Being assigned to a leadership essay may be rather intimidating at first. However, the first and the most important thing is to choose a leader that you truly believe in and to describe his or her traits, which help to influence thousands or even millions of people across the world.
Apart from that, you need to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the background by conducting profound research, collecting necessary information, and analyzing it. In such a way you’ll show that you can come up with first-class evidence and to create a professional piece of writing.
Choosing a leadership essay topic
Leadership essay is hardly the most common assignment at high schools or colleges. Most likely they are given in economy or political classes, and you may face it for the first time only during college years. However, it doesn’t mean that the task is difficult and you should panic. With our detailed explanation, you’ll easily master the task!
So what makes a great leadership essay? First, you shouldn’t be in a hurry. Choosing the wrong story will surely influence the result even if your writing skills are outstanding. Select a person you truly like and dive deeper into the story: being indifferent and bored won’t do you any good. Understand how the chosen person got to where he or she is.
And then the only thing left is to describe this person’s biography and explain how this individual managed to achieve such high positions in society.
In case you don’t know who to describe, it’s possible to write about various leadership styles and explain when each of them can be applied. Describe leadership styles in different fields like business, sports, politics or even criminal environment. It’s always interesting to compare leadership styles of presidents or politicians of different ruling regimes (for example, democracy, authoritarianism, etc.).
Other interesting topics may include a comparison of different presidents (for example, Obama vs Trump), leaders in the shadow, reasons why people prefer voting for particular candidates or even how the company’s CEO is ruining the enterprise applying a wrong leadership style.
Remember to always stay creative and provide a unique work that would distinguish you from the rest of the students. Yes, there are thousands of hundreds of leadership essays but every person has a unique outlook on the subject and a valuable opinion to share.
Ask the right question
Everything starts with a clear understanding of the topic. It’s impossible to write an A+ leadership essay if you don’t know what the word ‘leadership’ means. So start with exploring sources – evaluate which traits of character exemplify the character of a leader. Think about what helps these people to motivate, persuade, and influence others, and to achieve any goal. When you find answers to these questions it will be rather easy to manage the topic as a whole.
We recommend turning only to reliable sources – go to the local or online library, download examples of scientific journals and articles. If the person is a leader of your local community, try to land a personal interview – it will surely add value to your leadership essay and won’t leave readers indifferent.
Here is our list of the qualities needed to be a leader:
- Intelligence;
- Integrity;
- Mind that is free from any judgments and prejudices;
- Efficient management;
- Skills to influence and inspire people.
You can widen the list by adding the features you have found throughout the research – the fuller your list will be, the more vivid picture you’ll be able to draw.
Pay attention to a leadership essay outline
Any paper needs a plan. We understand that students don’t want to waste extra time on writing an outline but trust us – it will greatly simplify the writing process and your essay will become more structured and smoother.
With the help of an outline, you’ll be able to put all the thoughts in order, to provide transitions between passages, and will present your thinking line in a coherent order. Creating a plan of action is one of the most important parts of crafting an A+ leadership essay.
Don’t forget about a hook
You already know that any written assignment should begin with an introduction. It’s a sort of a summary, where readers are familiarized with the subject and the main findings. However, don’t expose the most interesting details in your first paragraphs because the readers won’t have the motivation to read the essay further.
Simply describe what you are going to tell about your leadership essay and add a few juicy details to increase the interest of the audience. Explain why your topic is important: maybe because this leader is doing harm to the local community or he’s the one to change the whole world if enough people will follow.
Don’t forget to include a hook at the end of the introduction: it will catch and hold the reader. The best examples of hook sentences may be quotes of famous people, statistics or even your own experience. For example, a difficult situation when you had to find the courage and show your leadership skills.
Define the concept of leadership
You should also write a paragraph or two on how you understand leadership. But don’t paraphrase the common definition and try to be original.
Here are the questions you may want to answer:
- What skills contribute to becoming a real leader?
- Should a leader be risky and ambitious?
- Is the hierarchy needed for a leader to show all his skills?
Body paragraphs
These paragraphs make up the biggest part of your essay. Here is where you express your thoughts and ideas on the chosen topic. In order to achieve the best result, make a list of the arguments you’d like to refer to in the text.
Devote a separate paragraph to every argument and don’t forget to unite them with transition words and phrases. Make sure that every sentence backs your thesis.
Arrange all the information in a chronological or reverse chronological order to help readers understand your ideas in a simple way. Your essay should be clear and readable.
Conclusion
Many students think that no one reads the final part of an essay and they are completely wrong. It’s an additional chance to impress the readers and to summarize everything that you have stated in your leadership essay.
It should give the audience a strong aftertaste and to leave them with new knowledge and ideas. In this section, you need to paraphrase your thesis and body paragraphs. Remember that it’s not a place to introduce new arguments. Also, keep in mind, a weak conclusion may even lower your final grade!
Don’t forget to end the conclusion with a call to action: make people want to research the topic further!
Tips from our experts
We have made a list of the most important tips that will help you create a flawless leadership essay:
- Think differently. Try to come up with an original topic and surprise the audience;
- Always re-read the final draft before submitting it. Make sure you have a few days to check the paper and add corrections if needed;
- Stick to the active voice. It will make your essay sound more professional and stronger;
- Get familiar with examples of different leadership essays. This will help you with understanding what the tutor expects from you;
- Stick to the required formatting style. Ask your teacher about all the text peculiarities because inappropriate referencing or a wrong font may greatly influence the result;
- Always proofread your essay. Make sure that it doesn’t contain any typos, grammar or spelling errors. If you’re afraid that you won’t cope with the task, use online checkers;
- Get feedback from the people you trust;
- Avoid clichés, slang, and jargon. Always remain professional.
Bottom line
Leadership is a rather interesting topic for an essay. It is a great chance to express yourself and to explain how you see a person that stands at the forefront of changing the world. You can choose an individual, a company, a country or even a concept of leadership itself, and to share ideas with the world.
However, if you feel tired, bored or not knowing what to write about – you can always turn to our writers. They are here 24/7 to write essays of any complexity!