MBA Essay Tips for writing about a leader you most admire, your supporting reasons and your views on the characteristics and skills required for effective leadership

Leadership is “the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." While applying to any collegiate program, let it be MBA, MD, JD or almost any graduate program, the admission committee preferably focuses on the leadership potential or skills in you, the reason being, effective leadership can successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals.

Writing about a leader, whom you admire can be a bit confusing task. However, this is obviously something related to your real-life lesson. The influential person can be anyone. He can be your next-door neighbor or any national leader. The only thing is you should have is reasons, and feelings and most important of all. You need to express them in your essay to justify your beliefs. You need to give reasons. What about the person appealed to you? Describe how you have demonstrated the leadership style in your life and your skills. Narrate incidents too, if there are any, to make your answer more interesting and convincing to the readers.

Many leaders end up at one extreme or the other. On the overly familiar side of things, they look to their subordinates to provide social interaction. On the other extreme side are the leaders who place themselves a way above the people they direct. They see themselves as better than the people "below" them and make it abundantly clear that they are superior. Somewhere in between these extremes is a healthy equilibrium. A part of the leader’s job is to identify and sense the proper composure that will give their subordinates the feeling of having a healthy relationship with their leader while keeping their leader in an authority position.

Apart from the diverse responsibilities, a leader also needs to possess specific skills and should have certain characteristic features that demarcate him/her as an effective leader. Leaders must lead by their own example. If subordinates see their leader doing one thing and saying another, they may follow the latter of the law and obey what is said without really following the spirit behind what the leader is trying to accomplish. Not following the spirit behind a rule can result in a very large loss in efficiency. When a leader able to lead through example, he/she effectively shows people the way to act and think. Showing people is much better than telling them. When a leader tells someone, they will only understand a small percentage of what their leader said. However, when a leader shows them in his actions, they will understand not only what their leader meant to say, but the intent behind what he/she would have said. When people see their leader leading the way, they put their entire effort behind his/her or her intention and not feel like they have to reserve part of themselves because their leader trying to take advantage of them. 

If you want to be an effective leader you need to lead by your example--not just what you say. What you say is important. However, if your actions are different than your words people will assume the actions are what is true. A good leader knows how to actually lead people instead of pushing them. A good leader will be able to create an environment where it is easy for people to head in the proper direction. They can do this because they understand the motivation and personalities of the people they lead. Leadership is not about having authority. Authority can be important, but leadership is really about leading. Another important part of leading with integrity is delegating responsibility. When you delegate you need to be willing to part with the responsibility. If your delegate does something differently than you, you need to support their decision. That doesn`t mean you can`t steer them in a different direction, but always support their decision whenever possible. As an effective leader one also has to adhere to the ethics and integrity of his/her or her position.