Leadership

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others." - Bill Gates
"Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall." - Stephen R. Covey

Overviews of Leadership

A lot of graduate recruitment schemes are designed to help recent graduates fast-track their way to management positions. Obviously in this situation your leadership abilities are very important to the company and they want to know that you have leadership skills.
Have a look at this BBC article about whether Leadership skills can be learnt. And if you decide that they can, or that you already have them, then the following sites will also be useful!
The nwlink.com website has a useful overview of the 'Art and Science of Leadership', including concepts of Leadership, Motivation, Leadership Styles and Communication. Mindtools.com has a good explanation of a variety of different Leadership styles.
Enterprise Rent A Car have a useful Powerpoint presentation about Leadership. You will need Powerpoint on your computer to view it.

Evidence for Leadership

Have you ever done or experienced any of the following?

• Captained a sports team?
• Taken charge of a piece of group work?
• Been involved in the Duke of Edinburgh award?

Any situation that involved you taking charge and making decisions for a group of people can be used to show leadership qualities.

How do you prove to a recruiter that you have these skills?

It is not good enough to simply say “I have leadership experience ”, you have to prove that you are by giving examples of when you have worked in a team and what you did to make sure the team achieved what it set out to achieve!
Think of an example of when you have worked in a team and then use the STAR technique to describe it:

S	Define the Situation
T	Identify the Task
A	Describe your Action
R	Explain the Result

This technique is useful at all stages of the selection process, especially at interview, so it is worthwhile getting to grips with it.
Here’s an example:
S – define the Situation: (where were you? what were you doing? who were you with?)
My voluntary work for Groundwork involves working with groups of between 10 and 15 people on weekend conservation projects.  On one project on the River Aire, I was the most experienced volunteer and was asked to lead the group.
T – identify the Task (what was your aim? what had to be achieved?)
Our task was to cut back the vegetation and collect the litter on a section of the river.  The work was mainly unskilled but there were issues of health and safety and it was critical that a supportive atmosphere was created before the work could be started and that all the volunteers worked as a team.
A – describe the Action you took (be clear about what you did, what part you played in the team)
I started the day with a coffee-break and asked each volunteer to introduce themselves.  I then gave an interactive demonstration of the day’s tasks and the required rules relating to health and safety working in and near water.  As this involved my falling in the river everyone was soon laughing and joining in.  After the demonstration I asked each volunteer if they wanted to pick one particular task, or have a go at everything, and I took this into account when allocating work groups.
R – highlight the Result you achieved (what did you achieve, what did the team achieve, be clear about what was successful!)
The day was very successful with the work being completed in record time.  The real success, though, was that the feedback showed that all the volunteers had felt able to contribute fully, they had all enjoyed themselves, and they all said they would volunteer again
Write a detailed statement like this, based on your own experience.  You can then use it for applications and interviews, and summarise it for use in your CV, such as:

• Led a team of 15 volunteers on conservation work on the River Aire, requiring me to train, supervise and motivate the group to achieve the task whilst making sure they enjoyed the experience.
• I do regular volunteer conservation work and am often required to lead and motivate groups of between 10 and 15 volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.

Adapting Your Examples

The example above, for instance, could easily be altered to prove teamworking It is worthwhile spending time writing statements like this about all your experiences and then adapting them to match each recruiters’ specific requirements.

Resources for University of Bradford students

Destinations - The Destinations careers planning website has a great topics section with excellent resources on employability skills:

• This section shows how your personality can effect your career choice and lets you try out several personality assessments!
• This section on teamworking has some useful advice and resources which are relevant to leadership too.

Other resources

Here are some questionnaires to help you find out your Leadership style

• www.psychologyabout.com
• www.nwlink.com
• www.impactfactory.com
• www.lifetour.com
• www.testcafe.com
• www.expertrating.com
• college.hmco.com
• www.queendom.com

We also run regular workshops on employability skills; our Career and Personal Development modules also help you identify your skills and relate them to career choice.
Many of the graduate recruitment magazines available in Career Development Services have good articles on employability skills.  Come and collect the latest editions.  Alternatively, check out the editorials on the publishers websites:

• Graduate Prospects – articles on skills and how to evidence them
• Real World – their advice section has some good articles on skills and how to sell them.
• Inside Careers - has advice on skills related to specific graduate professions

Other relevant websites with general information on skills are:
The Learndirect Careers Advice website offers lots of useful advice, and has interactive programs on, for example, assessing your skills and interests and decision-making styles.
Mind Tools has a special section for career starters. Full of interesting quizzes, games, information on specific employability skills, including problem solving,. Most of it is free. This is an America site so sometimes the advice and terms used is geared towards the American market.