Motivation Essay
INSEAD Motivation essay
One of my biggest strengths is my ability to get things done under pressure. This was tested in COUNTRY X when I launched a project to develop the management and leadership capacities of a local NGO, the X Environmental Association (XEA). I built the project from the ground up, securing $750,000 in funding from a global foundation.
The project began in January 20XX, just as the CountryX Revolution was gaining momentum. The government was suspicious of our leadership training courses, and refused permission for XEA to receive foreign funding. I fought to keep the project afloat, scrambling to secure short-term funding from regional organizations. After finally winning a green light from the government, I launched the program.
However, as security in CountryX began to deteriorate, our work became increasingly difficult. Challenges threatened to derail the project, including violence from both government and insurgent forces, and COUNTRY X suddenly replaced the head of the NGO with one of its own cronies.
As the chaos in CountryX grew, I began to rely on other personal strengths, especially perseverance and focus: I struggled to keep the training courses on schedule, continuously reassuring the government that we weren’t engaging in political activities and easing the security concerns of participants. I remained committed to seeing the project through, and despite the crisis, we managed to provide leadership training courses to over 50 young citizens.
Working in CountryX also forced me to confront one of my main weaknesses: learning to be more understanding of other people’s priorities. In the past, I had found it a challenge to accept when coworkers had different priorities than mine, priorities which delayed their work. In CountryX, however, I found it understandable that the focus of my colleagues often drifted away from the job at hand to focus more on personal issues; I had to learn to be more patient and compassionate with my colleagues and their needs. I also learned to maximize the potential that each person could offer – even if they’re not willing to work 24/7, each person can add a vital voice to the team.
One of the main factors in my person development has been my global family. For generations my family were traders based in RegionX, India, but in the 1940s my grandparents left India in search of better opportunities. My paternal grandparents moved to Yemen, where they remained until the 1963 revolution, then to South Africa and finally Australia. On my mother’s side, my grandparents moved to Iran, where my mother was born; after the 1979 revolution, she fled to Sydney to continue her university studies, and in the process met my father. My parents left Australia in 19XX for jobs in the USA, and in 20XX they finally settled in European CountryX. My family’s global outlook gave me the drive to think globally as I began my own career, moving from the USA to Country X, Country Y, and Country Z and inspired my career in the area of international development in emerging economies.