leading Innov

5.3 Leader2Leader Insights Reflection Paper

Getting Started

This assignment represents the culmination of work you began in the third week of this course. In that workshop, you submitted a set of conversation questions for your Leader2Leader dialogue to your peers for feedback and a revised set of questions to the instructor.

As a reminder, for this assignment, you will engage a leader of your choosing as you conduct a Leader2Leader dialogue. Taking into consideration what you have studied thus far about leading change and innovation, you will use your list of conversation questions to gain new insights and perspectives on how someone else practices leadership. You’ve read from textbooks and articles. You’ve discussed this with your peers. Now, further insights might be gained by dialogues with key leaders in your life. Do they agree with some of the frameworks, principles, and practices you’ve been studying? Disagree? Have additional insights they might offer? What have they learned from their experiences in the areas you have been studying? 

If you have not already conducted that conversation, you will need to do so during this week so that you may submit your report by Day 7 of the workshop. 

For a reminder of the interview guidelines, refer back to the instructions in  3.3 Leader2Leader Dialogue Question Prep (new tab)  activity. 

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Apply what I am learning about organizational learning, innovation, and change to ask questions of another leader.

· Inquire as to how another leader fosters learning by overcoming associated barriers.

· Analyze how another leader has led change in their organization and apply that learning how I lead change. 

· Inquire of another leader as to their innovative approaches to organizational change.

Background Information

An important part of leadership development is acquiring perspectives outside of a textbook. Throughout your program, you have been encouraged to glean insights or perspectives from a variety of external leaders. You should not just use the same leader for each course, but you should consider a variety of individuals from whom you might learn during the program (e.g., direct supervisor, other level leaders in your organization (or other organizations with which you are familiar), a pastor/religious leader, head of a charity, local businessperson) in order to generate a variety of perspectives. Select one of those leaders in your life for your Leader2Leader dialogue in this course. Consider which one might have the most relevant insights for the topics you have been studying.

Apply what you have learned to date within this course and program to ask another leader about leading change efforts, innovation, overcoming barriers to change and innovation, and organizational learning. 

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Write a two to three-page paper, summarizing the answers to your interview.

3. The paper needs to contain the following:  

a. Name and title of the interviewee (who you will have your Leader2Leader dialogue with). Explain why you chose this particular leader. 

b. Date, time, and method (phone, Zoom, Skype, FaceTime…) when the interview was conducted 

c. Questions and summaries of interviewee responses, along with your reflections on those responses. You may want to consider including the list of questions in the appendix depending on space demands.

d. Include an appendix with an updated list of the interviewees used for Leader2Leader talks to this point in the program.  

4. Be sure to link your learning in this course to your conclusions, especially noting when your interviewee shared insights that supported or contradicted what you’ve learned. 

5. Include a conclusion paragraph to your paper that provides a succinct summary of your interview and learning.

6. As an Appendix following your Reference page, please list the names of the leaders whom you have interviewed for each BSOL course you have completed thus far. 

7. Submit your completed assignment by the end of the workshop week. 

8. All papers are to be written in accordance with  APA Guidelines (7th ed.) (new tab)  including format guidelines. Papers must be logical, well organized, grammatically correct, and have correct spelling and sentence structure. Write in complete paragraphs of at least three sentences in length.