This essay should reflect the culmination of your thoughts about leadership.

It is based on the NPR series “This I Believe”, but with a twist.

Rather than crafting a statement about your beliefs in general, you are asked to write a concise summary of your beliefs about leadership, using the quotation from Warren Bennis as the starting point:

“The point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, and to use yourself completely – all your gifts, skills and energies – to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.” (Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader).

The following points should be addressed:

-What is your vision?
-How are you making it manifest?
-How are you becoming yourself?
-Are you enjoying the process of becoming?

Your essay should be 500 words or less (1 ½ – 2 pages, double-spaced).

In preparation, you are asked to read at least 12 “This I Believe” columns online to see the range of people and ideas represented at the following website: www.thisibelieve.org