Assessment Task: The Leadership Context essay
Details of task: Consider the roles and situations, and the leadership behaviors that might be required, in the table below. Choose two of these and write up to 750 words (per topic) on how leadership might be exercised and what are the contextual factors that are relevant.
The topic:
1. By the CEO of a multinational firm
2. Leading an inner-city street gang
3. Conducting a symphony orchestra
4. By a sports coach
5. In an emergency rescue squad
6. In a Hollywood film cast and crew
7. In a hospital emergency room
8. By a Prime Minister/President
9. On a battlefield
10. By a social worker in an aged care home
11. By a diplomat
12. By a prison guard
13. By a supervisor on a construction site
14. In a sales presentation
15. After an earthquake
16. During a meeting where a person is informed he/she has been fired.
17. In a heart-to-heart talk among close friends.
18. In a rock group
19. By a maître d' in a restaurant
20. In a fundraising campaign.
Assignment: What an HD will look like?
Title: Leadership Context
Details of task:
Consider the roles and situations, and the leadership behaviors that might be required, in the table below. Choose two of these and write up to 750 words on how leadership might be exercised and what are the contextual factors that are relevant.
Introduction
1. I expect to see an Introduction that states what the assignment is about and also indicates how you are going to structure your answer.
2. Full use should be made of the readings for the first 4 weeks and I expect to see the key theoretical issues identified i.e. the traits approach, the different styles and types of leadership, the relevance of situations and context etc.
3. I would also expect to see evidence of further reading that demonstrates that you can draw upon wider resources compatible with being a self-directed learner appropriate to Masters level. Thus, you will extend your reading to up to 10-12 references in total.
Analysis:
1. In the scenarios that you choose I would expect to see an application of theory to practice. You are likely to have chosen different types of scenarios that will allow you to demonstrate a full understanding of basic leadership theory i.e. different situations require different styles and traits. You will need to make clear why the situations are different example: in an emergency situations decision have to be made quickly and with authority which will come from recognized expertise - there will be no time for a consensual decision-making process. Similarly, it may well be that the same scenario might also require different styles and skills example does a wartime Prime Minister need to exhibit different skills than a peace-time Prime Minister?
2. I would also expect to see specific examples of individual behaviors in those scenarios that are not personal example Prime Ministers/CEOs/Rock Group etc. Examples help you to illustrate the points that you want to make.
Conclusion:
1. I shall be looking to see how you might make some comparisons between the two scenarios that you choose and what might be the similarities or dissimilarities between them.
2. Also, you will make general observations about the relationship between the scenarios that you have covered and the theories that you introduced. Are the theories useful, do they work in practice and so on?
3. I shall also be looking to see if your conclusions follow on logically from the arguments that you have presented as part of the analysis.
Presentation:
1. I expect clear and coherent arguments.
2. I expect grammar, spelling, punctuation etc. to be correct.
3. I am also looking for a logical structure.
4. References should be correctly used both in the text and presented in an appropriate manner at the back. Either use the Harvard system or APA.
The word count is 1500 in total and I expect that to be adhered to. It is meritorious to be able to present all of the above within the word limit. You might, therefore, use up to 350 words on the Introduction, 750 words for the Analysis (375 words for each scenario) and 350 words for the Conclusion.