LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT

The unit will be assessed via two pieces of assessed work that will test your ability to think critically about your own leadership style and to assess whether you can synthesis empirical data with how organisational leadership is conceptualised.

Component 1 – Self reflection (This piece of work is worth 50%)

Task

Firstly compile a personal learning journal or process log. It should particularly draw on your on experiences during this module but also maybe other modules from the programme (e.g. PDP), and your previous experiences in organisations. It is important to reflect upon how you think and how you feel and how ideas (from the text book and journal articles) covered in the programme relate to your current and part work experiences and your current learning on the module.

Secondly produce a review of your learning journal that critically reflects on your leadership approach. This summary should identify what your experience has taught you about your own approach to management and leadership and suggest how you might take your development forward.

The review/summary of your personal reflections will be the main focus of the assessment. The review can be presented in any style or format that you choose (either traditional written rational academic style, or more emotional prose styles such as poetry, pictorial as opposed to text, video etc) but it MUST cover the key elements identified below. It should not be merely a simple critical summary of the content covered on the programme. Its purpose is to identify what you have experienced and how you have felt about it. Please attach your “Personal Learning Journal” as an appendix with your review.

Submission 3rd May 2016

2000 words for learning journal summary plus completed learning journal/log as an appendix. Please submit via blackboard.

Additional background and advice

“The unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues.

Each week you will be encouraged to keep a personal learning journal/log. This will help enhance your analytical skills, develop self-awareness and an ability to learn from your experiences. During the module you will be involved in a number of activities that may form the basis for your assignment such as:
• Participation in group discussions e.g. around particular issues or case studies;
• Participating in a number of experiential activities;
• Leading and organising part of a session.
• Interviewing a manager. See also component 2 (below) for more details but as part of this activity you should reflect on your engagement with this task – e.g. levels of anxiety associated with negotiation of entry into organisation, establishing control during the interview, feeling associated with successful/ unsuccessful performance of task etc
• Collecting news items and articles relating to leaders

It may help the organisation of your material by considering Kolb’s learning cycle. You need to capture FOUR KEY ELEMENTS OF PERSONAL CHANGE and any IMPLICATIONS:

Experiences Your experiences from both the classroom interaction/ engagement and work experiences that related to the theory covered in the module. Try to identify specific incidents and useful to include bits of dialogue. Feelings Your feelings engendered in response to any aspect of the programme/experience. Reflections Take time to reflect and gain deeper personal insight. Thoughts Key ideas, concepts, models and theories from the literature that develop and/or change how you make sense of situations. Implications of above Applications – How things might develop differently particularly in relation to new theories you may have developed. Ideas about how your personal insights might be applied in future situations. How do you need to develop?

Obviously this will not be a “neat and simple” exercise as ideas and thoughts cannot always be easily categorised and some ideas may overlap. However it is important to capture your ideas on a side of A4 whilst they are current so that you can track how they change/develop as the module progresses. You can capture these views in pictures, words, poetry or any way that feels, seems right for you at that point.

Assessment criteria

Criteria Actual mark
Creative reflection and critical insight into own leadership and personal development. Creative in the sense that it paints a picture – tells a good story – captures the essence in maybe an innovative, imaginative and interesting way. Critical in the sense of a deep reflective interrogation into your own learning. (35%) A B C D E
Application of models/theories. Sophisticated use of theory to explore and make sense of situations and experiences. Critical synthesis of theory and practice. Working at the boundary of theory and practice (35%) A B C D E
Relevant suggestions for future development (15%) A B C D E
Ability to communicate using an academic format. Clearly structured, good use of English, coherently argued, good scholarship (no plagiarism) and fully referenced (15%) A B C D E
Overall grade(A= Distinction 70-100; B= Merit 60-69; C= Pass 50-59; D= Marginal Fail 40-49; and E= Fail 0-39) A B C D E

Component 2 – Leader interview (This piece of work is worth 50%)

Task

Conduct an interview(s) with a manger who ideally responsible for other staff rather than just material resources. Write a review of the encounter in which you synthesize the academic leadership theory with the empirical data you collect. That is you should explore how the lived experience of managers’ relates to a particular aspect of the academic leadership literature? (2000 words)

The interview must be face to face (not over the phone or internet) and should not be with a close family member or friend (since our experience has been that students do not collect appropriate data from these sources). Evidence of the event (normally a photograph of the interviewee with yourself) and a brief paragraph on their background and role should also be submitted as an appendix to your review (photo in a sealed envelop in order to remain initially anonymous – the photo will be checked once the marking has been completed).

Additional background and advice

Clearly in a short encounter is impossible to cover all aspects of the leadership literature and hence you should focus your substantive questions on a particular aspect of leadership that interests you. E.g. range of roles played by managers, power and management, gender and leadership, strategic change and leadership, culture and leadership etc

It is suggested that you make arrangements for an interview as early in the term as possible with a view to collecting the data towards the end of the module. Select members at any level of seniority in any organisation – ideally they should be responsible for other staff and have people reporting to them. For the interview with a practitioner and the data collection you can arrange to work on this part of the assignment with a colleague. However you must ensure that there is no collusion around the writing up of the interview.

You need to think about gaining access to a suitable individual, planning and designing the interview e.g. structure and format; different types of question (open/closed); starting and ending the interview; ways of recording data (consider the use of a tape recorder) as well as issues such as confidentiality.

Your review of the interview could contain a theoretical section on the particular leadership literature you have chosen to explore. It should contain a section in which you relate theory to practice. It should also contain direct quotes from the interviewee to illustrate particular concepts, theories and perspectives. Your review should be appropriately referenced.

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