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Sample Cambridge MBA Teamwork Essay (Purpose Driven)

In the first example, we narrate the example of a candidate who is leading a dysfunctional high-performing team. As the third team lead to manage the complex dynamics and motivation of the team, the candidate felt the pressure to get things right. Through informal listening sessions, the candidate’s first attempt at leadership began. Understanding the ambition and creative aspirations helped the candidate turn around the team from warring factions to a cohesive team motivated to help the smartphone giant regain its lost glory.

Sample Cambridge MBA Essay – Teamwork and lessons learned (198 words) (Matching Responsibilities with Ambition and Purpose)

A diligent leader who brought two warring factions into a cohesive team was replaced by a person, who couldn’t find harmony between the nuanced preferences of the team and the client expectations. As the third attempt at leading the team, I took the role as the project lead for the advertising team – the first time in my career. The team’s tendency for dynamic flaring made me nervous but <x’s> ambition to regain the market share in the global smartphone market from 1% to the highs of 40%..

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Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

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I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

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