How to Craft a Compelling Leadership Essay That Stands Out

Leadership is a recurring theme in the context of MBA essays for admission. As incubators of new leaders, business schools want to know whether you have the potential to be one. The leadership essay provides the perfect opportunity to describe yourself as taking charge, overcoming hurdles, creating impact, and demonstrating effective leadership in your personal or professional life. However, drafting an  MBA admissions essay that conveys your leadership qualities clearly and concisely can be challenging. What is often missing in such essays is a specific understanding of the nuances of leadership. Here’s everything you need to know about crafting an effective leadership essay for MBA admissions: 

What key qualities must your MBA leadership essay reflect? 

There are, of course, as many leadership styles as good business leaders. However, they all have certain common qualities. Here are three leadership qualities your MBA admissions essay should showcase.

1) Technical expertise: 

The importance of technical expertise for sound leadership is widely recognized. For example, Harvard Business School considers ‘Analytical Aptitude’ an essential prerequisite for an ideal applicant. It is the ability to “assess, analyze, and act upon complex information within often-ambiguous contexts.” Thus, problem-solving and strategic thinking are indispensable skills for a successful business leader.

2) Soft skills: 

The roles and responsibilities of leaders require them to manage, motivate, and inspire their team while resolving internal conflicts that are bound to arise in any workplace. Therefore, a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ) is crucial to ensure that everyone in the organization is enthusiastically pulling in the same direction. Furthermore, good leaders also need to be equipped with a high degree of self-awareness to identify their shortcomings, which they see as opportunities to grow and adapt, instead of letting their ego cloud their judgment. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, who popularized emotional intelligence, noted that it is a common trait among the most effective leaders. This claim is backed by research showing that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of high performance.

3) Vision: 

What sets a good leader apart is their ability to think beyond the next quarter or fiscal year and focus on creating long-term value for their customers, organization, and community. Visionary leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk can anticipate future trends and opportunities by using their creativity to innovate. Business schools place significant stress on innovative leadership. Berkeley Haas, for example, considers questioning the status quo and challenging convention among its four leadership principles.

How to tell your story in the MBA leadership essay? 

Now that you know the exceptional qualities required, it should be easier to reflect on your experiences and choose one to write about in your leadership essay for MBA admissions. 

1) Be humble and authentic

You don’t need to come across as a flawless leader in the essay to convince the admissions committee of your leadership potential. A common mistake among applicants is to write an essay they think the admissions team wants to read rather than staying true to themselves. But not being authentic makes you a less interesting applicant. For instance, if your leadership essay revolves around organizing a neighborhood clean-up, it would be extremely unrealistic and dull if everything went smoothly and your performance as a leader received universal praise. Mistakes are bound to happen, and being humble enough to write about them and what they taught you makes for a far more interesting read. It exhibits a high degree of self-awareness, adaptability, and authenticity. Kristen Mercuri, Director of Admissions, Recruiting, and Outreach at Yale SOM, offered this advice when she encouraged applicants to “be genuine in your approach” and to “speak in your own voice.” 

2) Acknowledge gaps

Don’t shy away from telling a story where you couldn’t meet all your goals. Such an approach highlights your ability to self-reflect — a crucial leadership quality that business schools prize. Researchers have found that reflection provides a base for motivation and inspires one to bring out the best in others, which is the hallmark of a successful leader. Further, acknowledging gaps in your skills and knowledge allows you to tease out the areas for improvement and showcase how an MBA can help you grow. This demonstrates the depth of your school research to the admissions committee and allows you to clearly show how the school can help you bridge gaps in your skillset.  

3) Showcase examples of leadership

• Don’t shy away from sharing leadership experiences outside the workplace. Did you write and direct a play in college? Or initiate waste segregation in your apartment building? Or organize a charity drive? Go ahead and mention them. 

• Focus on leadership experiences that have a long-lasting impact on your organization, community, and society. The impact of your leadership need not always be on a large number of people. If you have experience mentoring or coaching a person or group, and your influence was pivotal to their life or career, it can be the basis of an engaging leadership essay for MBA admissions.
• Highlight experiences involving collaboration and team-building as they are an opportunity to expand your leadership style.
• Choosing an experience that was a defining moment in your personal and professional life will help you write with passion and conviction, making your MBA leadership essay far more compelling. 
• Discuss a leadership experience that showcases how your personal values align with the values of the business school you wish to attend.

How to address prompts for the MBA leadership essay? 

Having delved into the general guidelines for crafting an impactful leadership essay, let’s focus on answering specific leadership essay prompts from two of the most sought-after business schools.

Example 1: Kellogg School of Management

MBA Leadership Essay prompt: Kellogg’s purpose is to educate, equip and inspire brave leaders who create lasting value. Provide a recent example where you have demonstrated leadership and created value. What challenges did you face and what did you learn?

• The first thing that should stand out when one reads this prompt is understanding Kellogg’s emphasis on growing through collaboration, problem-solving, and seeing challenges as opportunities. The notion of ‘creating value’ is so crucial that it is mentioned twice, underlining the school’s preference for highly impactful stories that have led to widespread and long-lasting change. 
• The school is specifically interested in recent experiences, so it is advisable to share a story not more than 18 months old. 
• When you describe your leadership experience, strike a balance between explaining the steps you took and the strategic goals that inspired your actions.
• The second half of the prompt pertains to the challenges you faced. Here, it is necessary to ensure that the challenges you describe do not appear to be contrived but rather emerge organically from your situation. While discussing these challenges, remember to establish the stakes. Why was it important for you to tackle a particular challenge? Revealing this gives the reader the context and scale of your leadership experience. 
• While describing your learnings, avoid making broad, generalized statements that lack substance. For example, instead of saying that you “learned to challenge the status quo,” which does not tell the leader what you learned or how you will specifically apply those lessons, say that you “learned to understand the rationale behind commonly held management beliefs and gathered data that enabled you to disprove stereotypes.” Describe specific lessons you learned from your experience and how they impacted your outlook, beliefs, and values. 
• Finally, talk about the impact your leadership had on others–both short and long-term (consider long-term as after a six-month period).

Example 2: Berkeley Haas

MBA Leadership Essay prompt: What kind of leader do you aspire to be, and why?

• Berkeley Haas highlights the importance of training humble, inquisitive, adaptive, and altruistic leaders. Therefore, weave in these qualities when describing the kind of leader you aspire to be. 
• You may also use this prompt to explain how the school will help you bridge the gap between your current leadership capacity and where you aspire to reach post-MBA. Describe how you will leverage Berkley Haas’ academic program, alumni network and career support services to become a better leader.
• Equally important, if not more, is the ‘why’ part of the prompt, as it allows you to describe your values and motivations to apply for the MBA program. Do you have a cause that you care deeply about and believe could benefit from your leadership? Or, a person or experience that shaped your thoughts on leadership? 
• Lastly, avoid making vague statements and instead focus on relating your authentic thoughts and experiences.

Admissions teams use your examples and, more importantly, the insights you have gained through them to gauge your leadership capacity and potential. Schools are not looking for students who are already “perfect leaders.” If that were the case, they wouldn’t need an MBA! They are interested in those who know their strengths and have clarity about how an institution can help them become better leaders. In essence, your leadership is as much about honest self-evaluation as it is about leading.

Need help overcoming writer’s block? We offer essay development as a part of our end-to-end packages and a standalone service. You may also want to read our blog on how to write the ‘goals’ essay for MBA applications. For more information, contact The Red Pen MBA team today!