Leadership EO Example Statement (250 Words)
At EO assessors expect you to organise others, not just yourself. Show a time you planned or coordinated people's work, supported colleagues, and kept a team on track towards a goal. They want evidence of fairness, enthusiasm and follow-through, plus a result you can quantify, all told in first person singular.
Example statement
SI volunteered two days a week at a charity shop that opens six days a week. The volunteer rota had become chaotic, with repeated Saturday gaps, a few volunteers doing far too much, and morale starting to dip.
TI offered to rebuild the rota for all 18 volunteers and make the cover fair across the whole week, including the dreaded Saturdays.
AI started by asking every volunteer, in person or by phone, about their real availability and which shifts they actually enjoyed. I listed the gaps and matched people to slots, making sure the unpopular ones, like Saturday closing, were shared fairly and that I took my own turn at them. I drew up a clear monthly rota, pinned it in the back room and set up a simple swap system using a shared notebook and a group text message. I briefed the team on how it worked and checked in weekly at first, adjusting the rota when someone found a pattern was not working for them. I also trained two other volunteers to run the rota so it did not depend on me being there. Where a gap still appeared, I phoned round early in the week rather than leaving it to chance on the day.
RWithin three weeks every Saturday was fully covered, and the shop opened on time every day for the next three months. Volunteer turnover halved over the season, and Saturday takings rose by 12% compared with the previous quarter.
Use this as a model, not a script. This is an original example written for this site. Adapt the structure to your own experience — copying it word for word risks plagiarism and will not reflect your evidence.
Why this scores well
- Fixing a broken rota shows EO leadership of process and people: the writer spots a team problem, takes ownership, and builds a fair system that outlasts them.
- Fairness is explicit and personal: unpopular shifts shared equally, including by the writer, which assessors reward at this level.
- Measurable outcomes in three dimensions: cover (zero gaps in three months), people (turnover halved) and money (Saturday takings up 12%).
What EO level requires
| Grade | What assessors expect |
|---|---|
| AO | At AO, leadership means showing enthusiasm and direction in your immediate work: supporting colleagues, acting fairly and inclusively, and stepping up when your team needs you, even without any management authority. |
| EO ← this page | At EO, leadership means taking ownership of small pieces of team coordination: organising other people's work, keeping the team focused on shared goals, and setting a positive, fair example. |
| HEO | At HEO, leadership means leading a small team or project day to day: giving clear direction, supporting individuals' wellbeing and development, and keeping people performing through pressure. |
Common mistakes at this level
- Skipping over fairness, such as how you shared unpopular work, which assessors specifically look for at this grade.
- Giving a result with no numbers, for example it went well, instead of something countable.
- Starting with background detail that eats half the word count before your actions begin.
Frequently asked questions
Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour at EO, though some adverts allow 500, so always check before you write. Structure it as STAR: two sentences of Situation, one of Task, around 60% on your Actions, and a Result with at least one number, such as people helped, money raised or time saved.
Pick a result you can count: events delivered, errors reduced, people trained, hours saved or money raised. At EO, assessors also like signs of lasting impact, such as a system still in use or volunteers returning next year. One or two honest numbers beat a paragraph of adjectives every time.
Some we is natural in the Situation, but your Actions must be first person singular. Assessors can only score what you did. If you write we decided throughout, they cannot tell your contribution from the group's, and your score suffers. Say I asked, I organised, I changed, then credit the team in the Result.
Next step
Get the free EO statement template pack — the same STAR structure used in this example.
Download the template pack