Referencing Styles : APA Task The purpose of this project is to provide you with an opportunity to research an established leader. The aim is to help you gain some practical insights into the work of leadership, link your study of leadership theory with leadership practice, and stimulate further interest in learning more about to lead effectively with an awareness of contemporary leadership issues. You will investigate a business or community leader of interest and prepare a written analysis of this individual. Your analysis may be informed by the group discussion on the Discussion Board but the report is original. A key objective of this assessment is to integrate topics discussed in MGT367 and how they apply to real life case. A second objective is to practice discussion skills to enhance peer to peer learning. Part I Selecting a leadership issue area of focus Your leadership research should be planned to help you address ONE of the following research questions: · How can leaders establish a constructive climate for a group that reinforces the organisation’s culture and values? · How can a middle or lower level manager exercise strategic leadership by responding to changes in the organisational environment? · What actions can leaders take to enhance social responsibility? · How do leaders build an organisational culture that encourages ethical behaviour? · What actions can leaders take to demonstrate that their interest in diversity is authentic and goes beyond policy requirements? Note that this research question provides an overarching guide for your selection of theory and literature, the sorts of conclusions you will draw about the leadership case. The research undertaken in Assessment 1 should have highlighted some specific topics related to your chosen leadership issue. Part II Select a leader Select a leader of sufficient prominence that you can access public information to give a rich picture of that individual’s leadership style, characteristics, and values. You may wish to go on the discussion board and share suggestions of suitable cases. The leader may be: · a leader in a public sector or publicly funded institution · a business or community leader · a leader in your own work organisation The leader must be living. Your selection will be guided by consideration of: · your career goals and interests (Do you specifically want to learn about roles and positions within your own work organisation? Are you interested in leadership more broadly? Are you interested in how your work organisation engages with external stakeholders?) · how you are theorising leadership (How closely do you imagine leadership as an aspect of management? Are you purposefully challenging leadership stereotypes?) · availability of information (A pragmatic choice based on access to quality information) On the latter point note that although you will want to be able find information easily for particularly prominent leaders there can be overload of information. Part III Collect the information about the leader Research as many publicly available sources as possible get a rich picture of your selected leader. Sources may include: · Books (autobiography, biographies, critiques) · Academic journals · Internet (News feeds, blogs, comments, company or institutional sites) · Television, radio · Official documents (Annual reports, institutional policies and communications) · YouTube · News items, feature articles · Social media (Twitter, Facebook) Prepare notes that will help you address the tasks required of the written component of this assessment. Record quotes, examples and critical incidents that can be used as points of discussion and analysis. Part III Group discussion This part of the assessment is optional. You are encouraged to share your insights with other students on the Interact Discussion Board or class meetings. After you have collected your information you may wish to share some of your impressions and interpretations: · What information most surprised you from your research and what was most useful? · What conclusions can you make about the individual’s approach to leadership? · What contradictions and controversies are evident with regard to this individual’s leadership? · How is effectively is this leader addressing your chosen leadership issue? Assist each other in determining a specific theoretical lens that you can use in your written report. Your individual report must be based on original research and analysis and should represent consistency with your personal leadership goals and values. DO NOT copy other students’ work from the discussion board but use it to stimulate your own thinking (see Plagiarism ). Part V Written report Leadership case report format Basic Information: Leader’s Name: Position or Title: Name of Organization: Abstract (150 words) Summarise your findings and conclusions about the leader, the leadership issue and your own leadership. Background (150 words) One paragraph that describes the leader’s role, responsibilities and brief biographical information. Theoretical discussion (500 words) In this section you will provide a theoretical discussion that covers your leadership issue area of focus. It should include reference to the textbook and a minimum of 5 academic journal articles. It will address in a theoretical manner the question that you selected in Part 1. Analysis of leadership (600 words) Your analysis of leadership will have two components: 1. an analysis of the leader by way of application of a specific leadership theory or theories (no more than two). 2. this section also addresses in a practical manner the question that you selected in Part 1. Compare and contrast what the leader is doing (or not doing) with what your theoretical research observes and recommends. Reflection (400 words) Write a reflection on what you learned from your leadership research and discussion. This should not be a repeat of the description and analysis, but an overview of what you learned and how you can use this information in your own leadership experiences. SEE BELOW FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON REFLECTIVE WRITING Action plan (150 words) Based on the research, analysis and reflection process, write one paragraph that identifies one technical and one interpersonal area of leadership that you need consider in developing your skills and capabilities of leadership. Reflective writing Reflection is: · a form of personal response to experiences, situations, events or new information. · a 'processing' phase where thinking and learning take place. (UNSW, 2016) For this assessment you are required to include your personal response to the learning experience. It is recommended that you read the following attachments for further information on what is meant by reflective writing. This information from UNSW offers plenty of suggestions as to how you can enhance your reflective commentary and will alert you some weaknesses you need to avoid. https://student.unsw.edu.au/reflective-writing Resources For this task you will make reference to: Readings from MGT367 Textbook (DuBrin, 2015) Academic journal articles and other scholarly sources Rationale The leader case research assignment aligns with constructivist theory and social learning theory (Smith & Roebuck, 2010). By comparing individual perspectives with others, the exercise helps leadership students challenge pre-existing beliefs about leadership to develop more complex views. It reinforces the idea that leadership is not something bound to a title, position or personality but can be learned. By researching successful leaders and reflecting on current leadership capabilities participants have the opportunity to develop these leadership capabilities and identify skill gaps that need to be addressed. Smith, D. N., & Roebuck, D. B. (2010). Interviews: Linking leadership theory to practice. Journal of Leadership Education, 9(2), 135-142.