The Leadership Project requires each student to lead a group of people
MBA 595 – Leadership Project Guidelines
The Leadership Project requires each student to lead a group of people (friends, workers, fellow workers, fellow club members, etc.) in a project or activity that they would not normally undertake. The only rules of the project are: (1) students must not tell their friends or co-workers that they are doing it for a class, and
(2) it should take at least three weeks of contact to completion. The Leadership Project consists of two parts, a proposal for the Project due in Module 2, and a Final 10-page Project Paper due in Module 7.
Leadership Project Proposal (due by the conclusion of Module 2)
The proposal is due by the conclusion of Module 2; however, you should begin working on it during Module 1 as it will require you to conduct initial research on your chosen topic.
Specifically, you must complete the steps below (by the end of Module 2):
1. Read the Journal of Management Education article titled “Personal Leadership Conundrum” (referenced in the Module). This article is available through the Saint Leo online library. (See the syllabus and the link in the course Resources area for more information about accessing the online library).
2. Identify the leadership conundrum you will look into as you lead the group (what personal issues do you need to address, etc.) . State it in the first person and in the form of a question. See examples of conundrum topics in the Recommendations section below.
3. Explain why you have chosen this conundrum: Why is it of interest to you? How does it relate to your experiences? How does it relate to who you are? In other words, what about yourself and your experience are motivating you to seek the answer to this conundrum?
4. Create a bibliography of at least two peer-reviewed, academic journal articles that deal with the conundrum (see below the Recommendations section for examples of journals that qualify as academic and peer reviewed), at least two periodical articles (newspaper, magazine, website, etc.), and at least
two books, stories, myths, parables, movies, poems, or songs that will help you better
understand and gain insight into your conundrum.
5. Identify at least two leaders you will interview to gain their insights into your conundrum and
explain why you have chosen them to interview regarding your conundrum as you work on guiding your
group. Provide the title and contact information for each leader.
6. List between five and seven interview questions you will ask to each leader (the questions
should be the same or at least partially the same). The questions should be directly related to
the personal conundrum that you are trying to solve in leading the group.
7. For this proposal (and the Final Leadership Paper), you will use the American Psychological
Association (APA) formatting guidelines. If you have any questions concerning proper citation
procedures, then ask the instructor prior to submitting your work.
8. Submit the completed Project Proposal to the Dropbox no later than Sunday 11:59 PM
EST/EDT of Module 2; this Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin and the Final
Leadership Project Paper is also (due by the conclusion of Module 7).
Students should submit the Final Leadership Project Paper in APA-style, 10-pages, that includes the
following sections (please include the questions):
1. An introduction of what your leadership project encompassed (who did you lead, what did you
lead them on, etc?).
2. What your particular “leadership conundrum” was all about (what did the issue focus upon,
details,etc.)?
3. A discussion of what the leadership style you used is all about in dealing with the group and
why you think that was the style you used (document and relate to the literature out there)?
4. How did you deal with your particular conundrum in leading the group (list references and
ideas that might relate to how you handled it)? Did the ideas you gained from the interviews
help? Did fixing the conundrum help lead the group or not?
5. A discussion of available data regarding whether the leadership approach you used worked or
not (any studies of it from research?).
6. A discussion of how successful the project was and how you might have lead the project
more effectively.
7. A discussion of what still needs to be learned about the style you used (studies that might
help, or other uses of it that still need to be explored).
8. A summary of all of the above at the end of the paper.
9. A bibliography (not included as part of the 10-page requirement).
Again, the Final Leadership Project Paper should be submitted to the Dropbox no later than Sunday
11:59 PMEST/EDT of Module 7. (This Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin).
Recommendations
The following are recommendations to consider as you complete your project:
1. When necessary, please seek out advice from your instructor. Although you are responsible
for your learning, the instructor is available to help you make this assignment meaningful and
successful.
2. You should choose a conundrum of your own interest. In the past, students have explored
such specific conundrums as:
a. “How do I balance confidence and humility to be an effective leader?”
b. “How do I lead, influence, and work with negative people?”
c. “How do I lead people who don’t believe I should be doing the leading?”
d. “How will I be able to effectively lead those who have negative stereotypes of working
for/or with females?”
e. “How do I institute change in a group while maintaining high standards?”
f. “How do I lead older, more experienced people?”
g. “How can I be a role model of hard work and dedication and also
balance work and non-work domains?”
3. There are numerous academic journals on management, leadership, psychology, sociology, philosophy, education, and religion available through the library.
Below are a number of academic management journal titles:
a. Academy of Management Journal
b. Academy of Management Review
c. Leadership
d. Leadership Quarterly
e. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal
f. Organization
g. International Journal of Management
h. International Journal of Leadership Studies
i. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies
j. Journal of Management Inquiry
k. Journal of Organizational Behavior
l. Journal of Management and Organization
m. Journal of Management Education
4. There are, of course, many different leadership styles you can use in completing your project (refer to
your text and/or other sources) and there are, of course, a number of different project you can lead
people on—some of the ones that have been done in previous classes are (organizing an office area,
helping team members to lose weight, leading a group in donating time at a Red Cross or other social
service agency, organizing a group to run a race for a particular benefit, organizing a group to take a
train ride to a particular part of the US or elsewhere, etc.).
5. Please schedule all interviews as early as possible and remember to respect the time of those
leaders you interview. Make sure you are prompt, courteous, formal, and well-prepared (write out
your questions before the interview). You will be required to include an appendix which
summarizes the key points of the interviews as part of your Final Paper
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