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What do you consider to be your greatest achievement and why?
My greatest achievement was establishing my own fine-dining restaurant. The joy I felt when I led my startup restaurant to an ongoing success, despite many obstacles and competitive pressures, proved to me that my sacrifice was well worth the effort. Starting with limited capital, I learned how to allocate resources. Instead of hiring professional agents, I designed the floor plan myself and dealt with county officials to obtain the necessary permits. It was like a miracle to me when I realized that the business I established is worth many times more today than the capital with which I started. In the beginning, our performance was less than ideal because competition was fierce. I implemented weekly team meeting with my employees to brainstorm ideas to promote the restaurant and to review past performance. I created a family-like relationship for my employees and they treated the restaurant as though it were their own. After two years of struggling, we became the most profitable restaurant in the area. The challenges I faced made me more mature both professionally and personally. Acting as the key solution-provider in my first business gave me greater confidence in my potential for developing a successful consulting enterprise after my MBA graduation. Describe your most challenging experience while working in a group The most challenge when in a group relationship is to convince others to work toward a common goal. When I inherited my fathers business in China, I tried to change the worker's slacking behavior by switching the pay-by-the-hour system to the pay-by-the-unit system. When I announced the change, more than 50 workers protested and refused to work. To convince them that the new system would benefit them was the best solution to the dilemma. I decided to let the protesting workers debate with the supportive ones, with no intervention from management. Through the debate, workers who were previously against the new system finally understood the advantages that they would gain from it: Their daily working hours would be shorter while their compensation would stay at least the same as long as they worked efficiently, which would be something they could control. After only a three-hour debate, both sides were satisfied and the company was back to business immediately. With the new system, productivity and efficiency increased, while everyone was happier because they could now control their working hours without affecting their salaries. That experience made me realized that collaboration is the most challenging to achieve, and motivation is the key to making it happen in leading a group to reach a common goal. Of what skill or talent are you especially proud? I am especially proud of my skill to see a person's true value and to help him or her recognize it. My thirteen-year-old-housemate was an absolute reticent introvert. He hardly ever spoke. Nobody at home ever paid attention to him, or noticed his very existence. I let him know that I would listen to him. I observed him carefully and tried to start conversations based on topics in which he had an interest. After a year of my efforts, he finally began to speak up and share his school life with me. I noticed he had exceptional talent in drawing and writing. However, his works were extremely sad, even destructive: Ships were always destroyed and no one could ever survive. I did research and learned that his family's ignorance made him an extremely negative and destructive person. I decided to bring him along with me to the community service center every week. Gradually, he changed from a silent boy to a talkative artist. That talent makes me proud because it allows me to create hopes for others. People sometimes abandon themselves when they cannot recognize their own values. I will use that talent to save such people by helping them find their true worth.
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The mission of the Yale School of Management is to educate leaders for business and society. In this context, tell us your career goals and your plans for achieving them. Please be specific. Describe how your previous experience will help you to reach your goals.
Over the last four years my friends in business school have been pressuring me, 'You'd be perfect here! What's holding you back?' I have known an MBA was in my future, but until now, my future goals were not clear. To me, business school is not the place to find my future, but rather a means to achieve my goals. At Morgan Stanley, I founded a women's committee after seeing the need for a support system for incoming female bankers. After Morgan Stanley, I knew that I wanted to further develop my business skills, but this time by making an impact on people's lives. I chose NYC Investment Fund because it invests in women- and minority- owned businesses. At the Fund, I realized that I loved supporting women entrepreneurs. I went to Oxygen Media, a womens cable channel, because I wanted to be in a business environment solely focused on serving women. Here I learned that I enjoyed looking at the financial 'big picture,' but I also realized that I did not want to be so far removed from Oxygen's customers, who were at home watching television. All of these experiences have made me realize that I enjoy being in a business that advises women, and being in close contact with those I advise. It was not until recently, while getting my Masters with a concentration in Women's Studies and living in Hanover, a small business area, that I've decided what I would ultimately like to do. My long-term goal is to found a nonprofit organization dedicated to women entrepreneurs. After business school, I will spend my first few years consulting small businesses and nonprofits to prepare myself. My academic and professional experiences have provided me with a strong foundation in analytical thinking and interpersonal communications. I now need an MBA to expand and develop my skill-set to successfully transition to a consulting career in the nonprofit and entrepreneurial sectors. The consulting firms that I have approached have informed me that without an MBA, which would provide me with the necessary nonprofit and entrepreneurial expertise and with leadership skills, they would not be willing to hire me. In short, to move forward with my career goals an MBA is crucial now. I am choosing Yale SOM because no other MBA program parallels its commitment to integrate the nonprofit and business sectors. Yale will provide me with an outstanding nonprofit and entrepreneurial education and surround me with socially-aware, innovative people. After speaking with many students and alumni, I am confident that a Yale MBA will provide me with the resources and skills I need to succeed as an organization founder. As the leader of an organization, I will not only rely on my professional experience and an MBA education, but also on the valuable lessons I have learned through my personal experience. One noteworthy lesson I learned was my freshman year at University of Texas. Several months into school, at a career fair, I spoke with a JP Morgan recruiter who was hiring seniors for jobs in New York City. Assuming I was a senior, she enthusiastically described the challenging positions. She was disappointed to find I was a freshman. 'It's really out of the question,' she said. 'Come back in three years.' I followed-up by reading all about JP Morgan's history and its offerings. I was completely sold. I sent her an essay explaining why I was as capable as any senior. She informed me that in the past, they had only hired freshmen who had Ivy League educations and family connections. I had neither. Months later, she returned and was surprised to see me at her information session. At the end, we had a long conversation, and she said to me, 'You are going to be very successful, and JP Morgan would hate to lose you. Give me some time.' After a month, I received an offer to be the only freshman hired that year. This experience has taught me that even in an unlikely situation, through my determination, I can succeed'-an outlook which I will rely on heavily as an organization founder. Another significant lesson I learned was in Summer of 2001. As a first-generation Indian-American, I have spent summers visiting relatives in India. In 2001 I returned to India to educate the underprivileged in Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. I was a volunteer for Impact Partners who was sent out to different organizations on a need-basis. Often I went to remote areas where I knew little about the organization and its expectations of me. Once I was asked to show a group of female weavers how to increase their trade. Since I came from America, they assumed my advice would be better. However, I had learned from other projects that my Western perspective was not always the best answer to developing countries' problems. After learning that the weavers' business survived on loyalty, determination, and product knowledge, I realized that no one could understand their business better than they could. Despite their eagerness for my 'answers,' I asked them a series of open-ended questions. Their answers provided them with a means to expand their operation. This instance is significant because not only did I empower them to realize their own ability, but also because I exposed myself to a new perspective. Without acknowledging their capabilities, I would not have had as much of an impact. When running an organization, this open-minded perspective will be necessary so that I can learn from my successes and mistakes. Moreover, when running an organization which focuses on training entrepreneurs, it is imperative that I understand how to empower them. Through all my academic, professional, and personal experiences, I have acquired a solid foundation. To run an organization, I need to develop this skill-set with the nonprofit, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills than an MBA can provide. With a Yale MBA as well as my determination, open-minded perspective, and ability to empower others, I know I will be a successful organization founder.
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Essay 3: Part of leadership is the ability to make a difference under difficult circumstances. With this in mind, describe a situation in which you exhibited such leadership.
'We can't do anything about it, it's the customer's fault.' Even the floor workers at S Corp. repeated this mantra daily in a thousand silent ways. In December of 2001 we lost our largest customer, K Inc., due to the defensive attitude of a customer service rep. Losing K Inc. amounted to nearly a 15% decrease in annual gross revenue and was deeply demoralizing to the company. Starting to turn around the dysfunctional customer attitude at S Corp., a $4 million 50-employee medical device manufacturer owned by my in-laws, required playing several roles. As a family member and young manager I had to call my shots with great care and finesse. I began with the sales and marketing department. I informally coached and motivated my 4-person team over lunch and after hours. This approach worked well with the two younger recent college grads. I understood their need for guidance and recognition and I could easily relate with them. However, the two older salespeople, a guy in his thirties and a middle-aged woman, resented my efforts. For them I was too young and even worse I was the boss' son-in-law. I tried being stern, I tried off-site team-building activities, nothing worked. Communication deteriorated and I began to fear that I was going to lose two great salespeople. The breakthrough came when I landed a large contract with Z Inc. I could sense that my two problem salespeople were impressed with my success. I concentrated my efforts on proving myself as a competent salesman and in so doing I went a long way toward earning the respect of my sales team. We began to see a real turnaround in attitude. My next task was going after production. When I first approached John, S Corp's production manager, about improving the customer service attitude of production he was very defensive. He thought that I was criticizing his people and management style. In my enthusiasm to affect change I did fumble my presentation but I was able to eventually win John over by taking him on a sales trip to New York. John enjoyed getting out of S Corp's plant, meeting our customers and touring our customers' facilities. In between customer visits and over dinner I had ample time to develop a better relationship with John and explain what I wanted to do with the company. I was able to touch John with my passion and he agreed to let me try my ideas in his department. The floor workers longed to take more pride in what they did. I started by personally teaching customer service clinics to these workers who printed, die-cut and assembled company products. I also arranged for our production personnel to tour the facilities of some key customers. Seeing our customers face-to-face really helped the production staff become more passionate about product quality and service. When it came to the customer service department I had to be firm. One service rep in particular did not understand customer care. She had lost three accounts due to a lack of attention to detail and poor communication skills. I mentored and coached her after hours; I tried her in different roles. Nothing worked and, I had to replace her. Dealing with my family was the trickiest part of my efforts. Some in the family were suspicious of my ideas. They saw no need to change the long-standing policies of the company. My breakthrough came through a brother-in-law who was willing to give me enough time to try my ideas. Once we started seeing success, I was able to make him an ally by sharing the credit with him (maybe more than he deserved) in front of other family members. His status in the family hierarchy is very important to him, and I learned to use that to my advantage. After six months, we began to see the impact of the changes. Not only had we not lost a single customer, but my phone calls and meetings with P Inc. (a customer we had lost two years earlier) paid off. I flew to New Jersey and we inked a new multi-year million-dollar deal. From this experience of starting to change the problematic attitude at S Corp. I learned that my basic leadership style is very coaching and hands-on. I got great results with the sales and floor staff by asking questions, sharing experiences and empathizing with their work and personal problems. I really fell in love with leadership, management and training. I also learned the importance of allies. John was key to my efforts in production. He has since become a great friend and we have successfully collaborated on several projects. When it came to being firm, I did not enjoy firing people, but I did it and learned that leaders sometimes have to make tough and unpopular calls. In dealing with my family, I was able to leverage the personal needs of a brother in law to move the organization. What can I say, working in a family company presents some very complex leadership challenges. M y leadership experiences at S Corp. have heavily influenced my career goals. My long-term ambition is to be the president or division head of a consumer products company and the Yale School of Management will be instrumental in achieving this goal. The diverse student body, the renowned professors, the guest speakers and the resources of Yale University will all make me a more thoughtful and sophisticated leader. SOM will challenge my thinking and help me better understand leadership in a business context, the political world and my own community.
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Essay Question 2: Describe when you were a part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What was your role, how did you contribute to the process or outcome, and what did you learn? (500 words)
As a senior at x University, my public policy professor assigned my team of five students to do a 'policy briefing' on the racial issues surrounding pollution in the Anacostia community of Washington DC. Over the four weeks of our preparation, the team became dysfunctional. A key racial issue surfaced immediately as Chari, the only african-american, resented being asked to research community-based advocacy groups in the predominantly black community of Anacostia, feeling that the white members of the group did not want to deal directly with the black community. Chari accused us of racism and elitism. The white members of the group were too afraid to address the situation and the group never discussed it. We also dealt with a power struggle within the group. Kevin had done most of the data modeling for the presentation and felt that he had 'earned' the right to lead the presentation. Jennifer and Chari felt that because they had the strongest personal feelings concerning the issue, they should share the lead of the presentation. I proposed a few compromise scenarios but everyone was too entrenched. I finally suggested that we put the issue to a vote and Jennifer and Chari were subsequently elected to give the presentation. I tried motivating and encouraging Kevin, but his passion and energy for the presentation never returned. Another problem was that the group was mostly type-A personalities and the big project stress caused two members to dictate who did what and when. This caused major resentments. By this point I was sick of the never-ending conflict. I finished my portion of the presentation and I let everyone else duke it out. The finished product was pieced together and passionless. From this experience I learned that I did have some latent racial issues, Chari was right, I did not want to talk to the advocacy group in "dangerous" Anacostia. I was secretly relieved that she was going to do it. This experience helped me identify and deal with some of my hidden racial biases. I learned the importance of openly dealing with problems. We were too scared to talk about race and Chari's unresolved feelings hurt the effectiveness of the group process. I also learned the importance of having team players that can build consensus. Everyone in our group wanted to play leader. I have since learned that a team, especially one of peers, requires diverse role-playing. Leadership is more ad hoc, depending on the need for any sub-task. Also, the person who can resolve disputes, acknowledge key issues (like race) that need to be addressed and gain the respect of the team based on emotional maturity is often the best leader. As a young manager at S Corp. I have been able to earn the respect of floor workers as well as senior managers by listening and empathizing with their work and personal problems. I have made mistakes; I once lost my temper with a purchasing agent over a material shortage only to find out that it was not his fault. However, I constantly strive to improve my understanding of leadership and the team process. One thing that I look forward to at Wharton is the opportunity to see how others have effectively led and worked in teams.
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Essay Question 3: Describe an impact you've had on an individual, group or organization. What did you do? How has this experience been valuable to you or others?
In 2000, as president of the X University Mormon Student Association, a 200-member student club, I changed the focus of the organization from social events to community service for elderly shut-ins and battered women. Throughout the school year our members assembled 3,000 hygiene kits and donated 1,000 hours of hot line support to the local women's shelter. Our members also spent 1,000 hours clearing the yards of elderly shut-ins. The finale of my efforts was a Christmas benefit concert staged with the help of X University's renowned music school. With the help of a friend in the music school I personally called several soloists studying at X U. I explained to them the aim of our concert and was able to convince most of them to help us. I was also successful in getting news coverage and free advertising for the event in the local press. The concert raised over $8,000 worth of winter coats and food for women's causes through voluntary donations and the event was covered in the local press. In the beginning, I generated excitement for this outreach by inviting several community leaders, including the director of a homeless shelter and an outspoken social work professor, to address the members of the student association at a Saturday evening conference. These individuals transmitted their passion for community service to us. In planning these service activities we constantly sought the advice and feedback of our community partners so as to offer the most effective service possible, I did not want to give service just to say that we did it. Our service activities also included soliciting donations from area businesses, manning fundraising drives and doing a lot of good old physical labor. I spent a lot of time at these various service activities cheerleading and observing how to make the service hours meaningful to both our members and those receiving the service. A big challenge was coordinating busy student schedules with the needs of the charities; we had a few activities where no one showed up. We tackled this problem by creating a newsletter and bulletin board where upcoming events were posted and members could sign up for individual events, post messages and offer feedback. I gained valuable experience leading and motivating a group of my peers. I found that I enjoyed working in a diverse team. I also learned the importance of building allies. The community leaders were the key to our success. On a personal level, I gained greater confidence in my ability to lead a project involving many people. When I visited my college town last year I was happy to find that many members of the LDS student still active in the volunteer activities started during my time and that the Christmas benefit concert had become somewhat of a tradition.
