MGT 475 The Leadership Essay

1. Personal Mission Statement (1 or 2 paragraphs; 10 points)

One of the most important aspects of Leadership is self-knowledge and particular awareness of your priorities and values. While there is no unique format or formula for creating your personal mission statement, the following guidelines may be helpful:

Keep it simple, clear, and brief. Your mission statement should touch upon what you want to focus on and who you want to become as a person (character) in this part of your life. Think about specific actions, behaviors, habits, and qualities that would have a significant positive impact. Make sure your mission statement is positive. Instead of saying what you don’t want to do or don’t want to be, say what you do want to do or become. Include positive behaviors, character traits, and values that you consider particularly important and want to develop further. Think about how your actions, habits, behavior, and character traits in this area affect the important relationships in your life. Create a mission statement that will guide you in your day-to-day actions and decisions. Think about how your mission affects the other areas of your life. Is it balanced? Including an emotional payoff in your mission statement infuses it with passion and will make it even more compelling, inspiring, and energizing.  Remember that your mission statement is not cast in stone. It will continue to change and evolve as you gain insights about yourself and what you want out of each part of your life.

1. Leadership Style Interview (4-6 full pages: 45 points)

Choose someone who has had experience in leading within an organization and ask them if you could interview them by phone or in person. The interview should take about 30 minutes. Be sure to take notes during the interview.

Use the following questions when you conduct the interview (feel free to ask other questions as well):

1. Ask the leader to consider a time when they faced a challenging situation at work that demanded that they grow as a leader. Ask them to briefly describe the situation. Why was it challenging and what was at stake? What tensions and conflicts were at play?
2. Ask them to explain the three (or more) most important actions they took as a leader to address the situation. What were the kinds of things they did that made a difference? How did they decide on a best course of action? Who helped them to formulate a strategy?
3. Ask the leader what kind of resistance did they face and from whom? How did they overcome that resistance? In hindsight, what, if anything, might they have done differently?
4. Ask them to speak personally and comment on how they were feeling entering the situation and how their feelings may have changed during the experience.
5. Ask them to share some of their own thoughts on what they think it means to be an effective leader.

After the interview, thank them for their time and be sure to send them a personalized thank you note.

6. Once you have completed this interview, the next step is to write your analysis, please include the following:

  A Mini Bio describing the person interviewed (less than 5 lines)

 How do you know this leader? How did you get the interview?

 Was it a pleasant experience or did you think it was hard?

 Will there be any follow-up?

7. NEXT – Write a description of the situation, the leader’s tactics/strategies and outcomes, as well as your own conclusion summarizing what the key learning points that emerged for you from this interview. What did you learn about their leadership styles? Connect any 5 Leadership concepts, topics, models, theories, etc. discussed within the 17 chapters in the eBook class text to their style of leadership. What did you learn about yourself? How did this interview help to foster your own philosophy of leadership?
8. Your interview summary should be 4-6 pages in length, double-spaced, 1” margins, size 12 font with complete sentences and proper spelling and grammar and should represent a written presentation of the interview.

1. My Story (4-6 full pages: 45 points)

Imagine someone interested in writing your biography is interviewing you. What would you say that you would want the world to know about you? What are the “a-ha” moments that have led you to be the person you are today? For this assignment, you are not encouraged to write your life story. Rather, I would like you to capture three stories that have had a profound impact on you and are guiding forces in your current actions.

Each story should include the following components:

1.A brief description of the “event”

2.What sense you make out of the experience (lessons learned)

3.How you are changed as a result of the experience

4.Last, there should be a one-page reflection of how these three stories have shaped and changed you in the context of leadership. Some questions to consider exploring include (these are to help you think about what you want to write. You do not have to answer all the following questions.): What is your family history? What are your family traditions and customs? How have these factors influenced your life and perceptions of leadership? Do you have any social identities that influence your actions in the context of leadership? When was the first time you realized your leadership potential? Are there any influences outside of your family that have shaped your values and philosophy of leadership? What about the imperfect moments or mistakes that shaped the content of your character? How have mentors and critical incidents transformed you?

5. Your “My Story” response should be 4-6 pages in length, double-spaced, 1” margins, size 12 font with complete sentences and proper spelling and grammar.

Your 10-14-page paper should be approximately 4-6 full pages of text for the Leadership Style Interview; 4-6 full pages of text for the My Story response, 1-2 paragraphs for your Personal Mission Statement (double-spaced, 1” margins, and size 12 font for your entire paper).