My Goals and Experience - Essay Example

What is the impact that you wish to have on the world? What are your short term and long term goals? How will your previous experiences enhance your ability to pursue a career that will allow you to achieve this impact? If Gravity, my financial advisory firm would follow me in chasing the dream of inviting investments into socially responsible industries like renewable energy and agriculture, it would make a substantial impact on the industry and subsequently on the country’s sustainable development. Gravity was co- founded by me as a financial advisory firm intending to help its clients to bring in more strategic investment. This dream later evolved to be my long term career goal. To lay the foundation for my vision, I set my short-term career goal to establish our own venture fund resultantly transforming the services of Gravity from mere consultancy to ‘advisory service and investment’. A team of high expertise was set to realize the prospects and openings for investing in these traditional industries. The series of career events which preceded the recent fame of Gravity in attracting direct investments from global giants enhanced my ability to make an impact on the society while striving for my career goal. My vision was inspired since I heard the news of Chinese Internet companies being listed on the NASDAQ. The skill acquirement process began as I joined NET 263 as a CFO assistant where I learnt the key techniques like internal management and capital investment search which were involved in uplifting a private company to be global. I could manage an entire fund raising project which raised $22 million for Net 263 from foreign venture capitals. I was subsequently promoted as corporate development manager in charge of Net 263’s investments, where I accumulated experience on investments, merger and acquisitions. Later I served as a founding employee of China OperVestors. The lessons I learned while building China OperVestors as a specialty global merchant bank from scratch came handy in establishing Gravity Advisor Inc. I could build a team of professional excellence to help Gravity’s clients improve management while I raised capitals for them. The team was experienced in strategy, technology, finance, and law, which enhanced the firm’s value for clients. The social gratitude I developed while relentlessly working towards the establishment of 100 Hope Schools and the social responsibly induced into the corporate system of Gravity, would help me more to peruse the social aspects of my career vision. An MBA from Yale would accelerate these strategy formations by evaluating them against the scientific and management standards. The Yale DNA would add more to my career, team and the firm’s future. 2: Leadership Example Describe a professional accomplishment that exhibits your leadership style. The accomplishment should include evidence of your leadership skills, a description of the actions you took, as well as the impact you had on your organization. (500 words maximum) It was my skills as a leader to strive against challenges that helped Gravity, a financial consultancy co-founded and led by me to attain heights of achievement and fame. The challenge was to introduce strategic investments into Chinese Business environment doubted to replace the conventional capitalist investments. Moreover the clients my leadership skills as I was a young female without an advanced degree or proven experience in the industry. Research and analysis to find the ideal client was favored positively by my leadership insight to seek expert advice. A technology oriented flow battery company which was still in the R&D stage was identified as their engineering concept promoted energy conservation which perfectly fitted into our vision. Further feasibility study on its business model and cost analysis revealed that the company had good chances to gain venture capital. However pitching the client was difficult as the company was a hot deal among the conventional investors and its management was also longing for a conventional investment. My persuasive communication skills paid off as our team could lead the CEO of the company towards our thought. I could convince him that the futuristic approach of the strategic investors would look for long-term strategic value rather than short-term returns .This would in turn give the company ample time for R&D to streamline a technology which could actually change the framework of the entire industry. Furthermore, strategic investors could also support them in technology. But the management poised concerns on the fact that the most ideal strategic investor had never directly invested in China and also on the chance of loosing the current capitalist investors. My strategic leadership approach helped me to inspire my team to initiate relationships with potential strategic investors rather than to give up the idea on the cost of concerns. I could get to know that one of them was enthusiastic about investing in flow battery and had approached some companies for the same. Further research, to investigate the reason why they gave up the trial, found that the problem was merely the business and technical model but not the market. This developed confidence with in the company. The negotiating skills of the leader in me could effectively convince the current investors who were hesitant and offensive against the idea. While initiating backup plan to approach another strategic investor as well, I co-organized a meeting among the client’s management team and my own firm. We built consensus on the high-risk but high-return action on strategic investment which enabled me to build the ideal team. I could win the confidence of some ideal investors and their determination assured another strategic investor, followed by other investors on the scope of the investment. Resultantly, my first assignment in the role of a “boss” raised 12 million dollars for the client from 4 investors and my firm acquired reputation in the industry. This also extended a new technology and a new industry which could make a positive effect on the country’s economy. A phrase often heard among SOM graduates is that they aspire to lead a life that is an “SOM Story” – that of a broadly engaged, values-based leader who owns and solves hard problems that matter. How will you create your own SOM Story? Describe a situation in which you devised and implemented a creative or innovative solution to a difficult problem. What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them? 500 words You need to weave the paragraphs into one seamless story under the theme, “When one door closes, I open another.” I always believed that new doors would open when the others closed. This inspiration had led me right from my childhood to try hard with all the possible options and not to give up till the goal is achieved. In this context the determining factor between success and failure is the choice of option and approach. I had the first experience of this sort when my passion for dancing was challenged as my physique out-grew other girls in the team and I became the odd one out. Though I had to quit, my determination inspired me to discover other possible doors which could lead me across the challenge. I could successfully find another way with in few months as I identified a new trend in folk dance featuring a leader who was taller than others. My sincerity, confidence, and commitment convinced the coach on the idea and he gave me the lead role in the new form of dance. But when it came to my passion in modeling, height turned to be a limiting factor once again, but this time in the reverse order. At this juncture I searched for another direction to reach the goal. I chose to be a modeling coach and a team builder. I not only chased my dream successfully but also helped others to do the same by establishing university’s first modeling association Another experience where I had to research for alternative directions towards success was when my neighborhood in Tianjin saw agitations from small shop owners .The government had forcefully relocated them as a part of the Olympics despite their long term contracts with landlords and they had spent ample money on shop restructuring which was not compensated. Though the protests continued, the government had shut all doors in front of them which would have led to a solution for the problem. I was determined to sort out an alternative. I chose to hold negotiation talks with the government as a representative of the protestors, rather than being a part of the agitation, which was a common form of protest in China. I discussed in detail the problems of the shop keepers which were diverse, ranging from location to inventory. Meanwhile, I analyzed the government’s blueprint of the new street and the time schedule for the reconstruction .Resultantly I developed a compensation plan which was approved by the shop keepers as well. This difference of approach from the routine agitations which was so common in China attracted the Government’s attention towards the issue. This created room for discussion resulting in an amicable solution to the shop keepers’ problem. Value based leadership is not born or gained overnight. It includes an ongoing process of self-challenge, self-reflection and an urge to work hard towards getting over the challenges. These incidents developed confidence in me to believe that there is a possible way out of every problem. It is the role of a successful leader to search for newer doors when the way to success is closed. Read More