Leader Inquiry What can we learn from today’s leaders about leadership? The purp

Question

Leader Inquiry What can we learn from today’s leaders about leadership? The purpose of this assignment is for you to identify, analyze, and evaluate leadership and management behaviors, skills and abilities in today's practicing leaders as compared to the theories we teach in class. To complete this assignment, you must interview someone who holds a formal leadership role in their organization. For purposes of this assignment, you will want to select someone who has direct management responsibility over others, to include setting direction and assigning work, and who has ultimate accountability for decisions made within their department. It is highly recommended that your interviewee has been in a leadership role for at least five years. They can be a leader in fields such as business, sports, politics, non-profit, entertainment, education, etc.; but I recommend you target a field that aligns with your post-college plans. You select the leader. The length of your interview is up to you, but please be considerate of your interviewee’s time. I recommend 60 to 90 minutes. I also suggest you contact them weeks in advance of when this assignment is due. Many leaders will need advance notice to arrange time for you on their calendars. Feel free to utilize other questions, but you may find the following useful as a guide for your discussion: Please tell me about your leadership role. How do you define leadership? Are there any specific leadership theories that you subscribe to? What are the basic responsibilities of a leader? What are the characteristics/traits of an effective leader? What leadership styles work best in your work environment? What leadership approaches have you tried that didn’t work? What is the most challenging aspect of being a leader? How did you learn to be a leader? What is something you wish people had told you about leadership before you started? What advice do you have for an aspiring leader? Your task is to understand leadership from their perspective and compare and contrast that with the related concepts from our textbook. To earn an A for this assignment: 1. Tell me how your interviewee’s perspectives on leadership relate, or don’t relate, to textbook concepts (be specific, include examples) 2. Tell me how you agree and disagree with your leader’s perspectives, based on your personal beliefs and/or based on what the textbook says about leadership (be specific, include examples) 3. Demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of the textbook concepts used in your analysis 4. Follow these delivery requirements for the paper a. Cover page with your name/ID and the name, title and organization of your interviewee b. 3 to 4 full pages of analysis (points taken off if less than 3 or longer than 4 full pages) c. Double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12-point type

Explanation / Answer

Effective leaders generally use a combination of management styles depending on the employees and the nature of the work to be done. Good leaders establish trust and find an equal balance between team and company requirement. Before choosing a leadership style one must consider his/her preferred style, the abilities and experience of the team, type of work, its difficulty, and the company environment- conservative or adventurous.

Though theories educate one about different leadership and management options available, effective leadership is not about specific influences, characteristics and actions. As a leader, one must draw from different abilities and approaches to find a right style. As transformational leadership style entails about the requirements for highly motivating and trusting leader, it is appropriate for most business situations. Transformational leaders have high integrity believe in setting example, establish clear objectives, encourage, support, and inspire employees, provide stimulating assignments, have high and realistic expectations and are good communicators.

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