Leadership and management

The Task:

Section 1:

Critically evaluate the contemporary definitions of leadership and management examining current perspectives of the roles and responsibilities of both leaders and managers generally.

· This section should account for approximately 60-65% of your total word count (probable ballpark 2,000 to 2,100 words)

· You should be using in the region of 20 – 25 appropriate and robust academic references to supplement and validate your evaluation

Advice:

· Only pick four or five key models or theories and focus your attention on them (rationale is that if you try to focus on too many different models or theories you establish no depth of awareness or understanding in any of them).

· Make sure you use multiple academic perspectives when discussing each key theory.

· Think about the evolutionary process of management and leadership and consider writing your assignment through that mechanism.

· Remember to use both leadership and management theories / models.

· Build a body of dialogue around each key model or theory.

· Do not use single sentence, or simply use limited, paragraphs (2-10 lines) to create that awareness and understanding as this limits insight and awareness of the point you wish to discuss.

· Construct good robust paragraphs using at least 3 (ideally 4) appropriate academic sources to help inform the reader of the point you are making.

· Each paragraph is more likely to be in the region of 15 – 20 lines and using multiple academic sources gives the reader a chance to appreciate the breadth and depth of your research (which is always a plus).

Section 2:

Based on your evaluation in section one, propose a minimum of three critical skills and behaviours required to be a successful 21st century leader. Consider specific methods of leadership and management development that could develop these critical skills and recommend how to implement and evaluate these development interventions effectively. (LO3)

(You may present your recommended interventions and respective evaluations in a table format for section 2).

· This section will account for approximately 35-40% of your word count

· You should be using in the region of 10 – 12 appropriate and robust academic references to supplement and validate your proposals

Advice:

· Pick ONLY three skills and / or behaviours and construct a rationale outlining the purpose and value of these skills and why development in these areas would be beneficial for prospective 21st century leaders.

· Construct an implementation (How, Who, Where, When) and evaluation plan (with distinct mechanisms to measure the impact and potential success of your implementation).

· Point 2 can be constructed using a tabular format

Structuring the Work

Section 2 is constructed of two elements:

· Element 1 discusses the three skills or behaviours you feel would be useful to develop in 21st century leaders. Using a range of academic sources (in the region of 10-12) construct a rationale that determines the purpose and value of these skills / behaviours in today’s business environments.

· Avoid overusing any one source to construct this rationale (as it potentially undermines the value proposition of your ideas).

· The probable ballpark word count for this element is 1,000 to 1,100 words.

· Element 2 is presented in table format (probable ballpark word count is 400-500 words).

· It outlines the implementation methods and the mechanisms by which you will determine the relative value and success of the plan.

· The implementation methods should address how you plan to implement these ideas with an indication of who they are targeted at, whether this is a staged plan (activity 1, activity 2 etc) and when they can occur (there may be necessary time intervals in the plan to ensure work based learning is captured, which may be part of your evaluation process).

· The evaluation measures is likely to be multiple (meaning there will be more than one measure for each skill or behaviour being developed).

· Element 2 is presented in table format (probable ballpark word count is 400-500 words).

· It outlines the implementation methods and the mechanisms by which you will determine the relative value and success of the plan.

· The implementation methods should address how you plan to implement these ideas with an indication of who they are targeted at, whether this is a staged plan (activity 1, activity 2 etc) and when they can occur (there may be necessary time intervals in the plan to ensure work based learning is captured, which may be part of your evaluation process).

· The evaluation measures is likely to be multiple (meaning there will be more than one measure for each skill or behaviour being developed).

Presenting Your Work

· A professional presentation is required. Remember, you are presenting to an audience, not to yourself. What you present and how you present it is often considered to be an indication of you, so be professional.

· Use size 12 font (Arial, Verdana, MS Sans Serif tend to be good choices as they are relatively easy to read).

· Use line and half (1.5) spacing. Do not cram things in on top of each other. A cluttered and ill-considered presentation does not make good or easy reading so help the reader.

· Build good, well informed (from appropriate and robust academic research) points of discussion. Show the reader you have an understanding of the subject and not just some vague acknowledgement of it.

Key Topics:

Early perceptions of leadership: Great Man Theory born, or made? Trait theory; Situation and contingency theory

· Defining and distinguishing leadership and management and evaluation of the similarities and differences between leadership and management

· Critical perspectives on early theories of leadership

Seasoned Styles of Leadership and Management: Transformational, Transactional, Charismatic, Servant leadership

· Critical comparison of contemporary theories of leadership and management

· Identifying and analysing leadership styles

Recent Styles of Leadership: Authentic, Empathetic, Resonant. Awakened, Agile

· Emotional intelligence in leadership

· Relationship between leaders and followers, leader and follower power