Resilience

• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)

Background Information: Through the changing economic and family dynamics of her father's mining business, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to find an audience for her underappreciated voice, and later as one of the youngest subject-matter experts in mining and commodities.  

Leadership Traits: Resilience, Authenticity  

• Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped how you invest in others and how you lead? (up to 250 words)

Background Information: From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is displaced from Syria and forced to restart her life in the US.

Leadership Traits: Resilience

Anyone working in the Technology industry would attest that change is the only reality. 

A leader should have the foresight to accept that holding onto processes, technology, and strategy of a bygone era is a losing pursuit. 

Case studies of the 1980s and 90s have little relevance for the current generation, where with each iteration of technology or geopolitical development, iron-clad strategies have become fictitious narratives. 

Brands have remained neutral to society’s ill and the overreach of organizations, government, and powerful influencers. With social media putting pressure on leaders to follow the pulse of society, businesses have also embraced positions that would categorize them as a pro or against a position.

From a business perspective, this is a risk as any misconception about their position could have an immediate impact on their cash flow as customers demonstrate preferences with their pocket first before verbalizing their opinions in popular media.

Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers like Unilever and P&G struggled to find a market in developing economies with traditional American and European-themed promotional strategies. Poking the aspirational class with the hope of a better future or the sparkling smile of the celebrity didn’t help the market share. On the verge of giving up the drive to enter rural markets that represent the lion’s share in developing economies, the executives called on ‘MBA’ consultants, many from reputed universities, for solutions. 

Traditional Leadership, where the goal is to establish authority and, through posturing, enforce compliance, works in a large organization with systems, structure, and a clearly defined chain of commands. Although the style works in an environment where the margin for error is high, and the company can absorb losses in the short-term, in a start-up, openness and aligning the team’s incentives with the company’s milestones are crucial for gaining traction. This could be in the form of a vesting period and other bonus structures. The hours are different, and so is the commitment.