Module 7: Final Project

MGT 4308: Final Project Guidelines and Grading Guide

Overview

The final project for this course is the creation of a Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan.

For your leadership philosophy, you will define what you think leadership should look like and your personal leadership action plan will explain how you will work toward achieving specific leadership goals. The philosophy should reflect on leadership theory and ethics and evaluate practiced leadership behaviors. The action plan should integrate the leadership strengths and weaknesses identified in several self-assessments and observer assessments and outline how you will move forward with your leadership development in the field of business.

The project is supported by six milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules 2–6. To complete this assignment, you will also need to refer back to and reflect on the journal assignments from Modules 2–6 and cases you analyzed with your peers in the discussion boards for Modules 2–7.

In this assignment you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

● Self-assess personal leadership ethics, values, beliefs, skills, behaviors, and traits ● Apply theories of leadership to personal development ● Apply the five practices of exemplary leadership to specific personal behaviors ● Develop a personal leadership action plan ● Assess ethical considerations in specific leadership scenarios

Prompt

Your leadership philosophy and action plan should include the following critical elements:

1. Leadership Philosophy (2 pages): Explain how specific leadership theories from the Leadership textbook align with your approach to leadership and illustrate your points with supporting examples.

For example: The Path–Goal theory suggests a leader should identify obstacles and use a leadership style to remove the obstacle. Perhaps in your own leadership, you tend to identify problems with a task and choose to implement a directive or supportive leadership style to help followers with a task to overcome the obstacle.

2. Leadership Behaviors (2–3 pages): Review your comparative reflections for the module milestones, identifying specific traits or behaviors

that were viewed differently between the self-assessment and observer assessments results. Identify which of these you plan to work on to improve your leadership development, explain why you chose these specific goals, and describe what you will do work toward achieving them.

For example: Perhaps you found yourself to be assertive, though your observers view you as more aggressive. You might plan to work towards improving this trait by softening your tone, asking more questions, and actively trying to be more generally assertive and less aggressive.

3. Leadership Practices (2–3 pages): Review the personal strengths and weaknesses of your leadership behaviors that you identified from

the five exemplary leadership practices in your Modules 2–6 journal entries. Evaluate which of the leadership behaviors that you practiced for these exercises will be useful as you continue to develop your leadership and explain how you will incorporate them into your leadership action plan.

For example: Perhaps for Encourage the Heart you chose to practice the behavior “Express appreciation for other’s contributions.” How will you continue to practice this behavior and make it a leadership behavior you enact on a regular basis? You might choose to read self-help books on the subject, dedicate yourself to purposefully giving someone a genuine compliment every day, or plan a celebration for those whom you’d like to show appreciation.

4. Ethical Guide (1–2 pages): Reflect on the ethical situations you explored in the module case discussions and use elements of what you discovered about your own values, beliefs, and approaches to leadership through those activities to formulate an ethical guide for your personal leadership behaviors and practices as you continue to develop your personal leadership philosophy and action plan.

For example: Overall, what do you believe an ethical leader looks like? What elements that we discussed seem most relevant to you? In the case Corneas in the Congo you explored the differences between morality and ethicality. As part of your action plan, you might educate yourself further on leadership ethics through reading, practice looking at situations through both a personal and organizational lens, and initiating conversations with your peers by sharing this and other cases with them.

Milestones As a reminder, in addition to the milestones outlined below, you will also need to refer back to and reflect on the journal assignments from Modules 2–6 and cases you analyzed with your peers in the discussion boards for Modules 2–7 in order to successfully complete your final project for this course.

Milestone One: Traits and Behavior Assessment Comparison In Module 2, you will submit a comparison of your self-assessment responses to the observer assessment responses for Chapters 2 & 4 in the Leadership text. This milestone is graded with the Milestone 1 Rubric.

Milestone Two: Path–Goal Assessment Comparison In Module 3, you will submit a comparison of your self-assessment responses to the observer assessment responses for Chapters 5 & 6 in the Leadership text. This milestone is graded with the Milestone 2 Rubric.

Milestone Three: LMX and Transformational Leadership Assessment Comparison In Module 4, you will submit a comparison of your self-assessment responses to the observer assessment responses for Chapters 7 & 8 in the Leadership text. This milestone is graded with the Milestone 3 Rubric.

Milestone Four: Servant Leadership Assessment Comparison In Module 5, you will submit a comparison of your self-assessment responses to the observer assessment responses for Chapter 10 in the Leadership text. This milestone is graded with the Milestone 4 Rubric.

Milestone Five: Leadership Ethics Assessment Comparison In Module 6, you will submit a comparison of your self-assessment responses to the observer assessment responses for Chapter 13 in the Leadership text. This milestone is graded with the Milestone 5 Rubric.

Final Submission: Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan In Module 7, you will submit a Leadership Philosophy and Action Plan. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course. This milestone will be graded using the Final Project Rubric.

Deliverable Milestones Milestone Deliverables Module

Due Grading

1 Traits and Behavior Assessment Comparison

2 Graded separately; Milestone 1 Rubric

2 Path–Goal Assessment Comparison 3 Graded separately; Milestone 2 Rubric

3 LMX and Transformational Leadership Assessment Comparison

4 Graded separately; Milestone 3 Rubric

4 Servant Leadership Assessment Comparison

5 Graded separately; Milestone 4 Rubric

5 Servant Leadership Assessment Comparison

6 Graded separately; Milestone 5 Rubric

Final Project: Servant Leadership Assessment Comparison

7 Graded separately; Final Project Rubric

Rubric

Requirements of Submission: Your final project submission must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document, about 7–10 pages in length (not including cover page or reference list), with double spacing, 12-point font, and one-inch margins, and any references should be cited in APA format.

Instructor Feedback: Students can find their feedback in the Grade Center.

Critical

Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Leadership Philosophy

Demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of

Explains how personal approach to leadership aligns

Explains how personal approach to leadership aligns

Does not explain how personal approach to

15

management leadership with specific leadership with specific leadership leadership aligns with specific through the explanation of theories. Points are supported theories, but points are not leadership theories. how personal approach to with specific examples. supported with specific leadership aligns with examples or explanation lacks specific leadership theories. in detail or clarity. Points are supported with exemplary examples.

Leadership Demonstrates a Identifies specific traits or Identifies traits or behaviors Does not identify traits or 5 Behaviors sophisticated knowledge of behaviors that were viewed that were viewed differently behaviors that were viewed

management leadership differently between the between the self-assessment differently between the through the identification of self-assessment and observer and observer assessments self-assessment and observer specific traits or behaviors assessments results. results, but lacks in detail or assessments results. that were viewed differently clarity. between the self-assessment and observer assessments results.

Leadership Behavior

Development

Demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of management leadership through the identification of goals for improving specific leadership traits or behaviors, explaining why they were chosen, and describing how they will be achieved.

Identifies goals for improving specific leadership traits or behaviors, explaining why they were chosen, and describing how they will be achieved.

Identifies goals for improving specific leadership traits or behaviors, explaining why they were chosen, and describing how they will be achieved, but lacks in detail or clarity.

Does not identify goals for improving specific leadership traits or behaviors.

15

Leadership Practices

Demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of management leadership through the evaluation of specific leadership practices that will be useful in developing leadership.

Evaluates specific leadership practices that will be useful in developing leadership.

Evaluates leadership practices that will be useful in developing leadership, but lacks in detail or clarity.

Does not evaluate leadership practices that will be useful in developing leadership.

15

Leadership Practices

Development

Demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of management leadership through the explanation of how specific leadership practices will be incorporated leadership action plan.

Explains how specific leadership practices will be incorporated leadership action plan.

Explains how leadership practices will be incorporated leadership action plan, but lacks in detail or clarity.

Does not explain how leadership practices will be incorporated leadership action plan.

20

Ethical Guide Demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of management leadership through the formulation of an ethical guide for personal leadership behaviors and practices that reflects

Describes the formulation of an ethical guide for personal leadership behaviors and practices that reflects personal values, beliefs, and approaches to leadership.

Describes an ethical guide for personal leadership behaviors and practices that reflects personal values, beliefs, and approaches to leadership.

Does not describe an ethical guide for personal leadership behaviors and practices.

20

personal values, beliefs, and approaches to leadership.

Articulation of Response

Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy to read format.

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization.

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas.

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas.

10

Earned Total Comments

100 %