[推荐]Sample Essay 4: UCLA

jkmbe

QUESTION: Describe your most challenging team-building experience.

I had just reported back to work after a two-week vacation. There was an urgent call from my manager; he wanted me to take charge of product validity testing in different languages for the complete OS/2 TCP/IP package! This $100 million product was to be built in eighteen languages at our site, and then we were to ship it to different countries. The language testing centers in these countries test for specific language needs and interact with us to solve any problems.

My manager identified five members for my team to take care of the build and testing aspects. We started well, but soon I found myself dealing with an extremely reluctant group of people, none enthusiastic about the repetitive work in eighteen languages. The fact that most of them were my peers over whom I could not exercise managerial power did not help much either.

I realized that I had to do something about it. I started making presentations about how language translations were important to maintain the global image of [deleted], and what an important contribution it would be if we could make a truly international product. I circulated schedules among the teammates to solicit their opinion. After a lot of debate on the best schedule, we came up with an extremely robust plan, one that everyone agreed to. These intra-team interactions generated a strong team spirit that proved very helpful when the going was difficult. Only once did we miss a deadline, and that too for factors beyond our control. Soon everybody stood as one, and shouldered the responsibility as a team.

Apart from gaining a set of trustworthy friends I learnt some valuable lessons from this experience. Each person is an individual and has distinctive character traits. A successful team leader should know how to deal with each person in an appropriate and unique way. One individual would show application and do well if left to work independently while another would need constant supervision. Effective leadership is a blend of camaraderie and authority, and is also the ability to strike a balance between them. It needs advance preparation, an understanding of human psychology, and some diplomacy. Any work can be made important and interesting to people by making them understand its relevance and significance, and above all, by granting them due importance and recognition.

jkmbe

QUESTION: Discuss a situation, preferably work related, where you have taken a significant leadership role. How does this event demonstrate your managerial potential? (Limit to 500 words.)

On Monday, June [deleted], 200X, at 10:30 p.m., I received a call from my boss telling me that the plant where [deleted] operates was in great danger of flooding, it was the worst storm that Chile had faced in almost a hundred years. I grabbed my fishing waders and rushed to the plant. When I arrived to the site, the property was under more than a meter of water. We decided to go inside and try to save as much as we could; files, records, computers, etc. But the damage was done and we thought that it was the end of the group.

The next day, the management team gathered in front of the property to plan an emergency course of action. As the Administration Manager I felt the responsibility of taking the initiative, so I talked to the personnel and asked them to go home for the day until the water level diminished, telling them to get ready for the next couple of weeks that were crucial to save our jobs. Then, some of us went into the plant. Sitting wet, in my office, using a cell phone, I called all of our banks and major suppliers. I described to them the situation and assured them that we would be back in business in less than a week. TV news reporters were interviewing the C.E.O, who asked help from the government. They sent machinery in the afternoon, which resulted in the water retreat.

It was now Wednesday, all [deleted]'s employees arrived in "combat clothing" and I told them the exact same thing I told the banks and suppliers, we have a week. I explained to them how important was everybody's collaboration and help. It was pretty amazing to watch 258 people working together, cleaning, brushing, etc., from Security Guards to Managers. We worked very hard and 5 days later; we were dispatching products again and attending our customers.

Now we needed to collect the insurance money. Insurance Companies are very reluctant to pay, at least in Chile, so the collection process was really exhausting. I had to lead the process with my accounting team in order to present detailed inventories to the Company and explain each item on every financial statement that they asked for. Finally I had to present and defend my last report on the losses caused by the rain. We were able to collect a 100% of the losses and now [deleted] is an even stronger position than before the flooding.

After this experience I understood that to be a leader you must not only give orders, but also motivate people showing them how to achieve a common goal working together. I was also able to strengthen my managerial skills that will be useful for the rest of my career and life. I have maintained the attitude that I had during the flooding towards my subordinates and peers and I am convinced that we work in a much better way now.

oceanalma

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