Leadership Project
The Leadership Project requires each student
to lead a group of people (friends, workers, fellow club members, etc.) in a
project or activity that they would not normally undertake. The only rules of
the project are (1) students must not tell their friends or co-workers that
they are doing it for a class, and (2) it should take at least three weeks of
contact to complete. The Leadership Project consists of two parts, a proposal and a final
10-page paper. See the Leadership Project Guidelines link in the Course Home
menu for complete instructions regarding this assignment
MBA 595 – Leadership Project Guidelines
The Leadership Project requires each
student to lead a group of people (friends, workers, fellow workers, fellow
club members, etc.) in a project or activity that they would not normally
undertake. The only rules of the project are: (1) students must not tell their
friends or co-workers that they are doing it for a class, and (2) it should
take at least three weeks of contact to complete. The Leadership Project
consists of two parts, a proposal for the Project and a Final 10-page Project
Paper.
Leadership Project Proposal
The proposal is due in class meeting 2;
however, you should begin working on it during class meeting 1 as it will
require you to conduct initial research on your chosen topic. Specifically, you
must complete the steps below
1.
Read the Journal of Management
Education article titled “Personal Leadership Conundrum”. This article is
available through the Saint Leo online library. (See the syllabus and the link
in the course Resources area for more information about accessing the online
library).
2.
Identify the leadership
conundrum you will look into as you lead the group (what personal issues do you
need to address, etc.). State it in the first person and in the form of a
question. See examples of conundrum topics in the Recommendations section
below.
3.
Explain why you have chosen
this conundrum: Why is it of interest to you? How does it relate to your
experiences? How does it relate to who you are? In other words, what about
yourself and your experience are motivating you to seek the answer to this
conundrum?
4.
Create a bibliography of at
least two peer-reviewed, academic journal articles that deal with the conundrum
(see below the Recommendations section for examples of journals that qualify as
academic and peer reviewed), at least two periodical articles (newspaper,
magazine, website, etc.), and at least two books, stories, myths, parables,
movies, poems, or songs that will help you better understand and gain insight
into your conundrum.
5.
Identify at least two leaders
you will interview to gain their insights into your conundrum and explain why
you have chosen them to interview regarding your conundrum as you work on
guiding your group. Provide the title and contact information for each leader.
6.
List between five and seven
interview questions you will ask to each leader (the questions should be the
same or at least partially the same). The questions should be directly related
to the personal conundrum that you are trying to solve in leading the group.
7.
For this proposal (and the
Final Leadership Paper), you will use the American Psychological Association
(APA) formatting guidelines. If you have any questions concerning proper
citation procedures, then ask the instructor prior to submitting your work.
8. Submit the completed Project Proposal to the Dropbox. This Dropbox
basket is linked toTurnitin.
Students should submit the Final Leadership
Project Paper in APA-style, 10-pages,
that includes the following sections (please include the questions):
1.
An introduction of what your
leadership project encompassed (who did you lead, what did you lead them on,
etc?).
2.
What your particular
“leadership conundrum” was all about (what did the issue focus upon,
details.)?
3.
A discussion of what the
leadership style you used is all about in dealing with the group and why you
think that was the style you used (document and relate to the literature out
there)?
4.
How did you deal with your
particular conundrum in leading the group (list references and ideas that might
relate to how you handled it)? Did the ideas you gained from the interviews
help? Did fixing the conundrum help lead
the group or not?
5.
A discussion of available data
regarding whether the leadership approach you used worked or not (any studies
of it from research?).
6.
A discussion of how successful
the project was and how you might have lead the project more effectively.
7.
A discussion of what still
needs to be learned about the style you used (studies that might help, or other
uses of it that still need to be explored).
8.
A summary of all of the above
at the end of the paper.
9.
A bibliography (not included as
part of the 10-page requirement).
Again, the Final Leadership Project Paper should be submitted
to the Dropbox. (This Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin).
Recommendations
The
following are recommendations to consider as you complete your project:
1. When necessary, please seek out advice from your instructor.
Although you are responsible for your learning, the instructor is available to
help you make this assignment meaningful and successful.
2. You should choose a conundrum of your own interest. In the past,
students have explored such specific conundrums as:
a. “How do I balance confidence and
humility to be an effective leader?”
b. “How do I lead, influence, and work with
negative people?”
c. “How do I lead people who don’t believe
I should be doing the leading?”
d. “How will I be able to effectively lead
those who have negative stereotypes of working for/or with females?”
e. “How do I institute change in a group
while maintaining high standards?”
f. “How do I lead older, more experienced
people?”
“How can I be a role model of hard work and
dedication and also balance work and non-work domains?”
3. There are numerous academic journals on
management, leadership, psychology, sociology, philosophy, education, and
religion available through the library. Below are a number of academic
management journal titles:
a. Academy of Management Journal
a. Academy of Management Review
b. Leadership
c. Leadership Quarterly
d. Leadership and Organizational
Development Journal
e. Organization
f. International Journal of Management
g. International Journal of Leadership
Studies
h. Journal of Leadership and Organizational
Studies
i. Journal of Management Inquiry
j. Journal of Organizational Behavior
k. Journal of Management and Organization
l. Journal of Management Education
4. There are, of course,
many different leadership styles you can use in completing your project (refer
to your text and/or other sources) and there are, of course, a number of
different project you can lead people on—some of the ones that have been done
in previous classes are (organizing an office area, helping team members to
lose weight, leading a group in donating time at a Red Cross or other social
service agency, organizing a group to run a race for a particular benefit, organizing a group to
take a train ride to a particular part of the US or elsewhere, etc.).
5. Please schedule all interviews as early as
possible and remember to respect the time of those leaders you interview. Make
sure you are prompt, courteous, formal, and well-prepared (write out your
questions before the interview). You will be required to include an appendix
which summarizes the key points of the interviews as part of your Final Paper
?
