders, colleagues, family, friends, we did realize that outstanding leadership really doesn’t depend on what the leader knows or thinks, or believes, it’s really rather what they do.  But so what would happen is we would go in and we’d say OK, we’re studying the leadership behavior.  We’re looking at the behaviors of these admired leaders, but pretty quickly we’d find that even if they had the behaviors, sometimes something went a little bit off in the delivery.  And I’ll give an example.  Maybe we coach leaders to say, there’s a certain way that the best leaders and the admired leaders really are going to deliver feedback.  They deliver it forward instead of backward.  So, go do that.  Now that’s very behavioral and they’ll go try that.  And they might say OK, I did that, but it didn’t work.  Well we know this works.  We know certain behaviors are going to work, but maybe there’s a style component and the style looks like this.  You deliver the feedback in the way we told you, but you delivered it with hesitation.  You didn’t look them in the eye when you delivered it.  You did it over a crowed lunch where you couldn’t really hear very well.  So, maybe this feedback isn’t heard with the same gravity it would be if you spent the time being deeply present with someone.  Really allowing for 30 minutes of uninterrupted time and engaging in a much more listening and their perspective, as much as you were talking and giving that feedback, you were asking them questions.  Now, notice that’s not so much about the content of the behavior.  It’s not about did you deliver feedback like A, or B?  It’s the style of which you delivered it didn’t make it as effective.  So, that’s how we knew that there was something else here.  That it wasn’t just about a toolkit of behaviors, but it was also about the delivery of that leader on those behaviors.  And that really opened this area for us.

CURT NICKISCH:  So, what are some common, I don’t want to call them, I don’t want to call them mistake signals, but what are some common signals that people send out that, that lead to conclusion that there, they’re not leaders, or don’t have leadership potential?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, the biggest ones usually we will hear when we get indicators is that people will fall into one of two buckets.  And we, we’ve labeled these based on our research and research that came years ago from Howard Giles who is a Sociolinguistics, who identified these social markers.  And what we’ve identified is that very quickly people fall into really one of two buckets.  They either are giving off what we call the power behaviors or they’re giving off what we call the attractive behaviors.  Now, neither one is good or bad.  We, in fact, I think what most people are surprised to hear is how easy it is, how we have both of these and how easy it is to move those.  And we could talk about that, but the idea is the power behaviors in the positive, is when you get these attributions of dynamic, charismatic, confident, commanding, an expert, articulate, easy to listen to, influential.  But on the downside that power style sometimes is intimidating, aggressive, off putting, cold, not relational.  And so we started to see that that was, sometimes when someone’s in a meeting they say, wow that person’s very abrasive.  What we’ll find is they’ll say, well I’m just direct.  But actually it’s really that they, not that they were direct or had a comment that disagreed, but they disagreed in a very disagreeable way.  They interrupted the person.  Maybe not once, but two or three times.  Two, they pretty much said, you’re wrong and I’m right.  That’s what made them abrasive.  Not the fact that they disagreed.  But on this whole other side of the spectrum, is this, these attractive markers as well, which those attributions are passive, quiet, differential, nice, easy to talk to, great mentor, great teammate, collaborator, all good stuff.  But on the downside sometimes it was, it was all the things around weak, too passive, too differential.  Not really a leader.  Doesn’t have gravitas.  Doesn’t get listened to.  Too detailed oriented.  Didn’t, not articulate enough.  Too many qualifiers in their statements.  Too many ums and ah’s when they speak.  And this hurt them a little bit.  So, we all have the ability to go one side or the other.  Just depends on when they’re used.

CURT NICKISCH:  I feel like that attractive name could be, could be better.  You’re not talking about physical attraction or attractiveness and it’s not emotional necessarily either.  It’s just that these, this attractive style is essentially more diplomatic and more, yeah more, more likeable probably.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, in many ways that is, it is a proxy for likeability in some ways, but you’re so right.  We get this a lot Curt.  This, the attractive name, people don’t love, i.e. it comes from the theories so we wanted to stick true the theory.  Another word for it might be approachable.  That person is very, leans very approachable.  I feel like I can go toward them, engage with them.  I’m comfortable with them.  But it also might mean, but I got to be honest.  I don’t listen to them that much when they talk.  Whereas, this power style, I might find them a little off putting, or even intimidating or that there’s some distance or formality there.  But, I also might say wow, when that person speaks, I certainly listen.  Whether it’s in the negative, I have to listen and it’s hard to, or whether I listen and it’s engaging and charismatic.

CURT NICKISCH:  Do you feel like this, these models cover all types of leadership?  I just think about level five leaders, being people who are very approachable and very attractive in their style and not necessarily, they do not come across as powerful, as a powerful style, I think.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yes, and —

CURT NICKISCH:  And so, I just, I’m just curious if the leadership, gold standard we’re looking at is that, is that a bit of an archetype that’s always kind of been the White male in organizations?  Or, what are you thinking of here?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Well, I think certainly leadership is a normative construct and we very quickly, people still, when you ask about leadership they see a man.  And so, there is a level of something that’s expected that I think is still out there that people say, this is kind of what a leader looks like and how a leader behaves.  And yet, to your point, level five leaders, or all types of different leaders really don’t fit that profile.  And what we’re really looking for, we think the most effective leaders when it comes to style, and is really powerful once people really think about what this means for their own leadership, is we want them to be powerful enough to get listened to, but attractive enough to be followed.  Again, attractive meaning more approachable enough to be followed.  So, we all want to be powerful enough that we get respect and that people listen to us and our ideas have merit.  At the same time, we don’t want to go so far that people say, I hear you.  You’re really loud, but I don’t want to follow you.  So, we want to be warm enough that people say, you know what?  Not only do I listen to you, but I actually want to be around you.  I want to engage you.  I want to follow you.  If you’re a leader, I want to be loyal to you and committed to you.  And that is a difficult balance, but that’s why we think really, the best leaders seem to hit that just in the middle where you say, I really feel compelled to listen to this person, but I’m certainly, I’m rooting for them.  They’re not off putting at all.  I want to do things for them and with them.

CURT NICKISCH:  And where do people, most people who are at that juncture where they’re, where they become technically competent, or good at their jobs, and they are looking to advance and gain more leadership and influence in their organizations, where do their styles typically hold them back?  Is it when people tend to have a more attractive, approachable, likable style?  Or, is that just a nature of where they are in their careers and it’s difficult to get a more powerful style, or the other way around?  Like what’s the common pathway here?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, I think it’s a great question and certainly context matters, culture matters, the industry matters in terms of what’s more perpetuated as a style that works.  What works in finance, the finance industry, might not work in the tech industry, or the fashion industry.  But to your point, what we find, if I can tell you which ones easier, we clearly find that it is a little bit easier to coach people to go from a powerful style to an attractive style.  So, easier to get somebody who might be a little too abrasive, too difficult to get along with, too dominate.  Whatever the attribution is.  Easier to give them tools to lean more attractive than it is to give people who naturally lean a little bit more attractive, to get them to move up to power.  Certainly not impossible.  We do it all the time with people.  But that’s a little harder.  But I think to answer your question more directly, probably when we see somebody get a little bit stuck in their career, it’s more often the lean attractive.  A little too attractive, I don’t feel like I get listened to, I don’t have the influence, I want to video call and I don’t feel like I can jump in.  I feel other people get listened to more than I do.  People don’t come to me.  They don’t include me.  I’m told to speak up.  I’m told to do more and I’m not sure how to do that.  And then they start to lose confidence which only puts them more in the attractive side and they don’t know how to use their strengths of being warm and engaging and relational without showing the other side of that coin, the downside of the attractive style, which is sometimes to be tuned out.  That’s probably more common.

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah, and then the reaction for a lot of people was to try to take charge, or take ownership of a project and lead and they think that leadership is authority.  And they often, as they adopt kind of a more powerful stance, that often, they often get pushback for that.  That often does, you know, that often works against them.  Does that sound familiar to you?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah and it’s a classic over rotation style.  It’s very minor.  Tweaks can make big differences.  So, usually when we do, and we have so many clients that really want to listen and want to take the advice, and what they’ll do if we tell them, this is an example recently.  I’m working with someone who needs to lean a little bit more powerfully to get listened to.  So, and I go to him and I say here’s two or three things you can do.  Well, he instead of doing two or three things, does five or six of them.  So, now he’s starting the conversation.  He’s interrupting during the conversation.  He’s raising his hand on their video conference every five seconds.

CURT NICKISCH:  Sitting at the head of the table.  Yeah.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Making intense eye contact.  He’s standing instead of sitting.  He understood the behaviors and said I get it.  I need to make a few tweaks and changes, but we’re always backing off saying, you know what?  Not that much.  Really one or two would have been fine.  It’s just a slight flex.  We want you to flex your style.  We’re not trying to change anybody.  We need people to all be very authentic to who they are, but we all have range.  And as soon as we find somebody’s range and say we think your range from going powerful to attractive is about here.  Stay within your range and it’s all very authentic.  Trying to push someone out of their range, I worked with a woman who, she was from China.  She came over to the United States for a Board meeting, a global company obviously.  She came over here and the room was largely a bunch of high power marker people.  The CEO very quickly told her, afterwards, I need a bulldog, not a diplomat.  So, now we’re talking not only about who someone is authentically as a person.  We could have cultural differences here.  So, what would be the chances that I’m going to go to this woman, it would be really poor coaching for me to say listen.  You need to go in there.  You need to stand.  You need to use really intense body language.  You’re going to have to interrupt.  You’re going to have to tell people they’re wrong.  It would be poor coaching and it would never feel authentic to her.  But she had no problem when we said, when you’re able to be in the situation, let’s have you give the legal perspective first.  Also, please try to weigh in at least once or twice on other business cases so that you have an opinion on other functions in the business.  And, when you need to disagree, disagree.  But let’s have you disagree a little bit differently.  Let’s have you disagree in a way that’s more comfortable for you, rather than just plain saying, that’s ridiculous.  Which is what some of those counterparts were doing.  Then she felt very authentic doing that.  But any more than that would have been an authenticity violation for her.

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah, I was going to say, this feels like for a lot of people, it feels like they’ve already set a precedent at their job, and they’re known in a certain way and that to change, or to really change some of these behaviors and try to adopt a different style or position can feel, might feel foreign at some point, right?  Or, inauthentic.  Like you’re not really being yourself, or at least the work self that you’ve created in the culture of your organization, and in your experience there.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yes, I think one of the things we tell people all the time, to convince them that they won’t have to make sweeping changes and this is very much within their own wheelhouse.  An example I like to use is how we’re all changing our style, all the time.  I mean the truth is if we just brought it to awareness, every situation you go into, if you’re strategic at all, without just being somebody, there are some people that just say it doesn’t matter who’s with me, what audience, I never behave even slightly differently.  Most of us understand that how you behave at a happy hour is a little different than a Board meeting.  That there’s a natural flex without becoming a different person.  But the example I like to use is, imagine you’re on an airplane.  Remember when we all use to do that a little more?  When we were on, you’d go on an airplane and let’s say you were trying to put your bag in the overhead compartment and it’s all full.  It’s full.  You were too late on the plane.  You don’t know where you’re going to put your bag.  You don’t really want to check it.  And you notice that the person sitting in the rows with you, they just put some things up like a really small purse or bag.  There’s, their food up there, their hat.  I always ask people, what would you do naturally?  Are you the type that’s going to move people’s stuff around and put your bag up there?  Are you going to ask people, would you mind putting that under the seat so I can put my bag up there?  Or, are you a person naturally who’s going to say, I’m just, I wouldn’t interrupt people and tell them to move their things.  I would never touch other people’s things.  I’ll ask the flight attendant to help, or I’ll just check my bag and deal with it.  No right or wrong here.  We have kind of a natural place.  But then I give people a couple ideas.  I say, well let’s assume that that person who’s stuff was in the overhead that had the food and the bag and the small hat, or whatever, was a 17 year old with headphones sitting there.  Would you be more apt to go to that 17 year old and say hey, excuse me, not that you’d be rude, but would you mind putting these few things under your seat so I can get my bag up there?  And most people, even if they originally said without context that I wouldn’t move people’s things, say, well maybe if it was a 17 year old, I would.  And then I say OK.  Well, what if instead it happened to be your CEO?  Are you going to, the person that said I would definitely move peoples bags around.  I’m not checking my bag.  If your CEO were sitting right there, are you still going to go to the CEO and say, hey do you mind moving your hat?  Most people will go, probably not.  If I’m going to sit next to my CEO on the ride, I probably don’t want the first conversation to be me moving his stuff around or her stuff around.  So, the point is people go you’re right.  I would probably change my behavior and it’s based on resources.  When we feel resourceful, we behave more powerfully.  Resourceful meaning I’m the most senior.  I’m older than this person.  I’m of the dominate, you know, I’m a White male perhaps.  I’m a subject matter expertise, expert in the room.

CURT NICKISCH:  I just accepted a job offer at another place and I’m leaving anyway.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yes.

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Right.  All those things that say I feel resourceful.  So, no problem acting a little more powerfully.  I’m going to disagree with that person.  I’m going to move that bag.  I’m going to jump in.  I’m going to interrupt.  I’m going to raise my hand.  But now, imagine in all the implications we have for diversity inclusion as well, now I’m in a situation where I don’t feel resourceful.  Because I’m brand new.  What about today?  I just joined this company in April.  I never even met my colleagues and now I’m supposed to be influential through video?  The idea of I’m the only woman.  I’m the youngest person here.  I’m a person of color.  Whatever it is for you, we all have different resources.  Why would you feel that confident?  So, in the plane example, what I, the biggest thing is yeah, well you have the resource in this case if you’re an adult over 17.  Let’s say you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s, through 80s.  You may say with a 17 year old.  I have the resource of age, wisdom and experience and I’m going to politely ask this younger person to move.  My CEO, I might say, you know, I feel naturally a little deferential.  I don’t have to bow down to this person.  But maybe I would be more apt to just kind of check my bag.  So, we’re changing it all the time.  But we always tell people, now I want you to think more specifically in every situation you go into.  How do you want to be seen?  Because if you want to be seen as the subject matter expert, that commanding, the commanding person, the person who owns the show, who runs the show, who’s moving up in the ranks, maybe you do need to lean more powerfully.  But if you’re trying to be seen as a great listener, a great supporter, cheerleader, a great peer, an advisor, well maybe you need more attractive markers.  More of a listener.  And that can go for any situation.

CURT NICKISCH:  Well, let’s talk through those two styles and how to adopt them more.  And let’s start with an easier situation that you said.  That you’re seen as a more powerful person, or you have a more powerful style and you’re trying to adopt more attractive markers and send off these, more approachable signals.  What are some things you can do?  We mentioned a few, but what’s a classic example of somebody changing a behavior, sending a different signal so that they come across this less powerful?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  So, usually where we go to very quickly is there’s three different areas that we try and adjust people stylistically.  One, is nonverbal behavior.  Two, is verbal style.  And three would be contextual markers.  Like you mentioned one earlier.  Like sitting at the head of the table is a contextual marker.  That clearly sends a signal.  So, the, usually we know that verbal style is the hardest to change.  Not impossible once people get some practice.  But if someone qualifies statements a lot, or they use a lot of um, ah, hard to cut that out just overnight.  So, we’ll look maybe first for the contextual markers and then maybe for the nonverbal’s next.  So, if we were telling someone listen, we want you to be seen as a little more warm, a little more engaging, a little more approachable.  So, perhaps go into this meeting and start with, let’s have you ask questions.  Instead of make statements, why don’t you ask people where we want to start, or how can we make these changes?  Or, how can we better make these meetings more dynamic?  Start with some more inquiry, rather than just some statements.  Two, maybe in, if we were face to face, maybe you do sit in a different position.  Maybe you decide to dress down a little bit.  If you were a person that’s more formal in dress, and maybe you decide to dress a little bit differently.  Maybe you normally, you’re trying to go from you’re really powerful and typically you disagree with people by saying a very common statement.  I can see where, or that could work, but I see it you know.  This is how I would go about doing it.  Instead, maybe we have you disagree more agreeably, which is to say something like this.  I see where you’re coming from.  I think that makes perfect sense in, if we were in any other different context.  But I think given where we are today, we see it a little bit differently, and let me share that perspective with you.  Notice that’s a much softer way to say I’m about to tell you why I don’t agree with you, but I also validated your perspective.  So, there would be some things like that that we would very quickly go in, or eye contact.  We would say, often you’re not present and that’s a big power marker.  You’re consistently looking at your phone, looking off, not really looking at people.  You look distracted.  Give people deep present attention.  That’s a great attractive marker that says you’re listening.

CURT NICKISCH:  And then the, so that’s nonverbal.  You mentioned verbal and what was the third?  I’m trying to.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  The status markers or anymore what we would call contextual markers.

CURT NICKISCH:  Right.  Which we also talked about.  OK, got you.  All right so now let’s turn the tables so to speak.  If you are trying to adopt a more powerful style and you’re already known as somebody that people like, but you’re not necessarily seen as a, as an authority.  How can you start to adjust your style to be seen more as a leader that way?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Well one of the first things we would do, we’d go to the same markers and we’d watch what this person’s doing.  It would say, all right we noticed that you didn’t speak up once in the previous meeting.  You had trouble jumping in.  When you did get a chance to speak, you probably held the floor a little too long, gave too many details that weren’t relevant.  So, we’re analyzing that behavior a little first to see what are they actually doing that’s making people tune them out or not listen to them.  A big frustration with people is to say something and think they made a point, and then two minutes later have a peer make the same point and people say oh absolutely.  That makes perfect sense.  I think, but I just said that.  And the issue is usually because of the fact that how you said it just wasn’t compelling enough.  So, we will go in and say in order for you to lean a little bit more powerfully, let’s make sure you speak earlier in the conversation.  Let’s maybe tell, we’ll coach them to say, you don’t need to heard 10 times, you need to be heard once.  And maybe if you could just be heard once in the conversation that would be enough for you.  And secondly we might simply say, watch that you don’t, everything isn’t a question.  Do you think, you know, do you think we should do this?  One leader I’m coaching right now, what he says all the time is some version of sort of the situation looks like this.  I think sort of we could do that.  There’s something like that.  Now, it just becomes something that he’s saying regularly, but noticed how that’s very un-powerful language.  I think maybe we could do that.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  And people think well, I think maybe we could do that.  You don’t sound very confident, so why am I going to be confident?  So, we will usually look at it with the attractive style moving to powerful.  Some of it is you need to say things more directly, more succinctly and watch too much jargon, too much detail that gets you attributed as boring or we need to pull up the headlines.  And then sometimes it is their non-verbal style.  They lean forward so much.  They might use body language that says they, and eye contact is down.  That’s usually a big marker, at least in this, in the United States culture.  This isn’t necessarily how eye contact plays around the world.  But what we find is in U.S. culture, when your eye contact is down, that’s often read as I’m less confident.  And when you look someone in the eye, it’s more confident.  Now of course again, go over to Asia or other places where you would purposely look down to show appropriate deference.  So, the markers exist around all cultures of the world we found.  But hey obviously play a little differently based upon the cultural norms.

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah.  And obviously your organization and the types of leaders that are already there and tend to be selected for that kind of, that can change a lot.  I suppose, I mean it sounds, it sounds like this is a process right?  It’s not really sort of changing your style overnight, but it’s trying some things on, seeing how they perform and really trying to work towards something rather than really just flip a switch, so to speak.  And that can maybe be frustrating because there’s a lot of uncertainty and you’re not really sure how well it’s working as you’re going along and you, another where you might have to, is that you might draw too much attention to the fact that you’re trying to, trying to change.  What advice do you have for people who want to set out on this process of adjusting their style so that they are seen more with that intangible quality that managers seem to be looking for?  What do you tell people about this journey?  What should they expect?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Usually what we tell people, first of all is make small changes.  So, don’t try and do too much.  Sometimes one, two of these markers as we look through the list, it’s even in the article, picking one or two things is plenty for you to start to change perceptions.  So, that we, it’s not as big of an area, it’s not as big as a shift as you might think.  And two, we tell people don’t get so wrapped up in how you feel.  Focus on more on the behavior.  Too much I think development and we would often say is about you have to feel confident and then you can go be confident.  And sometimes frankly, we’re going to go into situations and say, I do not feel confident.  But the question is, I really don’t want people to know that, so what can I do that shows confidence that has me behave more confidently?  So, we often will tell people, you might not feel confident, but we can help you posture more confidently.  You might not feel that agreeable, but we can help you behave more collaboratively.  And the idea is those emotions catch up with the behavior.  We don’t want people to operate in a place where they’re always feeling out of sync with their behavior, but you do sometimes.  When I give a presentation for example, there’s no way 100 percent of the time you’re going to feel confident.  But if I walk out there looking down, my shoulders down, I can’t look at the audience, I start out and say, so glad to be here, but I, and thank you, and I sound tentative.  I’ve already maybe lost that audience.  So, if I think let’s see, I need to go out there.  I need really good posture.  I need to look the audience in the eye.  It doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but I go out there and I need a strong, two minute start where I’m able to say, here’s three or four things I’m going to talk to you about today that are going to fundamentally change your leadership for example.  Now, I have the audience’s attention.  Which then begins to give me some confidence for example.  And now I say, actually I’m OK.  But if I go out there already not posturing confidence, it’s like blood in the water.  The audience smells it right away and not that we’re all giving large speaking engagements.  I mean again, this could be your father-in-law that you’re meeting for the first time and you’re nervous about it and you want to seem confident, or you want to seem really engaging.  So, it doesn’t really matter the situation.  Gosh, any of us that are parents out there, or anybody who is, we do this with our kids.  Sometimes we can’t be the authoritarian and the authoritative style every time.  Eventually it’s like yeah, you’re a dictator.  But we also can’t, we feel we can’t be open and diplomatic and whatever you want, be your best friend, but sometimes saying, gosh, my child’s going through something tough.  How do I want to be perceived today?  I want to be perceived as a great listener.  And the next day, I need to be perceived as the authority that’s going to say that behaviors not OK.  So, it changes if you flex it.  If not, we get attributions as parents too.  You’re this.  And people that flex more, don’t get those same attributions.  They’re more strategic with their style.

CURT NICKISCH:  And is that something you think people should strive for to try to not say develop a persona, but have one that’s more flexible to adapt to the situations so that it’s not, yeah, so that you’re always thinking and working and adjusting it all the time based on where you are and what situation you’re in.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Absolutely.  We tell people all the time, behavior number one, and question number one, you’re about to go into a situation.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s with a spouse or partner, a child, your boss, a Board room, ask yourself, how do I believe I need to be seen today, in this moment?  It might be different 20 minutes later.  But in this moment, if you’re, if your initial instinct is I need to be seen as warm, as a great listener, well then think about what markers that would bring up for you.  How many people say this?  I’m sure you’ve seen this before too, Curt.  Somebody says, really I’m just a listener in this conversation.  Funny how they talk the whole time.  Right?  So, that behavior has to line up.  If you go in and say I really want to be a listener.  I don’t need to be a talker.  I need to be, I don’t need to be heard.  I want to listen today.  Then you’re nonverbal should be nodding.  You should be recognizing.  You should be letting people know you’re on the same page.  You hear them.  But that doesn’t mean in the next meeting you don’t say, you know what?  I need to be seen as somebody who’s not going to back down because this is important.  So, I am going to talk first and I am going to talk more than I’m going to ask questions, and I am going to use strong statements.  So, now notice it’s hard to get labeled if you’re one way in one meeting and another in another meeting.  And the question is again, don’t go too far outside your range, or people will label you as you’re different in every meeting, if you go too strong, but most of us have that sense.  I mean in what I do, I can go up and lean powerfully in a speech, but then coach somebody one on one and be a listener the whole time.  But obviously I can’t just be the listener in a speaking engagement.  So, it’s still all me.  I don’t ever feel inauthentic.  But I choose markers.  And that’s the thing.  All of us that do this work, I mean we have to practice it every day ourselves.  It’s all types of leadership discipline.  Discipline, habits, routines and really wanting to make changes more so than it’s just who you are, or a trait, or a characteristic, or something to aspire to.

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah.  There’s some deliberation there.  What about for women, or people of color, how do they need to think about this differently?  The research on the double bind for women for instance is where they clear right?  They have to show warmth and competence so it feels like flex.  The flex you’re talking about is already built into that that double bind that they have.  But yeah, what do they, how does this thinking change if you’re, if you’re approaching this problem as a woman, or as a person of color?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, it’s a big issue, one we get asked a lot.  First of all style does apply to everybody.  In many cases, I mean we work with just as many men on their style as women, or people of color.  But make no mistake, it can be a little tougher in those areas.  Because of the fact that if we just take women for example, there is a natural tradeoff.  The research is clear that the more successful that women become, their likeability factor often goes down.  Somehow we aren’t rooting for the successful woman.  The comments are, ugh, who does she think she is?  Oh, she’s so, right?  Or, gosh she’s abrasive.  She’s difficult.  I wouldn’t want to be with her in the meeting.  And there’s a level of it, it’s harder for women in many cases to shoot to that right, that middle ground.  So, we don’t shy away from it.  We’re not going to fix all biases and problems, but we are telling women to be careful a little bit more so, just so they can still be absolutely who they are, but we want them to bring their strength as a leader, not have it be framed as ugh, you know that woman leader.  We want it to just be as a leader.  So, what we might say is absolutely.  You need to disagree.  You need to be able to negotiate hard for your promotions or your compensation.  We would never tell them to stand down, but we might say, even more important that you disagree a certain way.  Even more important that you really show and engage in the warmth side of things so that when you go powerful you show balance.  Or, if it’s the opposite side, you’re very warm, you’re very engaging, people love being around you, but interesting how you’re never invited to those two and three person meetings on the management team.  They tend to happen without you.  How do you step into that without calling them out and be considered abrasive?  But how do you naturally make sure you’re not excluded?  So, we will say the problem’s the same for everybody, but certainly it’s highlighted a little bit more when women or people of color don’t tend to display the same traits.  Or, really my favorite one and this one most of us can related to.  Its how a woman will be labeled emotional.  Like you’re a little emotional.  That person’s emotional.  She’s drama.  But the man is just intense.  He’s intense, he’s dedicated, he’s passionate.  It’s really the same behavior read a little differently perhaps because of gender and that’s usually the thing to overcome is to say, hey, I don’t know if we can fix that today, but what we can fix is let’s don’t have you be read as emotional, but let’s have you get your point across and let’s help you do that.

CURT NICKISCH:  How does the pandemic, how does the pandemic change all of this?  I just think about so many people now working from home.  So, they’re connecting with their managers over video conference.  They’re not in those same meetings and can’t see whether people are getting bored, or rolling their eyes or whatever, when they talk.  It’s just harder to pick up on clues maybe.  I just wonder, is it more, yeah, how has it changed in this situation where so many people are working from home and trying to change their style or to be seen as a leader over video conference?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Right and it’s true.  Probably the biggest inquiries we’re getting right now around style would be this combination of what does it look like to, what does your style look like virtually?  Does it translate virtually?  Does this idea of how do you lean powerfully in a virtual environment?  How do you lean more attractive in a virtual environment?  And even going down to we have lots of inquiries around business development in general because that really plays on the idea of how are we building relationships?  People who naturally could maybe get away frankly without being as relational or attractive because what you can do is, yeah you can pay for a nice dinner, you can go out and that kind of masks some of the real relationship skill.  Now, they’re left saying I can’t really do those things, so now I really do have to be warm and engaging when that was just before I didn’t really, I could kind of fake that a little bit, by just having a nice dinner to go around it.  So, now we do get a lot of this and for sure those styles still plays virtually.  I’ll give you just some examples.  A couple clients in different cases and I’m not being prescriptive with this.  Nothings right or wrong about these.  They’re just markers that come out because gosh, we all know that during this pandemic we all have real lives that are living in the background, literally in the background.  Dogs and kids and all sorts of things.  But by the, you know, style still it does show up and it can contaminate certain situations, if you’re trying to achieve a certain look and feel through video.  A woman I was talking to, she in the background happened to have, which was probably one of her children’s, but it was a cereal bowl, but the angle of her camera, it was like Fruit Loops or something like that that was just sitting there with a spoon in there.  And the whole time I’m listening to her and she’s brilliant and all I can look at is the cereal bowl.  So, again —

CURT NICKISCH:  That’s like a newscaster, when they have a crooked tie, you kind of lose track of what the news is.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah.  You just can’t help it.  And so, clearly she probably didn’t mean for that one, but a couple of things that are, you know, we pay attention to is we’re now looking at your life.  And so, by the way, sometimes what you want is to say listen, I’m this powerful and strong leader and sometimes you don’t see me that warm and engaging.  And I’m OK that my dog’s going to sit on my lap for a second and there’s a cereal bowl and my kids artwork on the background.  Maybe that’s exactly what you need to draw people in.  Those attractive markers will actually be the thing that draws your team to you like never before.  But there’s other people who already have that type of followership and those relationships that actually need to use this time to show a little bit more formality.  And we don’t want so much formality that your background is so plain it looks like where are you?  You’re very sterile.  Maybe that’s in too formal.  It really depends, right.  Again, everybody’s situations different.  But we’ll talk to people about a couple key markers.  You know energy matters.  So, a power marker is how much energy can you project through that video?  It’s harder.  You actually have to take it up 20 percent to come through normal.  So, energy, people that just speak too long on a video.  I mean now, we already have an attention span issue and now you’re taking up a video over talking.  That would be an attractive marker gone wrong, you know, bad lighting, looking in the wrong place in the camera.  Some of these rules we’re all getting better at because we all start, we’re all on a learning curve around this.  But these are some of the things we look at.  One of my clients has like six Red Bulls lined up in the background.  And I couldn’t, I couldn’t decide if this was good to show he was energetic, or if was oh gosh, please drink some water.  I didn’t know what I wanted to say to him, but I know it’s a distractor.  And people that aren’t paying attention on their video calls because other things are popping up.  But these are all style pieces and there’s a level of normality, but there is still, when you go and get on video, and you say, how do I want to show up?  Gosh, am I trying to be deeply accessible and warm and hey, life’s a mess today?  Well then go for it.  Or, are you actually trying to say, listen, I made this meeting very important.  I dressed for the occasion.  I made sure the background and the lighting was right because I’m projecting something else.  I can give you on example too which was a good one because sometimes it can go the opposite.  I, with one of my clients, I had back to back meetings.  One was a presentation on video and I was dressed more formally because it was a large scale presentation.  Well, right when —

CURT NICKISCH:  So, much of this seems to be about perception, right and we can often err in our own perception of how we’re coming across.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, we want to tell people also, whether it’s your manager or a peer, maybe let people know what you’re striving for.  Listen, I am trying not to be so dominate in the conversation.  I’m trying to create space for other people.  I have some things I’m going to try today.  Will you let me know how I do?  Because then you’re actually really, you’re trying, you know someone’s going to come to you that you trust and say, I think you still interrupted 14 times.  You need to cut that back.  And that’s absolutely, I mean that’s what we’ll do even with each other.  We’ll watch each other a lot and it’s clear if someone dominates and it’s also clear to say you weren’t heard at all and that’s the third time.  What’s going on?  Are you not feeling a certain way, or do you just need to use some markers to make you step up a little bit?

CURT NICKISCH:  Yeah.  It really does sound like a process where you have to experiment, try, get good feedback, right?  And act on the results.

CURT NICKISCH:  I was just curious, what’s one of your favorite success stories about this?  What can people look forward to?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Well, I think obviously when it comes to the work environment, one of the best success stories for us really is when people, they try a couple things, they’re really disciplined in what they try and they come back and they say, it was, it felt very different for me.  I was amazed at how people really looked at me when I was speaking and my ideas.  And what they say is all I did was, you know, I wore a brighter color.  Again, this isn’t about dress, but that might have been their one choice that time.  I wore a brighter color, which seemed to maybe drew more attention to me.  Two, I managed to step in and I disagreed once with a comment, rather than just waiting until after the meeting.  But I did so diplomatically.  And maybe three, all I did was sit next to somebody in the room that was maybe a little more influential.  I used to just sit with my peers, but I sat up a level which probably gave me some cache.  That’s all I did, but I thought I got listened to.  So, we love those stories and we certainly love it when people come back and say, I for so long, I’ve been told I wasn’t quite ready to get promoted, and now I got promoted and I don’t feel like I did that much differently.  Because again, they already had the competence.  It was really just the style.

CURT NICKISCH:  Suzanne, who out there is somebody that a lot of people will know who you feel like really bridges this likeable, attractive and powerful divide, you know, in really deft ways and people are, people feel like yeah.  And you think is successful at, at showing leadership in a, that’s a little clunky.  Suzanne, who out there is somebody that maybe a lot of listeners would have heard about or know that you think really bridges this divide between likeability, attractiveness and a powerful style really well?

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Yeah, we do get asked this question a lot.  People want examples and I think a couple come to mind that immediately make, that people can relate to.  I’ll use one for the athletic realm and one from maybe the military realm.  I think, Roger Federer, the famous tennis player. Not only are many people a fan of him because of his play, but clearly here you have someone who is deeply competent, very confident.  He’s formal in many ways, how he dresses.  His record is quite dominate.  He has an intensity when he plays.  He’s prepared.  He’s disciplined.  All these seem to be power markers.  But on the other hand, so engaging when he’s interviewed.  So, humble.  Deeply appreciative, likeable.  He seems to be very honest with his feelings when he’s lost and how it’s hurtful.  So, he tends to be, he’s quite popular with so many.  And I think it’s this combination of great at his job, but also people are really drawn to him.  And many of his opponents don’t necessarily have that feeling.  So, he’s one example that comes to mind.  The other might be a Colin Powell who seemed to always walk that line as well of clearly general, right and so command and deeply articulate and also formal, measured, decisive would be descriptions.  But known as a great listener.  Huge, you know, very measured in his decision making as well.  Let others weigh in, in the right situations.  Tended to be liked on both sides of the political spectrum and could reach across all these, all these divides.  People also had similar feelings, generalizing of course, but by and large have similar feelings of gosh, powerful enough to get listened to.  Attractive enough to bet followed.  And so those are two.

CURT NICKISCH:  Well, Suzanne, thanks so much for coming on the show to talk about your research and to help people with this.

SUZANNE PETERSON:  Thank you so much for having me.  It was a pleasure.

HANNAH BATES: That was Suzanne Peterson – in conversation with Curt Nickisch on the HBR IdeaCast . She’s an associate professor of leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.

We’ll be back next Wednesday with another hand-picked conversation about leadership from Harvard Business Review. If you found this episode helpful, share it with your friends and colleagues, and follow our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. While you’re there, be sure to leave us a review.

When you’re ready for more podcasts, articles, case studies, books, and videos with the world’s top business and management experts, you’ll find it all at HBR.org.

This episode was produced by Mary Dooe, Anne Saini, and me, Hannah Bates. Ian Fox is our editor. Music by Coma Media. Special thanks to Rob Eckhardt, Adam Buchholz, Maureen Hoch, Erica Truxler, Ramsey Khabbaz, Nicole Smith, Anne Bartholomew, and you – our listener.

See you next week.

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How To Introduce Yourself Professionally (With Examples)

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It’s important to know how to introduce yourself professionally, as a solid introduction leads to further connection. Whether you’re preparing for a career fair, interview, or sales call, it’s important to practice your self-introduction.

In this article, we’ll cover how to introduce yourself professionally, and we’ll give examples of introductions. We’ll also explain why it’s essential to have a professional introduction ready to go.

Key Takeaways:

Whether you’re sitting down for an interview, meeting a new coworker, or giving a presentation, your self-introduction is the first glimpse into the kind of person that you are.

When introducing yourself, you need to consider the context of the meeting.

Make sure you are using positive body language such as eye contact and smiling and are being an active listener.

When introducing yourself, make sure you are confident because confidence draws people into what you have to say.

How to introduce yourself professionally

How to introduce yourself examples, why are professional introductions important, tips for introducing yourself, job interview self-introduction tips, introducing yourself professionally faqs, expert opinion on introducing yourself professionally.

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To introduce yourself professionally, you need to consider the situation you’re in, use positive body language, and briefly provide information about who you are. If appropriate, ask questions of the person or people you’re introducing yourself to as well.

Consider the context of the introduction. Adapting your self-introduction to the situation you’re in is imperative. An introduction that is professional at a presentation will seem strange at a job interview .

Additionally, speaking as casually as you might on a first date is inappropriate when interviewing for an open position.

Before speaking, the first step is to understand the context of the scenario you’ll be introducing yourself in and adjust your approach accordingly.

Job interviews The first day of a college class Welcoming new co-workers Meeting people at a job fair or conference Giving a presentation to a large group Conducting a sales call

Use positive body language. People are strongly influenced by body language , even if they don’t realize it consciously. Using positive body language draws the other party into what you have to say and who you are.

Eye contact Shaking hands Smiling Nodding Standing upright Arms uncrossed

Give a little information about who you are. The thing about an effective introduction is that it’s a push-and-pull in exchange for information. Spend equal time speaking and listening .

In the case of a job interview, this means briefly explaining your professional background while highlighting your responsibilities and achievements . Explain what jobs you’ve worked in previously and what the responsibilities in those roles entailed.

When you’re introducing yourself in a social situation, it’s okay to include some career-related information, but try to extend the description past that to give a more well-rounded depiction of who you are.

Ask questions. It’s not an attractive quality to be self-absorbed, whether in a professional or social setting. One way to avoid this perception is by asking the other person questions about themselves, the position you’re applying for, or the company you hope to work for.

Questions demonstrate a genuine interest in the other person or professional role, and that makes them respond more positively.

Asking questions also helps the interaction flow naturally from an introduction to a relaxed conversation .

What do you like about working here? What are the biggest challenges I’d be facing in this position? What are you most looking forward to about this conference? What do you do?

Presenting yourself professionally and politely is important no matter the context. Here are some examples of how to do this in a wide variety of situations:

How to introduce yourself in an interview for a job

“Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you in person. Even though we spoke over email, I wanted to formally introduce myself. My name is Sally Jones, and I’m a passionate social media manager . “I’ve been a professional social media manager for the past five years after graduating with my bachelor’s degree in communications from New York University. I’ve led teams that handled high-profile clients and improved their sales margins by upwards of 4%. “I’ve always admired your organization’s mission, and I’d love to be able to use my leadership skills and industry knowledge to further it.”

How to introduce yourself to a new employee

“Hi, my name is Connor. What’s your name? Nice to meet you, _____. I understand that you’ve recently been hired for the job of administrative assistant , which means that we’ll be working together a lot. “I just wanted to introduce myself and extend a warm welcome to the team. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with while you’re getting adjusted to the new role.”

How to introduce yourself in an email

Dear Mrs. Adams, How are you doing? I hope this email finds you well. My name is Jackson King, and I’m a school librarian . I have ten years of experience working as a librarian in the public schooling system, which has awarded me strengths in collaboration and patience. I’m emailing you today because I know that you are the hiring manager for Woodbridge City School District, and I wanted to pass my resume along in case any positions open up that fit my experience and skills. I’d love to have a further discussion about the education philosophies at Woodbridge City School District. I can be reached via [email protected] or (923-742-6336). Thank you for reading my email in full, and I hope to hear back soon. Sincerely, Jackson King [email protected]

How to introduce yourself at a hiring event

“Hi there, how are you? My name is Matthew Shelton. I’m a recent graduate from the University of Texas with a degree in engineering. While I haven’t had much paid professional experience, I participated in a competitive internship with Cisco Systems for six months. “I wanted to come over and introduce myself to you because I saw that you’re representing Flash Energy Solutions. I’ve heard incredible things about this company’s innovation, and I’m curious to find out more about their open positions. Are you available now to talk more about opportunities at Flash Energy Solutions?”

How to introduce yourself to a university professor

“Good afternoon, Professor Johnson. My name is Abigal Morris, and I’m a sophomore here at The University of Washington. I just wanted to formally introduce myself and say I’m looking forward to learning more in your course this semester.”

How to introduce yourself to your network

Hi, Samantha. How are you? I hope all is well. My name is Jessica Lane, and I’m a gallery director for Elegance Art Studios. I’m reaching out to you today because I recently came across some of your artwork online. Specifically, I saw a painting titled “Oblivion” that I thought was immaculate. I’d like to see your other work and speak further about the possibility of building a working relationship with Elegance Art Studios. If you’re interested, please email me at [email protected] or call me at (558)-292-6868. Thank you. Sincerely, Jessica Lane

How to introduce yourself on social media

Hello, Catherine, my name is Sadie Michaels, and I represent a clothing company called Free Air Designs as a marketing coordinator . I came across your Instagram profile while I was searching through my Top Posts page . I think you have a keen eye for social media development, and I enjoy your style. I was wondering if you’d be interested in collaborating on a few targeted posts involving Free Air Designs. Let me know if you’d be interested in talking more. Thanks! -Sadie

How to introduce yourself to a stranger on a plane

“Hello, I don’t mean to bother you, but since we’re going to be on this 12-hour flight, I figured I’d introduce myself. I’m Tom. What’s your name? It’s a pleasure, ____. What brings you on a flight to Milan?”

How to introduce yourself at an office party

“I don’t think we’ve met before. My name is Eric. I work in accounting. What’s your name? Awesome, it’s great to meet you, ____. How long have you been working here? Eight years? Wow, I’ve only been here for two. Have you been at this location all along?”

How to introduce yourself in class

“Hi everyone, my name’s Madeline Johnson. I’m a sophomore English major in the NEAG education program. I was interested in this class as a way of broadening my knowledge of teaching techniques for toddlers. When I’m not stuck in a book, I like to spend my time fishing at the Housatonic River.”

How to introduce yourself in a letter

Dear Mrs. Sels, “My name is John Buck and I’m a freelance writer with a background in e-commerce and the technical space. Naturally, I thought I’d be a good fit for XYZ Technica, an industry leader in technical e-commerce.”

How to introduce yourself to a group

“Hello everyone, my name’s Tim Thompson. I’ve been working in finance for 10 years, and what I specialize in is client support and education. Being able to bring some of this esoteric, but important, information from our field to more people is the most rewarding part of my job.”

How to introduce yourself in a meeting or presentation

“Hi everyone, my name is Riley Cooper and I’m the head of our content marketing team. What we excel at is making bespoke content calendars that match your brand’s voice, as well as monitoring the success of those campaigns.”

How to introduce yourself to a potential new client

Hello, my name is Chris Trager, and I’m a representative for Campbell Paper. I wanted to introduce myself and let you know about our 30% off sale happening throughout the month of August. We provide high-quality paper products and custom-printed materials to many schools like yours, and I’d love to discuss how we can meet your paper and printing needs. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for for an upcoming project? I really enjoy working with education-based clients like you, and I’d love to send you a sample book and help you find solutions at a price point that works for you. Please feel free to respond to this email or call or text me at 333-444-5555. I look forward to talking with you. Chris Traeger Sales Representative Campbell Paper

How to introduce yourself in a new company

Good morning, Ashley, We haven’t met yet, but I’m the new graphic designer working in the marketing department, and I was assigned your ESL class poster. Would you mind sending me the class times whenever you get the chance? Once I have those, I’ll be ready to send the poster to you to look over. I’m looking forward to working with you, and I hope to be able to meet you in person soon! Thanks, Caleb Olson Graphic Designer 222-333-4455

Professional introductions are important because how you demonstrate your character in the first moments of meeting another person dictates their perception of you moving forward, even if that doesn’t accurately describe who you are .

In situations where there is limited time to interact, such as a job interview, making a positive and professional first impression is crucial in achieving a desirable outcome. The confines of a 30-minute interview are all a candidate has to demonstrate themselves as the perfect choice for a job.

This is truly a test of first impressions as job-seekers are asked to perform well in a brief introduction before being hired.

Making a strong self-introduction is more complicated than simply stating your name and shaking hands. Consider the following tips for introducing yourself to leave a lasting positive impression on people you meet:

Dress well . Clothing is the first impression that a job interviewer or colleague has of you before you speak. Dressing well for a professional event ensures that you’re portraying yourself in a professional light.

Be confident. Refined confidence draws people into what you have to say. While sounding conceited repeals most people, a healthy dose of security in your ability to do a job establishes you as a dependable candidate.

Look for opportunities to further the conversation. An introduction that goes back and forth between two people only lasts a few minutes at most before it gets boring. To avoid a boring discussion, be on the lookout for opportunities to further the conversation.

Understand the culture. Before an interview or meeting, you should do research on the company to understand its culture. This will give you a better understanding of whether they are more straightforward or more casual.

If they are more casual, you can include some light humor in your introduction, just make sure it’s appropriate. If they are more straightforward and formal, keep a professional demeanor.

Prepare what you want to say. Practicing how you want to say something can help with stumbling over words and possibly saying something wrong. Try writing down what you want to say beforehand and practicing what you want to say. It may seem silly to be doing so at the time, but it could be helpful if you are nervous and have new meeting anxiety.

Introducing yourself at a job interview is a bit different than in most social contexts. You’ll want to pay special attention to the following in order to ensure the hiring manager likes you from the get-go:

Research the company. Before the interview, check out how the company presents itself to the public via social media. Are they casual and hip, or formal and serious? That’s your first clue for what sort of tone to strike.

Research the interviewer. Figure out whether the interviewer is an HR representative or someone who you’d be working under directly. You can also learn about their background to see what sort of information they’re most likely to appreciate in an introduction.

Plus, you might find an interesting connection that can be a nice segue out of your self-introduction into a shared, natural conversation.

Be hyper-relevant and brief. The job description is your ultimate cheat sheet for which qualifications to hype up as you introduce yourself at your job interview. Don’t go crazy trying to stuff the whole list into your intro, though.

Talk contributions. Introducing yourself shouldn’t be a laundry list of where you worked, when you graduated, etc. — that’s what your resume is for . Instead, get animated and share why you’re passionate about the field, interesting stories from your background, major milestones from your professional career, etc.

Don’t stop at your job title. When you simply give your name and job title, you’re basically saying, “There’s nothing more interesting about me than the function I can possibly fulfill” — not exactly a thrilling candidate.

Don’t try too hard to be funny. Humor is a great thing, but unless you’re a stand-up, you should wait until you’ve developed a bit of rapport before diving into too many jokes. No matter how much research you’ve done on your interviewer, you won’t know what they find funny or inappropriate, so it’s best to play it safe.

How do I introduce myself professionally?

Introduce yourself professionally with positive body language and relevant information about yourself. This relevant information about yourself should be related to the context of the situation. For example, if you are introducing yourself to someone once you have been referred, you may bring up your reference.

What is a unique way to introduce yourself?

To be unique, talk about your values in your introduction. Your values, even if they are common, define your personality. This helps you set the stage to talk about your goals and accomplishments, which should be tied to your values. Just make sure to keep them relevant and appropriate.

How do you introduce yourself in 3 lines?

To introduce yourself in 3 lines: state your name, why you are there, and ask an open-ended question about the other person. It is especially important to explain your purpose in a natural way, so tie it back to the context of the situation. Then, by using an open-ended question, you provide an opportunity for the other person to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way.

What is a good introduction?

A good introduction should gain attention and interest in a positive manner. You will have introduced yourself successfully because people will be curious to learn more about you. This creates a flow to whatever topic is at hand while keeping your presence relevant.

How do you start an introduction to introduce yourself?

To start an introduction when introducing yourself, greet the person, give your name, and share a little bit about yourself. This information will change depending on the context. In a job interview, for example, you’ll give a quick overview of your experience or skills, while at a professional conference, you’ll share your job title.

How To Introduce Yourself Professionally?

Amanda Halkiotis Owner and Chief Resume Writer

If you have a hard time thinking of ways to break the ice over email, you can always ask those close to you how you come across to others. Are you funny? Charming? Outgoing? Sincere? Good-natured and kind? Find a characteristic that resonates with you and use it to brand yourself. If you are looking for a financial services job at a fintech firm, for example, a great opening line might be something like, “I have been a math geek my whole life and I started building computers when I was in high school.”. The first line is key to getting the reader interested, so I cannot stress enough the importance of having a “hook” that makes you stand out as an individual.

When introducing yourself personally, manners and confidence matter. Make eye contact and stand up straight, but try to be relaxed and not too stiff. I also recommend being complimentary but a bit subtle about it, for example, saying, “Thank you so much for meeting with me today” followed by, “Your office is such a lovely building” or “I knew we would have a lot in common when we talked based on our email exchange”. A little flattery goes a long way! I like to have three to five points about myself memorized when meeting someone for the first time in an interview setting. Something biographical, something personal, and something professional. So, for me, if someone says, “ Tell me about yourself “, I can reply with, “I grew up in Connecticut and have been in New York City for 14 years, I’m a middle child, I love to travel, cooking, and hiking, I am not afraid of a challenge and I find that I do my best work when I get to work with clients and build relationships”. To sum it up, have an elevator pitch to go along with the brand you promoted over email!

For anyone who gets nervous meeting new people, I suggest practicing in front of a mirror or doing mock interviews with a friend or relative. For virtual interviews (so many are being done on Zoom these days), you can do a mock version by doing a video recording on your phone and looking it over. A few minutes before the actual interview, try a technique called box breathing to calm your nerves.

Lastly, one of my personal heroes who is a true master when it comes to this type of advice is Vanessa Van Edwards. She is a well-known human behaviorist who has been featured on the Today Show, has done a Ted Talk, and has a great YouTube channel. Trust me, you’ll love her.

Harvard Business Review – A Simple Way To Introduce Yourself

Western Michigan University – Introduce Yourself With A Personal Commercial

Yale University – Office of Career Strategy

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Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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