Part -1:
Leadership Communications
Surveys in medium to large organisations have shown that a large number of employees either do not know what their organisation's mission and vision statement are or fail to clearly describe them. Mission and vision statements can be guiding documents for the organisation as they set organisation's intent, purpose and future aspirations. As a leader, it is critical that these statements are communicated to the employees at all levels of the organisation.
This assessment task is a scenario-based task in which you will read a scenario provided below and prepare a presentation for the class, assuming the role of an executive officer. The class will act as a group of employees of the organisation.
Scenario
ABC Pty Ltd is a private Australian company engaged in production and sale of natural body care and aromatherapy products. The company is based in Melbourne with thirty (30) stores Australia-wide, supplied by a large manufacturing facility in Hobart, Tasmania. The company employs a total of 600 employees nationwide. At top level, the company is managed by its CEO, Mr Smith and has an efficient management team in place comprising of CFO, COO, and various directors. At state level the businesses are structured under a state manager followed by store managers and operations managers.
In the last few years, the company has grown rapidly from 10 stores nationwide and a total of 180 employees to current 30 stores and 600 employees. The sudden growth has prompted the management to devise a corporate communications strategy to ensure that company's values, ethical principles, mission and vision are communicated to employees at all levels. The company takes pride in its community focus, ethical values and quality service, and considers them vital for their competitive position in the market.
Task
The company has decided to hold a national convention and assign their Executive officer - Communications to prepare a presentation for the group, communicating company's values, mission and vision at the convention.
Assuming the role of the Executive Officer, prepare a presentation for the class that includes;
- A brief company profile
- Underlying values and ethical principles
- Mission Statement
- Vision Statement
- Company goals and objectives
- Expectations from Employees
- Company Responsibilities
Part -2:
The old-fashioned view of leadership is that leaders are marked out for leadership from early on in their lives; and that if you are not a born leader, there's little you can do to become one. However, the modern view of the leadership is that through patience, persistence and hard work, you can be a truly effective leader, just as long as you make the effort needed (mindtools).
In this assessment task, you will be required to write a paper on self, "I The Leader", visualising yourself as a future leader and discussing your own leadership style and qualities based on your own perception of self. This exercise will also be useful in identifying self-development opportunities in the subsequent assessment task.
The paper must be written in your own words and appropriate referencing and citation must be used in all external references (preferred: Harvard referencing system: Your trainer/assessor will provide you with referencing guidelines. There is no specific structure of paper but it will be expected that you will present your paper with at least three identifiable sections; Introduction, body (main headings) and conclusion.
The paper must contain your own views on the topic and not Just the review of the literature. The contents must be coherent and presented in a logical sequence (not just copy and paste from various sources) leading to a conclusion.
Your paper must cover the following elements;
- A review of current concepts and theories of Leadership
- Discussion on leadership types and styles
- Examples and comparison of leadership style of two current business/management leaders
- Your own views on leadership
- How do you see or will see yourself as a leader
- What would make you an effective leader
- How would you define your leadership style, ethics and characteristics
- How would you inspire and motivate people
- Own goals and objectives as a future/developing leader
- Personal and professional development needs
- Identification of leadership challenges
- Identification/visualisation of own leaders styles and traits
- Development of personal/professional goals and objectives
- Identification of own development needs
Part -3:
Collaborative Leadership Team Project
In an Australian Institute of Management (AIM) Survey of Australian Business Leadership, it was found that Australian executives use all aspects of transformational leadership - particularly individualised consideration and inspirational motivation. Active and passive management by exception are much less frequently used. Australian executives also generally rate their leadership styles more highly than their counterparts overseas.
In this leadership project, you will have an opportunity to work with a small team of classmates (in a role play) in completing a chosen project and evaluate your own leadership style and capabilities in the process.
This task will be based on collaborative leadership principles and all the team members will assume responsibility for their assigned tasks. All the decision within the team will be made by consensus. Individual behaviour and work style will be evaluated through a leadership survey at the end of the project.
The project starts by selection of a team project task that can be completed in a relatively small time frame (12 days) and does not involve use of any specialist equipment or external resources. Ideally, the project task should be completed within the college environment. Some of the examples of project task can be;
- Preparing a presentation brochure
- Presenting a new product design
- Cleaning up a cluttered area
- Putting up a garden bed (small area)
- Conducting a seminar for college students
- Organising a party or get together
Your team may think of other project tasks that would require a small team of people. Any expenses should be avoided and the existing college resources must be used where possible. Your project task selection will need to be approved by your trainer/assessor before your commence.
The project should be initiated early in the term to allow for timely preparation and completion of the task by the end of the term.
The project flow includes;
- Select project task and obtain approval
- Form team
- Communicate and organise a meeting
- Take meeting notes
- Designate tasks and responsibilities
- Set team communication guidelines
- Identify safety and resource requirements
- Set project quality guidelines and expectations
- Organise required resources
- Commence the project
- Monitor progress and provide assistance
- Maintain communication with the team and resolve problems
- Maintain a positive team environment and motivate each other
- Complete the task
- Assess outcome and work quality
Through this project, each team member, at some point of time - and in their designated work area - will have an opportunity to provide leadership to the team.
At the end of the project, write a brief report of the project highlighting contribution of each of the team members and the team process. The report must be brief (1-2 pages) and word processed with appropriate headings.
Leadership Survey
Leadership Development Needs Assessment (LEADNA) is developed by volunteers of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Carlsbad Area Office (CAO) and WEC. LEADNA (provided as a separate Word template) will be used to conduct the leadership survey.
Instructions to use the survey and guide to survey results are contained within the instrument. A key to successful completion of this tool is to read each behavioural scale closely and then go with your first impression. If you encounter a scale covering behaviour that you have not had the opportunity to observe, simply skip that scale.
Each group member will conduct the survey for themselves. In effect, all the team members will provide feedback on each other's leadership style and characteristics.
Completed surveys must be submitted along with the group documentation.