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4. Theme: Who You Most Admire If you were able to
choose one persona from the business world, past or present, to
be your personal professor throughout the MBA program, who would
this person be and why?
Describe the characteristics of an exceptional manager, using
an example of someone whom you have observed or with whom you
have worked. Illustrate how his or her management style has
influenced you.
Translation:
What are your values? What character traits do you admire?
This is the curve-ball question. The committee isn’t looking to
evaluate your judgment in selecting some famous, powerful
personal in your firm or in the world. What they’re really
after, which you reveal in your selection of their person, is
the qualities, attributes, and strengths you value in others, as
well as in yourself. Some important qualities to address: Drive,
discipline, vision, ethics, and leadership. As always, provide
specific examples, and avoid choosing anyone too obvious.
Since the person you select is not as important as what you say
about him or her, your choices can be more humble. You might
write about a current boss, business associate, or friend. Bad
choices are your mother or father.
If you like, it’s perfectly fine to go for a famous figure.
Indeed, there may be someone whose career and style you’re
passionate about. Make sure your essay explains why you find
this persona son compelling.
Sample Essay Topic: If you could step into any celebrities
shoes for a day, who would it be and why? (500 words maximum)
It will be Yao Ming, an All-Star centre of NBA Houston
Rockets with impressive flexibility, cultural awareness and
leadership skill.
All Chinese are pride of Yao Ming not only because he has
2.26 meters of height, but also because he relies on one's own
efforts to achieve success in a totally new country within a
short period of time. He is a hard working man and excels at
adopting a new environment. Every year, thousands of foreigners
enter into U.S.A. as students, workers, or vendors, hoping to
realize their own American dream. I have the same dream to
succeed in Chicago through my own efforts like Yao Ming. At
Chicago GSB, I look forward to engaging in group activities
where my fellows come from all around the world and I can take
the advantage to sharpen my ability to work and lead in
multi-culture environment. This is the first reason that I hope
to become Yao Ming.
Secondly, Yao Ming, as a Chinese, also belongs to the world.
He has perfectly merged Chinese and United States cultures. The
football fans come from all parts of the world. Sportsmen of NBA
should be open to the world. They help the community to
participate in all kinds of activities actively and communicate
with different people from every corner of the world. Chicago
GSB has students of various nationalities from all parts of the
world too. I hope I can be the same as Yao Ming, merging various
nationalities, culture, and being able to keep up with the trend
of globalization.
I really value the diversity since I believe it can bring
with the creativity and group contribution. I ever encountered a
cultural challenge. In such a heterogeneous environment, it
seemed I could never reach a consensus with my foreign
colleagues. Why? It turned out that, because of the cultural
diversity, everybody took a different approach to the same
problem. Realizing the impasse, we agreed that whenever there
was an argument, all of us must change roles - when the
challenger is standing in the shoes of the challenged, the
paradigm shift would bring something totally different. We
argued and changed, argued and changed again, and soon we gained
a truly valuable paradigm harmony. Flexibility was added to
systematic approach, and western methodology was merged with
eastern ways of thinking. Amazingly, we found diversity was not
an impediment any longer, but it nurtured creativity and
efficiency.
Thirdly, Yao Ming successfully influence, lead others. Yao
Ming makes more Chinese like basketball - the audience rating in
CCTV of NBA match with Yao Ming always ranks the first. This
kind of influence power and ability to lead are final goals that
I hope to achieve. How great it is to influence people of an
era, interests of several hundred million people through a
person! Through the study at Chicago GSB, I hope to become Yao
Ming in another field – a business leader that can have impact
on the world.
Next: Sample MBA
Essays #5: Teamwork – How Do You Work with Others in a Group
Setting?
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