Please, Evaluate my essay:)

Hi!

Here is my essay about my idea of a good leader and effective leadership, my past experience in leadership activities;

please, proofread it! also, dont hesistate to express your ideas about essay. Is it good or bad?

thanks!

My idea of good leader and effective leadership has been changing from time to time as I gain more experience in being a leader or being a part of a team led by others. If you asked me about a good leader or effective leadership when I was about 7-10 years old I would definitely answer that leadership is to rule a group of people and a leader is the person who sits in an armchair comfortably all day long and gives orders to his/her subordinates. At the first glance, the definition seems to be true. However, I think that the idea of good leadership and authentic leader is much more complex.

First of all, the myth that leadership is an inborn quality and a mysterious power that only a lucky few posses is wrong. It prevents many other people from even trying to fulfill their leadership potential. If someone doesn’t believe that he has an ability to be a leader he will not take on leadership challenges. Leadership is about skills and behaviors and attitudes, all of which can be learned. To illustrate the idea, I can provide an example from my own experience. In my childhood I was very decent and shy person who often was afraid to take challenges to fulfill her dreams. But, step by step I realized that I could be more than I was and started working harder on my personality to make myself more ambitious and determined to achieve my goals. From that time I became more active in my class, earned superior grades and till now I always have a big passion to be a leader in everything I do. First time I took leadership challenge was when I become a coordinator of extracurricular events in my school and with a group of my friends I organized some conferences, workshops and cultural evenings. At the very beginning, when I head to lead the group I was very frustrated. There were lots of ideas, lots of plans and we couldn’t come up with any common idea. After my first disappointment, I tried to learn from my mistakes and improve my leadership skills. From what I learned, I can say without any hesitation that leadership is all about practice and experience as well as working on yourself and developing your own abilities.

The bottom line is to motivate a group of people toward a common goal. A leader is one who gives people the right direction. In case of crises, leaders have an important role and this is to provide perspectives and take decisive action. Another important aspect is recognizing good ideas that may come from you from others, or from the community. A leader should actively support them, and encourage action. On the other hand, it is also essential to let other members of group take reigns. Giving some authority to your subordinates stimulates them to perform better. Also, it shows trust towards them. Unless there is a deep culture of trust and openness, no matter how strong of a leader a team has, they will not be able to perform efficiently. Building a good relationships and thoughtful negotiations as well as using appropriate forms of communication with team members is vital for being a good leader.

Cultural diversity can be quite challenging issue for a leader in his/her team when it comes to choosing a proper style of communication. I have learned that from my own experience this summer. In august, I attended the course on Energy and Economic Growth in Bucharest where I had an opportunity to meet students from more than 20 countries of Europe. I am really proud of the fact, that I was selected as a leader of my team and during the course we participated in different kinds of competitions, fun events and discussions as well as made final project together. Having a cultural diversity in my team was quite challenging. The most important thing for me was to relate with my team mates as individuals and not as stereotypes that are formed by some wrong opinions about one’s culture or country. It is essential to show them your respect and interest in their culture as well as share it with them. It helps the team to be united and keeps the team spirit high. Shearing our cultures helped us to overcome any cultural difficulties in our team.

Nowadays, leadership is associated with politicians, corporate executives, or top managers. Personally, I think that anyone who prompts the group to do their job effectively, one who is a role model for his team, is playing the role of a leader. Anyone who does his/her job well can be a leader in his community. This kind of person for me is my professor, Lali Khurtsia. She has an ability to motivate all of us and even students with low grades perform well in her class. One of her traits I admire most is flexibility, which I think is very important for a leader. She has an individual way to deal with every student and gives a special treatment to all of us. As a result, she leads the class efficiently.

To summarize, “The great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position”. (John C. Maxwell) So, no matter who you are, teacher, professor or CEO, you can be a great leader.