In this in-depth INSEAD MBA Essay Tips, we cover
• Overview of the INSEAD MBA Program
• Mission, Vision, and Values of the INSEAD MBA Program
• Ideal Candidate for the INSEAD MBA Program
• What to Include in the INSEAD MBA Essays
• Essay Tips
Overview of the INSEAD MBA Program
The INSEAD MBA is a one-year, full-time program structured across five academic periods and delivered across its Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses.
Breaks Between Periods
Each period includes core or elective coursework, with breaks in between for career-related activities, study trips, or internships.
Accelerated Format
The accelerated format compresses a standard two-year MBA into 10 months, with around 500 students admitted in each of the two intakes (January and August).
January Intake – Internship Option
The January intake includes a two-month internship option between Period 3 and 4, which is often used by students targeting career shifts, particularly into consulting or new geographies.
Core Course – First Two Periods
Academically, the first two periods focus on 14 core courses covering quantitative methods, finance, economics, strategy, and organizational behavior.
Electives – Third Period Onward
From Period 3 onward, students select from over 75 electives, with concentrations available in areas such as Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Digital Transformation.
Teaching Method – Case-Based
Teaching is primarily case-based and conducted in small group discussions, with a strong emphasis on cross-functional problem-solving.
Campus Exchange System
Students participate in practical modules such as Master Strategy Day and the Business Foundations Practicum, designed to simulate real business scenarios using interdisciplinary frameworks. The program supports geographic and sectoral mobility through its campus exchange system.
Students admitted to one campus can request to transfer to another for later periods, subject to capacity and administrative approval. This system is often used to access region-specific recruiting events or gain exposure to different business environments.
For instance, Singapore for APAC-based tech and VC firms, or Fontainebleau for access to European consulting and industrial firms.
Study Trips - Abu Dhabi & San Francisco
INSEAD also offers optional electives and study trips in Abu Dhabi, San Francisco, and occasionally partnerships with institutions in China or the US, although these are selective and space-limited.
Related - INSEAD MBA Curriculum Analysis
Mission, Vision and Values of the INSEAD MBA Program
Mission: “INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society.”
This mission expresses three core elements:
1. Global diversity in class composition and thought,
2. Leadership that is ethically and socially aware, and
3. Purpose beyond profit, aiming for practical impact in business and society.
Founding Values
These five values shape INSEAD’s teaching, governance, and community culture:
• Diversity: Students and faculty come from varied backgrounds and cultures. The school avoids any single dominant perspective and relies on classroom exchange as a key learning tool.
• Independence: Governance and decision-making remain institutionally autonomous, INSEAD retains control over financial, academic, and strategic planning to ensure intellectual freedom.
• Rigour: Academic inquiry values methodological strength and real-world relevance over any singular paradigm. Teaching and research aim for both intellectual precision and business impact.
• Closeness to Business: The school maintains deep engagement with global business. Faculty and curriculum collaborate with firms to produce applied research and case materials.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Innovation underlies institutional culture, from curriculum redesign to risk-taking in pedagogical methods, reflecting early venture capital roots.
Ideal Candidate for the INSEAD MBA Program
INSEAD evaluates applications based on four clear admissions criteria:
1. Ability to Contribute: Incoming students are expected to bring unique experiences, whether professional, cultural, or personal, that actively enrich peer learning. INSEAD values long-term engagement and leadership in extracurricular or community settings.
2. Academic Capacity: Applicants should demonstrate strong analytical ability, supported by competitive GMAT/GRE scores (typically in the 70–75th percentile or higher) and solid academic records.
3. International Motivation: Applicants are evaluated on their interest in global business and ability to operate in multicultural settings. Evidence can include international work experience, multilingual proficiency, or collaboration across geographies.
4. Leadership Potential: Evaluators look for evidence of initiative, responsibility, and the capacity to influence others. Leadership examples may come from work experiences, community roles, or entrepreneurial ventures.
What to Include in the INSEAD MBA Essays
INSEAD’s essays are a critical tool to assess both fit and purpose. Strong responses go beyond listing achievements; they show how the candidate’s journey aligns with the school’s mission to develop responsible leaders who shape business and society through a diverse, independent, and entrepreneurial mindset.
To write a compelling essay, candidates should focus on four key areas:
• Demonstrate Global and Cultural Fluency: INSEAD values “international motivation” as a marker of future global leadership. Go beyond simply stating international exposure; explain how working across cultures shaped your thinking, influenced decisions, or helped you adapt.
Use concrete examples to show your openness to diverse viewpoints, which aligns with INSEAD’s emphasis on diversity and cross-cultural exchange in the classroom.
• Show Evidence of Responsible and Entrepreneurial Leadership: The school’s mission to develop “responsible leaders” goes hand-in-hand with evaluating your leadership potential.
Essays should describe how you’ve made difficult choices, acted ethically, or initiated change, especially when doing so required courage or independent thinking.
Tie your leadership examples to INSEAD’s values of rigour and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Highlight Purpose and Contribution: INSEAD explicitly looks for the ability to contribute. This includes not only what you’ll bring to class discussions, but how you’ve impacted organizations, teams, or communities in the past.
Use specific anecdotes to show how you mentor others, elevate group outcomes, or offer fresh perspectives.
Reflect on how this aligns with the school’s goal of creating meaningful societal impact.
• Clarify Intellectual Readiness and Motivation: Strong academic performance is essential, but equally important is showing why you are pursuing an MBA at this point. Essays should explain your decision-making process and how the MBA aligns with a broader purpose, not just for career growth, but for contributing to complex global challenges. INSEAD values rigour, so describe how you’ve tackled demanding analytical tasks and how that prepares you for its fast-paced curriculum.
Focus on clarity over promotion. Be introspective. Use real examples with context, actions, and outcomes. Connect your story to INSEAD’s mission and values, not just its brand. Your goal is to show not only that you meet the criteria, but that you will amplify the mission through your future work.
Essay Tips
Motivational Essay Tips
Essay 1: Give a candid description of yourself as a person and a leader, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses you recognize in yourself. Explain how you are actively working on your development, sharing key experiences that have shaped you, and providing specific examples where relevant. (500 words maximum)
How to Approach
Understanding the Essay
This essay is structured around four interrelated components:
1. Candid self-description – Who are you beyond the resume?
2. Strengths and weaknesses – How do you perceive your capabilities and limitations?
3. Active development – What are you doing to improve yourself?
4. Key experiences – What life events shaped your leadership and personality?
This is not a list-based or achievement-oriented essay. Rather, INSEAD is looking for self-aware, emotionally intelligent individuals who can reflect critically, admit vulnerabilities, and show maturity through personal and professional experiences. It’s your chance to illustrate not just what you've done, but how you've grown.
1. Go Beyond Your Resume in Your Self-Description
Your INSEAD essay is not a reiteration of your CV. The admissions team already has your job titles, achievements, and metrics. What they’re looking for here is who you are beneath the surface, how you think, what motivates you, how you relate to others, and what defines your approach to decision-making, especially under ambiguity. This is your chance to offer an introspective narrative rather than a professional report.
To do this effectively, reflect on moments that shaped your personality and working style. Describe how you react in challenging environments, what values drive your decisions, and how you are perceived by teammates, clients, or mentors.
A strong essay communicates your internal compass, not just your career trajectory.
Harvard Business Review recommends that when describing your strengths and weaknesses, “frame them in terms of behavior and context”, and this applies to your self-description as well.
Avoid vague adjectives like “hard-working” or “motivated.” Instead, illustrate how those traits have manifested, evolved, or even conflicted in real scenarios.
Case Study: Mario (Candid Description)
Mario shouldn’t begin by stating that he’s an engineer or consultant. Instead, he can frame himself as someone who seeks harmony between structured thinking and human complexity.
Growing up in a multicultural Lebanese-French household, Mario was exposed early on to the value of dialogue and dual perspectives. This taught him how to mediate tensions, a skill that later helped him manage cross-functional teams at McKinsey.
He can also explain how his engineering foundation gave him a systematic lens, while his transition to consulting taught him to be flexible in problem-solving and client engagement.
A specific anecdote, such as leading a team where he had to switch from data-heavy recommendations to a stakeholder-sensitive solution, can reflect his learning curve. This approach turns his story into a multidimensional self-portrait, grounded in his values, cultural upbringing, and working style.
INSEAD values global perspective and adaptability, and Mario can demonstrate both, not through job titles, but through introspective clarity and lived experience.
2. Address Both Strengths and Weaknesses with Balance and Humility
INSEAD values students who are honest and introspective, not perfect.
When asked to reflect on strengths and weaknesses, your goal is not to present a flawless image, but to show depth of self-awareness and an ability to recognize both your assets and blind spots.
A strong candidate demonstrates that they understand how their strengths work in context and how their weaknesses have challenged them, not derailed them.
Avoid recycled phrases like “I’m a perfectionist” or “I care too much.” These responses often sound evasive or superficial. Instead, describe traits as behavioral tendencies that have distinct advantages and risks.
For instance, being structured is a strength until it limits your creativity in ambiguous environments. INSEAD’s diverse, fast-paced culture values students who can reflect on these dynamics and adapt over time.
Frame Strengths and Weaknesses in terms of Behavior and Context
It’s helpful to “frame strengths and weaknesses in terms of behavior and context”, which gives your answer credibility and emotional intelligence. Your examples must feel real and show you’ve put thought into not just what you are good at or struggle with, but why those traits show up the way they do.
Case Study: Mario (Strengths and Weaknesses)
Mario can articulate his strength as structured strategic thinking, developed through his engineering background and honed during client engagements at McKinsey.
In high-pressure environments, he’s often the one who brings clarity and sequence to complex problems. However, this strength also has a downside: in brainstorming sessions or when dealing with less analytical teams, his preference for linear problem-solving can make him less receptive to unstructured ideas.
As for his weakness, Mario could reflect on his initial hesitation to speak up in high-conflict settings. Early in his consulting experience, he found it difficult to challenge dominant voices in rooms with senior stakeholders. Instead of hiding this, Mario can explain how the experience helped him recognize the importance of developing a more assertive communication style—particularly in diverse, multicultural teams where consensus-building is essential.
By anchoring both strengths and weaknesses in real situations, Mario presents himself as someone who is self-aware, coachable, and grounded, exactly the kind of leader INSEAD is looking to develop.
3. Show Clear Self-Work and Developmental Actions
INSEAD looks for candidates who do more than reflect; they take action.
Acknowledging a weakness is only part of the equation; what truly matters is what you’ve done to address it.
Your essay should show that you don’t wait for change to happen; you initiate it. Whether it’s through feedback, coaching, or putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, INSEAD wants to see that you are growth-oriented and proactive. This reflects the school’s core values of intellectual humility and self-leadership.
You’re not expected to be perfect, but you are expected to take ownership of your development. This means going beyond vague statements like “I’m working on it” and instead offering specific examples of what you’ve tried, how it worked, and what you learned.
Demonstrate Growth Mindset
The most effective candidates “demonstrate a growth mindset backed by behavior”, a principle that should guide how you write this part of your essay.
Show evidence of intentional effort: 360-degree feedback, cross-functional project experiences, leadership roles outside your comfort zone, or books and frameworks that changed how you think. INSEAD’s accelerated environment demands fast learning; your essay should prove you’re ready for it.
Case Study: Mario (Corrective Step)
Mario can illustrate his commitment to development by describing how he sought 360-degree feedback during his time at McKinsey.
After early feedback revealed his tendency to hesitate during senior-level discussions, he took initiative: he requested to co-lead internal team meetings and volunteered for client presentations to improve his executive presence.
To further push himself, Mario joined a cross-border project with conflicting stakeholder interests, knowing it would challenge his natural aversion to interpersonal conflict. This experience forced him to adapt quickly, learn active listening techniques, and practice assertive communication in a high-stakes environment.
He might also mention reading leadership-focused works or following a mentor who helped him understand the psychological side of team dynamics, an area he once overlooked due to his analytical training. These are small but meaningful signals that show Mario is committed to growth, not just in theory, but in action.
Such honest reflection and purposeful improvement align with INSEAD’s mission of shaping globally-minded, self-aware leaders who lead with agility and integrity.
4. Identify Key Influences Behind Your Traits and Growth
Don’t just list your strengths and weaknesses; dig into why you are the way you are.
INSEAD wants to see what shaped your mindset, habits, and personality. Whether it’s cultural background, formative experiences, family influences, or early career environments, explain how these elements shaped your characteristics.
This approach gives your essay emotional depth and authenticity. Instead of presenting strengths and weaknesses in isolation, show their roots, how they were formed, and how they evolved.
INSEAD highly values introspection and maturity.
Avoid generic statements like “I’m naturally analytical” or “I’ve always been empathetic.” Instead, reflect on specific turning points, like a high-pressure project, mentorship experience, or personal setback, that helped reveal or refine these traits.
Case Study: Mario (Origin of Strength)
Mario’s strength in strategic problem-solving stems from growing up in a family of engineers, where logical reasoning was highly valued. This foundation was reinforced during his time at McKinsey, where he consistently received feedback for breaking down complex problems with clarity and structure.
However, this same strength once made him overly focused on structure at the expense of creativity. A turning point came during a public-sector project in Saudi Arabia, where his rigid approach clashed with clients’ evolving expectations. He realized that adaptability was just as important as logic. This realization marked the beginning of his effort to balance structured thinking with creative openness.
His tendency to hesitate in high-conflict situations traces back to a family environment where harmony was prioritized.
Early in his consulting career, this led him to avoid pushing back during team debates, fearing it might strain relationships. Over time, through feedback and mentorship, Mario began leaning into these moments, especially after being encouraged by a senior manager to speak up during a tense board-level presentation.
By tracing his traits to formative influences, Mario offers a fuller, more honest picture of his development, one that INSEAD values in its globally aware, self-reflective students.
Essay 2: Describe a highly stressful situation you faced and how you managed it. What did this experience teach you about yourself and your interactions with others? (400 words maximum)
How To Approach
Understanding the Essay
This essay prompt requires a deep, reflective recounting of how you performed under high-pressure circumstances and what you learned about yourself and your relationship with others. It merges emotional intelligence, decision-making under pressure, and a growth mindset, which are essential traits in leadership.
Scholarly frameworks such as McGonigal’s research on stress (Stanford, 2015) argue that stress is not inherently negative; it can be constructive when linked to meaning and purpose. Similarly, INSEAD’s leadership model emphasizes “adaptive thinking and social sensitivity in complex environments”, both of which are tested in stressful situations.
The essay has three clear components:
1. The Stressful Situation: A complex, high-stakes event with external consequences and internal tension.
2. Management Strategy: How you navigated the pressure and made decisions.
3. Personal Insight: What you learned about yourself and how it impacted your relationships or leadership style.
Let’s explore how to address these with clarity and authenticity.
1. Choose a situation where the stakes were high, and the uncertainty was real
The success of this essay hinges on the authenticity and depth of the situation you choose.
A strong response will focus on a moment where you were directly responsible for making decisions under real pressure, and where the outcome was far from guaranteed. High-stakes situations are not always dramatic in nature; they can unfold quietly, but their consequences ripple outward.
Look for a situation where:
• You were entrusted with responsibility beyond your comfort zone.
• The outcome had implications not just for you, but for others, clients, teams, or communities.
• The variables were constantly shifting or unclear, and there was no perfect solution.
Ethical Dilemma Example or High Emotional Stakes
Situations involving ethical dilemmas, tight deadlines, or high emotional stakes often work well. The goal is to showcase your ability to function under ambiguity, make reasoned choices, and navigate both external and internal tensions. Unlike simple problem-solving, this kind of story allows the admissions committee to observe how you interpret risk, assume accountability, and stay grounded during uncertainty.
This aligns closely with INSEAD’s emphasis on building leaders who can thrive in global, complex environments. INSEAD graduates often enter industries where problems are multi-dimensional, social, political, cultural, and this essay is a preview of how you’ll behave when things go wrong or become unpredictable.
Case Study: Mario (Origin of Strength)
Given his role in sustainability-focused consulting, Mario could recall a client engagement where he was assigned to help an industrial client transition toward more environmentally responsible practices.
Maybe the client was receptive early on, but a change in policy – elimination of government subsidy might have brought back the feasibility of scaling renewable energy to the board.
Mario might have found himself in a position to defend his solution and leverage his deep research and projections to make a case for the first-mover advantage of entering the renewable industry.
These nuances would demonstrate not only his analytical thinking but also his willingness to hold firm on values while navigating complex interpersonal and business dynamics.
This story would be particularly strong if Mario were not the most senior person in the room, yet still had to influence the direction of the project. That tension between accountability and limited authority mirrors many real-world leadership challenges.
Moreover, if he draws a contrast between his initial self-doubt and the clarity he eventually found in his approach, it adds a layer of personal growth, a quality INSEAD actively looks for in its candidates.
2. Show how you assessed the situation rather than reacting emotionally
When narrating a stressful situation, it can be tempting to focus on emotions, frustration, anxiety, or tension. However, this essay is not asking how much the situation shook you, but how you responded despite the stress. INSEAD is evaluating your capacity to pause, assess, and act under pressure with clarity and emotional control.
To do this effectively, highlight your cognitive process:
• How did you define the core issue?
• What information did you seek before acting?
• How did you weigh competing priorities or stakeholder needs?
• Did you use a structured method (e.g., cost-benefit analysis, stakeholder mapping, or even a simple decision tree)?
Emotional maturity doesn’t mean ignoring stress; it means not letting it override logic or empathy. INSEAD values leaders who are decisive yet inclusive, who listen under pressure but do not delay action. Demonstrating that you paused to gather input, clarified the options, and then moved forward with awareness of others' perspectives is key.
This approach also aligns with INSEAD’s multicultural learning environment, where emotional reactions can be misinterpreted across cultures. Displaying measured, reflective decision-making shows that you are prepared to navigate global, high-stakes contexts without being reactionary.
Case Study: Mario (Managing Stress)
Mario could reflect on a client engagement in which internal misalignment between two project teams, perhaps one focused on cost optimization, the other on ESG integration, began to escalate. Instead of reacting defensively or taking sides, Mario might have stepped back to understand the deeper friction:
• Was it a lack of shared metrics?
• Differing growth horizons – short-term vs. long-term?
• Poor communication?
Drawing on his engineering training, he could describe how he approached the issue like a systems problem, mapping interdependencies, identifying bottlenecks, and uncovering misaligned incentives. Rather than escalating the conflict or pushing for a quick fix, Mario might have proposed a working session to reframe shared goals and jointly revisit success criteria. His consulting experience likely gave him the tools to facilitate without dominating, helping the teams reestablish trust.
By illustrating this kind of reflective problem-solving, Mario would be showing INSEAD not only his analytical strength, but also his ability to act with emotional steadiness and maturity, qualities that will be vital during the MBA’s fast-paced academic modules and culturally diverse group work.
3. Reflect honestly on what challenged you the most internally
This part of the essay is where your self-awareness becomes the centerpiece.
The admissions team is not seeking flawless candidates. They are seeking individuals who are conscious of their limits, open to feedback, and willing to evolve. The real value lies in your honest reflection about what was difficult within you, not just around you.
Stress often exposes internal fault lines: fear of failure, discomfort with authority, a need for control, or anxiety about being judged.
Instead of avoiding these tensions, embrace them. Ask yourself:
• What about the situation stirred discomfort or self-doubt?
• Did you feel emotionally exposed, insecure, or conflicted about your values?
• How did your self-perception change over the course of the event?
The strongest responses avoid defensiveness and show emotional processing. Did the situation shift how you listen, how you respond to disagreement, or how you understand your own blind spots?
This essay is an opportunity to demonstrate maturity.
INSEAD wants leaders who are not just intellectually capable, but emotionally intelligent, able to lead with awareness and humility across high-pressure, multicultural contexts.
Case Study: Mario (Managing Stress)
Mario’s background, balancing classical music, engineering, and consulting, likely conditioned him to pursue excellence with precision. He could reflect on a moment during a critical client engagement where the leadership team dismissed his proposed strategy, opting instead for a more conservative approach. Initially, this might have triggered defensiveness or frustration, especially if he had invested significant time in developing the solution.
Rather than masking that reaction, Mario could explain how it forced him to confront his own attachment to being “right.” He might reflect on the difficulty of detaching personal identity from professional output, particularly as someone trained in environments where performance is often equated with self-worth.
What turned the situation into a growth moment could be his decision to re-engage the client, not to defend his ideas, but to understand their concerns more deeply. That shift, from defending a viewpoint to facilitating dialogue, could mark a pivotal learning about influence, humility, and long-term impact.
Such a reflection would resonate strongly with INSEAD’s values of collaborative leadership and adaptive learning, signaling that Mario is not only capable of leading but also of evolving.
4. Highlight how the experience reshaped how you collaborate or lead
Stressful situations are not only personal tests; they also reshape how you function in a team or leadership setting. This section should focus on concrete behavioral shifts: how your approach to collaboration, feedback, decision-making, or interpersonal engagement changed as a result of the experience.
Rather than relying on abstract takeaways like "I became a better leader," zoom in on what specifically you do differently now:
• Do you engage more proactively with dissenting voices?
• Have you changed how you structure team discussions?
• Are you more intentional about checking in with quieter team members?
• Have you adopted new practices to reduce conflict or promote clarity?
This is where your reflection becomes practical.
INSEAD looks for leaders who are not only self-aware but also capable of translating insight into action, especially in diverse, high-pressure group environments where communication styles and expectations can vary widely.
If your stressful experience led you to change how you lead meetings, navigate disagreement, or support team morale, explain that change with real-life clarity. The admissions committee is more interested in your evolution than in your original mistake.
Case Study: Mario (Finding inter-cultural consensus)
Mario might describe how, during a cross-functional project involving colleagues from multiple cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, he noticed growing tension that wasn’t being openly discussed. Initially, he focused on task completion and assumed that silent agreement equaled alignment. But when deliverables started slipping and team morale declined, he realized the root problem wasn’t technical; it was relational.
This moment became a turning point in Mario’s understanding of team dynamics. He could explain how he began proactively creating space for psychological safety, opening meetings by encouraging dissent, checking in with quieter members individually, and acknowledging the emotional stakes involved in the work. These weren’t grand gestures but small, consistent shifts in how he engaged with others.
He might also mention how this new approach helped the team recover and eventually exceed client expectations. More importantly, it changed how he sees his role, not just as a problem-solver, but as someone responsible for building environments where others feel safe to contribute honestly.
This ties directly to Mario’s long-term leadership aspiration: to lead with empathy, especially in sectors like education and the arts. It also mirrors INSEAD’s emphasis on emotional intelligence and inclusive collaboration in global teams.
5. Connect your takeaway to how you will contribute at INSEAD
To conclude the essay meaningfully, you must show that your experience was not just personally transformative but also relevant to the INSEAD community. This is where you demonstrate foresight - how will your learning from the stressful situation shape your role as a classmate, team member, and contributor within the MBA ecosystem?
Avoid vague statements like “I will bring my resilience to INSEAD.” Instead, ask:
• How will this experience shape your approach in group assignments or Leadership Development Programme (LDP) sessions?
• What kind of peer support, perspective, or mentorship could you offer others?
• How will you engage differently with diversity, feedback, or team pressure at INSEAD?
Your goal is to connect a past insight to a future behavior, something the admissions team can visualize on campus.
Think specifically about INSEAD’s environment: fast-paced modules, multicultural teams, rigorous group projects, and emotionally intense discussions in leadership labs. Reflect on where your growth can benefit others.
Case Study: Mario (Leadership Style)
Having faced a high-stress consulting project that reshaped how he listens and leads, Mario could reflect that he now views uncertainty not as something to avoid, but as a productive space for dialogue and experimentation. This shift in mindset would be particularly valuable at INSEAD, where diversity of opinion, speed of execution, and pressure are constants.
He could describe how he hopes to contribute by facilitating open conversations in moments of ambiguity during team assignments or workshops. For example, if disagreements arise in a cross-cultural study group, Mario’s instinct wouldn’t be to assert a position or withdraw, but to slow things down and invite broader reflection, a habit he cultivated after learning the importance of inclusion under pressure.
He might also express interest in contributing to the “Force for Good” initiatives or proposing a student-led workshop on resilience and creative decision-making in uncertain environments, drawing from both his consulting experience and artistic background in classical music.
By ending his essay this way, Mario would leave the reader with a clear image: not just of someone who overcame stress, but of someone who transformed through it and is ready to help others do the same. That aligns deeply with INSEAD’s culture of collaborative leadership and peer-driven learning.
Essay 3: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)
How To Approach
This final INSEAD MBA essay is your chance to present an additional layer of your identity. While the rest of your application focuses on professional milestones, academic achievements, and leadership experiences, this open-ended prompt allows you to share something personal, nuanced, or unconventional.
Use it wisely to reveal what drives you, how you think, or what makes you unique beyond the bullet points. Whether it’s a formative experience, a hidden strength, or a passion project, this essay can bring emotional depth and individuality to your overall narrative.
1. Highlight a Defining Personal Experience That Doesn't Fit Elsewhere
This is your chance to include a deeply personal moment or insight that shaped your perspective but didn’t quite belong in the professional or academic essays. Consider formative life events, like navigating a family crisis, growing up in a multicultural household, or managing responsibilities at a young age. Such experiences often influence how we lead, collaborate, and make decisions, even if they're not tied to job titles.
Case Study: Mario (Comfort with Ambiguity)
Mario might reflect on his upbringing in a Lebanese-French household where dinner conversations spanned multiple languages and worldviews. From a young age, he had to translate not only words but intentions between generations, cultures, and values. Over time, this made him a natural at managing ambiguity, reading between the lines, and adjusting to diverse contexts. These early lessons now shape how he leads international teams and how he plans to navigate INSEAD’s global environment.
It adds emotional and cultural context to Mario’s decision-making.
INSEAD values adaptability, cross-cultural fluency, and self-awareness, all of which are better illustrated through personal narratives than bullet points on a resume.
2. Emphasize an Understated Character Trait or Value
Some of your most valuable leadership qualities may not be visible in metrics or titles. This is your chance to draw attention to traits like emotional resilience, quiet influence, moral conviction, or patience under pressure, especially if these traits contrast with your high-performance resume.
Case Study: Mario (Communication Style)
While Mario’s consulting track record shows success, it may not fully reveal how he operates. He can reflect on being the one who listens when everyone else is speaking, the person who brings calm to tense project rooms, and helps align teams when communication breaks down. As someone who leads by example and emotional intuition rather than charisma alone, Mario exemplifies a form of leadership that is steady, inclusive, and reflective.
INSEAD values “intellectual humility” and emotional intelligence in its leaders. Reflecting on an understated trait shows Mario’s maturity, introspection, and ability to build trust, qualities that may matter even more than technical skills.
3. Share an Artistic or Non-Traditional Interest that Shapes Your Thinking
The best MBA classrooms are not filled with identical consultants and bankers; they thrive on diverse minds. If you’ve pursued music, theatre, creative writing, political activism, or any deeply personal pursuit, this is the place to show how that interest has shaped your way of thinking, collaborating, or solving problems.
Case Study: Mario (Creative Extracurricular)
As a trained classical pianist, Mario learned early how to marry logic with emotion, structure with improvisation. He can reflect on how hours spent perfecting Beethoven or Debussy gave him the discipline to structure his work and the empathy to connect with diverse audiences. In consulting, this translates into an ability to sense unstated client needs and synthesize complex issues into clear, resonant solutions.
It sets Mario apart from other consultants and adds texture to his personality. INSEAD values multidimensional leaders who see beyond spreadsheets and strategy frameworks. Artistic perspectives can signal creativity, emotional agility, and a broader understanding of human behavior.
4. Clarify Any Unusual Transitions or Career Moves (if applicable)
If there’s a shift in your path that might raise questions, like switching industries, taking a gap year, or transitioning from humanities to business, this is where you give it meaning. Avoid sounding defensive. Instead, reflect on what prompted the move, what you learned, and how it shaped your long-term vision.
Case Study: Mario (Creative Extracurricular or Gap years or Failed Venture)
Mario’s journey from classical music to mechanical engineering, and eventually to consulting, might seem nonlinear. But when framed with purpose, it reveals a broader arc: a search for ways to combine structure with expression, analysis with imagination. He can explain how each move was guided by a deeper desire to work at the intersection of logic and creativity, a theme that now anchors his leadership goals.
It shows that Mario hasn’t just been “trying things out,” but intentionally exploring different disciplines to build a toolkit for leadership. INSEAD values reflective thinkers who know how to make sense of complexity, both in their careers and in the world.
Job Description Essay Tips
Essay 1: Provide a summary of your career since graduating from university, explaining the rationale behind your key decisions and career progression. Include a description of your current (or most recent) role, covering the scope of your work, major responsibilities, employees under your supervision, budget size, clients/products, and any notable results achieved. (500 words maximum)
How To Approach
Understanding the Essay Question
This essay is your chance to provide INSEAD with a clear, purposeful, and well-articulated overview of your professional journey. It’s not a repetition of your CV; rather, it should explain the why behind each career move, along with measurable achievements. The school is evaluating your maturity, growth trajectory, analytical clarity, and your ability to reflect on your decisions.
Intentional Career Planning – From Exposure to Interests and Real-World Problems
The strongest essays show how your post-university choices were driven by evolving interests, exposure to real-world problems, and intentional career planning.
They are also assessing your current readiness for leadership, which means you need to specify the scale and complexity of your current or most recent role. Think in terms of scope, impact, responsibility, and learning. Keep the tone professional and logical, using storytelling to make your career path easy to follow.
1. Build a Clear, Chronological Narrative
Begin by creating a concise, chronological timeline of your post-university roles. Avoid jumping back and forth between years or projects. Start from your first role after graduation, then walk the reader through each career phase in order. It’s essential to show progression, whether in responsibility, industry knowledge, leadership exposure, or problem complexity. Use transition phrases like “motivated by,” “driven by,” or “seeking to deepen” to explain why you made each move.
Avoid Industry Buzzwords
Avoid stuffing in too many short-term roles or industry buzzwords. INSEAD wants to see a coherent path, not just impressive job titles. Focus on what you learned and why you moved on from each experience.
Case Study: Mario (Region’s Industry and Influence on Career Choices)
Mario can begin by noting that after graduating with an engineering degree in 2021, he joined McKinsey’s Middle East office to gain exposure to strategic problem-solving across sectors. He can explain that he was drawn to consulting because it allowed him to apply analytical thinking while exploring industries like energy, the public sector, and education.
Over time, he found himself gravitating towards projects with a social impact or ESG angle, which shaped the direction of his later assignments.
2. Explain the Rationale Behind Career Choices
This essay isn’t just about what you did, but why you did it. Explain the thinking behind your career decisions, why did you choose one role over another? Why did you pivot from one sector to another? Were you seeking exposure, mentorship, purpose, leadership challenges, or personal development?
Demonstrate Self-Awareness
Strong candidates show that their choices reflect growing self-awareness and evolving professional ambition. Even lateral or unconventional moves can be justified if they reflect intentional exploration. Avoid clichés like “I wanted to learn new things.” Instead, give a deeper explanation of your learning goals or values.
Case Study: Mario (Social IMPACT motivations)
Mario might explain that after two years in generalist consulting, he began to intentionally seek out projects in sectors like education and ESG. He realized that he wanted to contribute to work that aligned with his values around equitable access and sustainability. This motivation led him to lead a regional strategy for a Gulf-based education NGO. The shift was not just client-specific; it reflected a career intention to work at the intersection of business, ethics, and public good.
3. Get Specific About Scope and Impact
Quantify your experience wherever possible.
Mention team sizes, budgets, clients, number of stakeholders, and most importantly, the outcomes of your efforts. This gives INSEAD a sense of your seniority, level of autonomy, and impact in real-world settings. A title like "Consultant" or "Product Manager" is vague; back it up with details.
The best essays go beyond listing tasks.
They describe results:
Did your insights drive a new strategy?
Did your work influence leadership decisions?
Did it impact KPIs?
Use metrics or at least concrete language to communicate this.
Case Study: Mario (High IMPACT feedback)
Mario can describe his most recent engagement leading a €15M ESG strategy project for a Gulf-based education ministry. He might mention supervising two junior consultants, coordinating across five client departments, and presenting a roadmap that influenced national policy direction. If the client implemented 70% of his team’s recommendations within a year, that’s a measurable impact worth noting.
4. Show Growth and Strategic Thinking in Your Most Recent Role
Admissions officers are particularly interested in your current or most recent role because it’s the best indicator of your leadership potential and maturity. Use this section to show how you’ve gone beyond executing tasks. Talk about strategic thinking, cross-functional collaboration, mentorship, or leading workstreams. If you’ve developed expertise in a niche area or become a go-to person on your team, highlight that.
Frame this not just as a job description, but as a capstone to your pre-MBA career journey.
Case Study: Mario (High IMPACT feedback)
Mario can emphasize that in his current consulting role, he is no longer just following directions; he’s owning project scopes. On his latest assignment, he led a strategic engagement on sustainable growth for a pan-regional edtech firm. He acted as the primary client contact, coordinated with global subject-matter experts, and oversaw the final implementation recommendations. Through this role, he began mentoring new hires and led internal knowledge development for the firm’s ESG practice in the Middle East, showing both functional expertise and leadership in action.
5. Conclude by Linking to Future Goals and INSEAD Readiness
Though the essay doesn’t explicitly ask for it, a short, forward-looking note helps bring closure. Reflect briefly on how your career journey so far prepares you for the INSEAD MBA and the goals you aim to pursue. Keep it concise and professional; it should feel like a natural continuation, not a separate essay.
This reinforces your intentionality and shows that you’ve reached a transition point where INSEAD is the next logical step.
Case Study: Mario (High IMPACT feedback)
Mario could conclude by writing that his consulting experience has exposed him to both the power and limitations of corporate strategy in driving social impact. His roles have clarified that he wants to pivot into mission-aligned investing or ESG strategy at an institutional level, goals that now require global exposure, deeper financial acumen, and peer learning. He could state that INSEAD’s international network and social impact focus would allow him to accelerate that transition.
Essay 2: Describe your short and long-term career aspirations, including your target geography, industry, and function. How do you plan to bridge the gap between your current position and these goals, and how will INSEAD help you achieve them? (300 words maximum)
How To Approach
Understanding the Essay Question
This question is not simply asking for a wish list of jobs you’d like to try after graduation; it’s asking you to build a bridge between where you are and where you want to go. INSEAD is looking for candidates who can articulate a clear, well-thought-out career trajectory that makes sense based on their past experiences, current skillset, and future ambitions. It wants to see that you’ve done your homework, not just on your own industry or function, but also on how INSEAD will uniquely help you evolve.
Strong responses will demonstrate a balance between vision and practicality.
What do you hope to do immediately after graduation, and how does that lead to your broader ambitions?
Have you considered your target geography, hiring trends, or potential employers?
Do you understand what skills you need to gain, and how INSEAD will provide them, whether through specific courses, the CDC, or the global alumni network?
This essay is also a test of self-awareness.
INSEAD wants to see that you understand your own motivations, gaps, and strengths. The more authentic and focused your roadmap is, the more compelling your application will be.
1. Define your career trajectory with clarity
Begin your essay by stating your short-term and long-term career goals as precisely as possible.
INSEAD values candidates who not only have ambition but also demonstrate a clear, researched understanding of their path.
Define target Post-MBA Function
Define the function you aim to work in (e.g., strategy consultant, ESG advisor, innovation lead), the industry (e.g., consulting, education, social impact), and your preferred geography (e.g., Europe, MENA, Southeast Asia). This level of specificity shows that you’re not just exploring options, you’re building a roadmap.
Map Short-Term Goal to Skills, Network and Exposure
Admissions officers, and later, recruiters, want to see a coherent trajectory. Your short-term goal should serve as a practical bridge that equips you with the skills, network, and exposure needed to eventually reach your long-term vision. Avoid dramatic leaps; instead, build a narrative that shows continuity between your past, present, and aspirations.
It also helps to ground your goals in trends that align with INSEAD’s career outcomes.
For example, INSEAD sends many graduates into consulting roles, particularly in Europe and Asia, with a growing number pursuing impact-oriented careers across sectors.
If your goals align with these patterns, make that connection visible.
Case Study: Mario (ESG, Social IMPACT and Public Sector Transformation)
Mario has worked in local arts education and strategy roles within nonprofit organizations.
In the short term, he wants to join a top-tier consulting firm such as BCG, Roland Berger, or Kearney, focusing on ESG and public sector transformation. This will help him build a global perspective and gain experience in solving large-scale organizational challenges.
Long-term, Mario hopes to transition into a strategic leadership role, such as Chief Strategy Officer at a cultural foundation or Director of Education Innovation at a UNESCO-affiliated NGO, where he can combine his consulting expertise with his passion for education and the arts, particularly across Europe and the MENA region.
2. Justify your goals with experiences and insights
INSEAD is not looking for idealistic goals dropped from the sky; they want to see how your goals connect with who you are and what you’ve lived.
Career Defining Moments
Think about moments in your career or personal life that shifted your thinking, uncovered new passions, or clarified what you do not want to do. These moments, projects, internships, cross-functional collaborations, and social impact experiences act as anchors for your future direction.
Motivation for Deepening Expertise
If you are staying in the same industry or function, explain what’s motivating you to deepen your expertise or expand your reach. If you’re pivoting, then you need to show that the seeds of that shift are already present.
For example, someone moving from engineering to consulting might have already taken on strategic roles in internal innovation teams. Or someone from the arts sector moving into education policy may have worked on community-based learning programs.
The goal is to help the admissions committee understand that your path isn’t a leap of faith; it’s a logical next step built on reflection and experience.
Case Study: Mario (Finding Intersection of Interests)
Mario began his career in the performing arts, where he led community-based music programs for underprivileged youth.
ESG and public transformation
Over time, he noticed recurring structural issues, limited funding, a lack of strategic planning, and unclear impact metrics.
These gaps drove him to pursue a role in a boutique consulting firm focused on ESG and public transformation. There, he contributed to projects involving cultural institutions and education ministries, helping them design scalable, impact-driven models.
Advisory Role – Digital Inclusion Strategy
One project involved advising a national arts council on digital inclusion strategies, an experience that solidified his interest in combining strategy with creativity and social equity. These cumulative experiences didn’t just shape his goals; they revealed a unique intersection of his passions for education, culture, and systemic change.
INSEAD, with its strength in international consulting and social enterprise, offers the ideal bridge to scale that impact.
3. Explain the gap between now and your goals
Admissions committees appreciate candidates who show not just ambition, but also self-awareness. This section is where you identify what’s missing between your current experience and your future goals, and how INSEAD will help you close that gap.
Skill Audit
Think of it as a skills audit: What have you already mastered, and what do you still need to develop?
Start by clearly stating where you are today in terms of skills, roles, and exposure. Then, identify the precise capabilities you need to gain.
Avoid General Skill Development Goals
Avoid generalities; saying “I want to improve my leadership” won’t say much. Instead, explain the contexts where you need to grow. Maybe you’ve never led multi-functional international teams, or you’ve had limited exposure to global markets, or your understanding of business model innovation in a growing market is theoretical rather than applied.
Also mention the strategic environments you wish to experience, such as managing stakeholder interests across geographies, working with regulators, or navigating cultural shifts in emerging markets. Make sure the gaps you describe directly relate to your future goals.
Case Study: Mario (Finding Intersection of Interests)
While Mario has accumulated meaningful experience in consulting, particularly in ESG and transformation projects, his work so far has been limited to mid-level strategy design, often externally advising clients rather than building and executing solutions from within.
To prepare for long-term leadership in education-focused NGOs or cultural foundations, he needs deeper insights into organizational behavior, board-level decision-making, and innovation design.
He also wants to understand how to scale programs across different regulatory contexts and funding environments. His global exposure has largely been concentrated in Western Europe, so he’s eager to broaden his perspective by engaging with peers and cases from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
These gaps are not shortcomings; they represent the next phase of learning that INSEAD is uniquely positioned to offer.
4. Explain how INSEAD will bridge the gap
This section is where your research into INSEAD must shine. Admissions officers want to see that you’re not just attracted to the brand, but that you understand how INSEAD’s unique ecosystem will help you grow. Be precise and intentional: name the courses, experiences, and communities that directly connect to your learning gaps and future goals.
Start with the core curriculum, linking key courses to your development needs, for example, “Strategy” to build board-level thinking, or “Leading People and Organizations” to strengthen team management. Then, dive into electives that are aligned with your goals. Avoid generic courses; instead, choose ones that show depth and relevance, like “Business Sustainability Thinking” for ESG-driven careers or “Psychological Issues in Management” if emotional intelligence is central to your leadership style.
Also highlight tracks and experiential offerings, such as the INSEAD Social Impact Accelerator, Cultural and Creative Industries Track, or Emerging Markets Field Trips, that connect to your interests. Mention geographic immersion and how the diverse campuses or regional cases will expand your worldview. Lastly, show how you’ll engage beyond academics, through the Career Development Centre, student clubs, or alumni guidance.
Case Study: Mario (Quoting Ethics and Complexity in a Global Economy)
To lead in the intersection of education, sustainability, and creative enterprise, Mario needs strong leadership frameworks and exposure to international models of ethical business.
INSEAD’s core courses, especially Strategy, Ethics, and Organizational Behaviour, will sharpen his ability to navigate complexity across sectors. He is particularly drawn to electives like Social Entrepreneurship, Business Sustainability Thinking, and Psychological Issues in Management, which align with his interest in value-driven innovation.
The Cultural and Creative Industries Track directly supports his ambition to build a strategy for arts and education-led transformation.
Learning across Fontainebleau and Singapore will expose him to both European public sector models and Southeast Asian educational innovations.
Mario also intends to work with the Career Development Centre and Social Impact Club to build clarity around hybrid roles and connect with leaders who’ve navigated similar cross-sector paths.
5. Add personal motivations and show long-term vision
This is your closing moment; make it count. Go beyond professional aspirations and reveal why your goals matter to you on a personal level.
What life experiences, values, or people have shaped your ambition?
How do you want to evolve as a human being, not just a manager?
INSEAD looks for individuals who see the MBA not just as a means to an end but as part of a larger journey toward meaningful impact.
Reflect on your motivations: is it a desire to challenge systemic inequality, to bring dignity into education, to bridge art and business, or to make global leadership more empathetic?
Then, articulate a long-term vision, not as a fixed job title, but as a purpose-driven evolution.
Finally, tie it back to how INSEAD will support that evolution over time, through its global network, lifelong learning, and deep emphasis on leadership development.
Case Study: Mario (Closing Lines)
For Mario, the decision to pursue an INSEAD MBA is rooted in a deeply personal desire to harmonize his experiences across music, education, and consulting into a coherent, purpose-led career.
Growing up in a family that valued both artistic expression and academic excellence, he was inspired early on by his sister and uncle, both INSEAD alumni, whose careers reflect a balance of analytical precision and social impact.
He aspires to follow a similar path, using business as a tool to reshape how creative and educational institutions thrive in an evolving world.
Long-term, Mario envisions building cross-sector platforms that foster cultural literacy, ethical leadership, and inclusive education at scale. For him, INSEAD is not just a launchpad; it is a space to refine his leadership identity, connect with diverse changemakers, and cultivate the kind of moral and strategic clarity needed to navigate decades of complex, mission-driven work.
Activities Interests Essay Tips
Please list significant extracurricular/extra-professional activities in which you are/have been involved, starting with your most recent activities (i.e., sports, performing arts, associations, club memberships, hobbies, community activities, etc). Describe the activities you listed above and explain how they have enriched your life (e.g., skills developed, personal growth, community impact). (300 words)
How To Approach
Understanding the Essay
This essay invites you to present yourself beyond academics and work experience. INSEAD is not only looking for high performers but also for well-rounded individuals who are deeply engaged with their interests, values, and communities.
According to a GMAC survey, over 80% of MBA admissions officers say they look for candidates who have shown long-term extracurricular commitment.
INSEAD, in particular, places a high value on diverse perspectives, creative expression, and empathy in leadership. That’s why this essay is your opportunity to showcase dimensions of your life that don’t appear on your resume, especially those that reflect self-driven learning, service, and identity.
You don’t need a long list.
What matters is depth over breadth: focus on activities you were consistently involved in, where you took initiative, contributed to others, or grew personally.
If these experiences shaped your values or ambitions, or if they reflect INSEAD’s emphasis on collaborative leadership, curiosity, and multicultural engagement, make those connections clear.
1. Start with your most sustained and personally meaningful activity
Begin your response with the activity that’s been the most personally significant, something that has grown with you and shaped how you see the world.
INSEAD values candidates who bring depth and individuality, not just formal leadership titles. So choose something that has helped define your emotional resilience, communication style, or way of thinking over time, even if it’s not directly linked to your job.
Case Study: Mario (Music as an Extension of Personality)
Mario could begin by talking about his lifelong dedication to classical piano. He began formal training at age six and pursued it seriously for over 15 years, even while managing the academic demands of his engineering degree. Throughout university, he continued to perform at student concerts, mentored younger musicians, and volunteered at cultural festivals in both Paris and Beirut.
Instead of treating music as a side note, Mario could reflect on how the piano shaped key aspects of his character: learning how to handle stage pressure taught him emotional discipline; mastering complex compositions built his focus and patience; and collaborating with other musicians strengthened his non-verbal communication skills.
These traits later carried into his consulting work, where the ability to stay calm under stress, listen attentively, and approach problems creatively became essential. By anchoring his story in music, not just as an activity, but as a formative part of who he is, Mario presents himself as someone with depth, consistency, and introspection.
This approach is more than storytelling; it gives INSEAD a glimpse of the kind of thoughtful, grounded peer he would be in team projects and classroom discussions.
2. Explain how each activity contributed to your personal development
Listing impressive activities is not enough; INSEAD wants to understand what those activities did for you. How did they stretch your comfort zone? What did they teach you that now shows up in how you work with others, handle pressure, or manage ambiguity?
Focus on specific lessons and trace how they influenced your behavior or mindset.
For example, if an activity helped you become more receptive to feedback or taught you to lead from behind, say so. These are the kinds of reflections that demonstrate maturity and emotional intelligence, both qualities INSEAD values deeply.
If you’re discussing more than one activity, resist the urge to describe them equally. Prioritize the one with deeper emotional or behavioral outcomes, and be honest about your growth curve, especially if the learning came through struggle, not success.
Case Study: Mario (Music as an Extension of Personality and Leadership Style)
Mario could discuss how his time playing in a chamber music ensemble shaped his collaborative instincts. While solo piano performance trained his self-discipline, chamber music challenged him to listen just as much as he played.
He had to stay hyper-aware of subtle cues from other musicians, adapt in real time, and prioritize the group’s harmony over individual expression.
This taught him humility and shared leadership, skills he later leaned on when leading a cross-border consulting team in his first job. In fast-moving projects where no one had perfect information, he learned to foster mutual trust and let quieter team members influence direction.
The connection is clear: playing chamber music didn’t just build his musicality; it transformed how he approaches group dynamics.
3. Highlight any community or mentorship impact your activities had
INSEAD doesn’t only evaluate your achievements in isolation, it looks closely at how you’ve shared your strengths with others.
Have you used your passions or skills to uplift a community, mentor peers, or create opportunities where there were few?
These are powerful signals of socially responsible leadership, especially when the impact stems from your own initiative rather than formal leadership roles.
When writing about this, focus less on titles or outcomes and more on how you engaged.
Did you take time to understand the needs of others?
Did you change your approach to make something more inclusive?
Whether you coached a debate team, tutored low-income students, or launched a small neighborhood campaign, show how your involvement was rooted in care, consistency, and humility. Bonus if the experience deepened your understanding of real-world challenges like inequality, access, or intergenerational learning.
Case Study: Mario (Music as an Extension of Personality and Leadership Style)
Mario’s passion for music eventually led him to volunteer at a community center in Marseille that offers free music education to refugee children. Teaching piano in this setting was nothing like his previous experiences; it required him to slow down, learn multiple ways of explaining the same concept, and, most importantly, earn the trust of children navigating trauma and language barriers.
Through these moments, Mario began to reflect on how access to cultural education is often a matter of privilege. More than improving his teaching skills, the experience reshaped how he sees leadership: it’s not about performance or visibility, but about consistency, empathy, and co-creation. These lessons now shape how he mentors junior consultants and leads team workshops in his firm, ensuring everyone feels seen, not just heard.
4. Show how your interests have shaped your professional outlook or goals
Your personal passions can be more than hobbies; they often offer insight into what you value and how you operate as a future leader.
INSEAD encourages applicants to reflect on how personal pursuits have shaped their professional ambitions or worldview.
Instead of presenting your interests as something separate from your work, show how they’ve helped define your goals or inspired you to solve specific real-world problems.
For instance, has your interest in photography helped you develop an eye for detail and storytelling, skills now useful in marketing or branding?
Did your experience in community theatre shape your comfort with public speaking or navigating team dynamics? These associations don’t have to be forced, but when genuine, they make your goals feel grounded, thought-through, and emotionally connected.
Case Study: Mario (Arts influencing Professional Goals)
For Mario, his years as a classical pianist gave him more than performance skills; they helped him develop a long-term appreciation for how the arts foster empathy, discipline, and cultural connection. Over time, this shaped how he saw the role of business in society. Rather than pursuing traditional consulting tracks indefinitely, Mario began exploring how private capital and strategic planning could support creative sectors, public education, and underserved youth.
Today, he envisions a career at the intersection of ESG, education, and cultural innovation, working with firms or foundations that drive sustainable development while preserving cultural heritage. His musical training also informs how he leads: by listening deeply, thinking in systems, and valuing rhythm and harmony in team collaboration. These traits make his professional outlook feel not only ambitious but deeply personal.
5. Conclude with how these interests will shape your contribution at INSEAD
Your final lines should demonstrate how your passions and insights will translate into meaningful engagement at INSEAD.
The admissions committee wants to see that you’re not just pursuing an MBA to advance yourself, but that you’re also eager to contribute to the school’s vibrant, collaborative community. This is your chance to show intentionality: how will you turn personal growth into shared value?
Be specific. Mention particular clubs, initiatives, conferences, or peer-learning spaces you hope to join. Whether it's leading a student initiative, curating discussions, mentoring others, or launching a project that connects your past with INSEAD’s values, clarity and relevance matter. The more you ground your contribution in INSEAD’s actual ecosystem, the more credible and engaged you appear.
Case Study: Mario (Starting Innovative Initiatives at INSEAD)
Mario could conclude by reflecting on how his long-standing involvement in music and community teaching has deepened his belief in leadership that integrates creativity, compassion, and structure.
At INSEAD, he sees himself contributing to the Arts & Culture Club, not just as a performer, but as someone who could lead sessions on the intersection of resilience, improvisation, and leadership under pressure.
Drawing from his community music work and consulting experience, Mario might propose a collaborative initiative that brings together the Social Impact Club, Ethics & Leadership Club, and Arts & Culture Club, creating a space where business students explore how creative practices can inform inclusive leadership and purpose-driven strategy. He may also support the "Force for Good" series, anchoring discussions in lived experiences rather than theory.
This conclusion reinforces Mario’s holistic approach to leadership, aligning closely with INSEAD’s mission to develop leaders who are both “competent and human”, and framing him as someone who doesn’t just participate but helps elevate the experience of others.
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