Essays About Leadership: 5 Essays And 10 Simple Prompts 

If you’re writing essays about leadership, this article will help you realize what it’s all about and find helpful examples and writing prompts.

Behind the most successful groups and organizations is an excellent leader. We can see this in politics, big corporations, and even one-day events such as weddings or graduations. Someone needs to be in charge to shepherd the others in reaching objectives. And that someone should have the qualities of an effective leader. 

Before writing about the skills and qualities of a great leader, you need to read about what makes them one. Below are 5 examples you have to see to accumulate knowledge about leadership to better relay your thoughts on your essay paper.

1. Long Essay on Leadership by Prasanna

“A leader is simply not someone who will please everyone on his way. A leader is someone who has the courage and intent of mind to take tough decisions.”

Prasanna discusses how leaders are put in their positions to achieve goals, not to please their followers. The author digs into how functional leaders can also be unloved by the people they lead.  Some good qualities of a leader are also mentioned, such as confidence, integrity, being inspirational, and having clear goals.

2. Meaning, Nature, and Importance of Leadership by Smriti Chand

“The leader is at the centre of group’s power structure, keeps the group together, infuses life into it, moves it towards its goals, and maintains its momentum.”

Chand explains the importance of leadership and what a leader should be. This essay relays how the power and influence of a leader depend on the group’s size. The writer also describes the roles of leaders and followers. They need to work together to reach their goals. 

3. Strength and Weakness of Leadership and Leadership in Management by Harshita Pandey

“It is not impossible for anyone to become an efficient leader if he or she has the strong willpower and desire to be one.”

Pandey believes that working and winning as a team is good leadership. She also discusses how different leadership is practiced in politics, school, organization, and in managing a business. Finally, Pandey’s essay lists the strengths that should be developed and weaknesses that a leader should improve and turn into other strengths.

4. Effective Leadership by Tanuja A

“If subordinates carry out instructions because of legitimate reward or coercive power of leaders, they would treat them as successful but not effective leaders.”

This essay considers that successful and effective leaders aren’t always the same. They differ in power, goals, influence, and actions towards their subordinates. The author also lists and describes the factors contributing to effective leadership, such as suitable leadership styles for each group and expectations from both sides.

5. Short Essay on Mahatma Gandhi and His Leadership by Sarathi

“The new leader made good one of the basic weaknesses of the previous leadership… He had moreover, a basic sympathy for and understanding of the problems.”

This essay by Sarathi shows how Gandhi used his beliefs and knowledge and turned the previous leader’s weaknesses into strengths to free his country from the British. With his outstanding leadership skills, he united all Indian people.

Top 10 Writing Prompts On Essays About Leadership

After reading the essay examples above, you’re now ready to write your paper about leadership. If you don’t know where to begin, below are 10 prompts you can use.

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1. Your Definition of Leadership

Go with the basics and define leadership based on what you learned or experienced. This prompt covers a lot, so you can write down characteristics, habits, importance, and leadership styles and give examples. Use this prompt to expand your reader’s understanding of leadership.

2. Your Great Leader

Have you met or known people with spectacular leadership? It can be a historical figure, politician, artist, family member, or others. You should write this topic according to your personal experience, description, and opinion. Explain why you think they are great leaders and share how they have inspired you to be a good leader.

3. Are Leaders Born or Made?

One of the popular discussions about leadership is whether a person is born or designed to be a great leader. You can use this prompt to share your beliefs or findings on the topic. Just make sure that your arguments have a sufficient and reliable basis to avoid misinformation that can affect the quality of your essay.

4. The Qualities of a Good Leader

Leaders possess many traits that you can’t possibly pinpoint all of them in your essay. Thus, you can share certain qualities that you believe make up a great leader. Since this is a standard prompt, you can make yours stand out by picking unexpected qualities such as Openness About Their Weaknesses and the Ability to Doubt Themselves.

5. Power Corrupts, and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

Leaders have good and bad characteristics. One way to illustrate these qualities is to use proverbs. Use this prompt to explain the harmful effect of power on leadership. You can give an example where the leader becomes too powerful to the point that they become corrupt or a situation where a leader is unaware that they’re already abusing their power. 

6. Leadership in Different Situations

A true leader will come out in fire, floods, accidents, or bullying situations. Write about what you would do in cases like this to help others. If you are a member or leader of an organization, consider adding a few personal experiences that show how good leadership enables you to reach your goals in different situations.

7. Influence of a Leader

A leader influences others. However, many music artists, celebrities, and politicians significantly influence the public nowadays. Are they considered leaders even if they are not suitable or do things that can cause harm to their followers? Write an essay about what you think of this case and incorporate comments about what authentic leadership looks like.

8. Gender Differences in Leadership

Many studies show that women are better leaders than men, but how accurate are these results? You can use this prompt to support or challenge the scientific findings related to leadership and gender and expand on how these affect leadership in different aspects of life, such as at home or the office. You can also add what qualities a female leader has that men don’t and vice versa.

9. Leaders Are Good Listeners

Active listening skills are vital to ensure a thriving workplace, group, organization, or nation. To have teamwork and be united in reaching a goal, members and leaders should listen to each other. Use this prompt to show the positive and negative effects of a leader who will or will not listen to other people, and add your personal view.

10. Challenges Faced in Leadership

Many challenges in leadership test a person’s character and success. For example, a decision had a bad result and negative feedback. If you were the leader in this situation, what would you do? Will you wallow in despair and give up your position as a leader, or would you learn from your mistake, check what went wrong, and plan your next steps?

Are you still finding it hard to write an essay? Start by writing a 5 paragraph essay to practice your essay writing skills.

When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting.