MGT 345 Organizational Behavior
You will find and interview a leader of your choice. You may interview a wide range of leaders such as, teachers, coaches, bosses, work colleagues, community leaders, and pastors. The only restriction is you may not choose an immediate family member or college student.
The first part of this paper should include: (a) a brief description of the leader; (b) his/her national culture’s key 3 – 5 values accompanied by behavioral examples in a table; (c) an overview of his/her individual diversity dimensions (e.g. gender and ethnicity). Has the leader’s own gender, culture, and/or ethnicity impacted his or her development of his/her personal philosophy/view of leadership, or how he/she leads others? (d) list the 5 – 8 most important personality traits or behavioral patterns that has contributed to the leader’s overall effectiveness. Be sure to provide examples.
The second part of this paper should discuss the leader’s thoughts on groups and followers: (a) how he/she impacts group process; (b) how his/her followers can influence leaders; (c) strategies for improving leader and group relations; (d) what are the 5 – 8 company/management policies and procedures that facilitate the his/her leadership effectiveness.
The final part of this paper asks you to reflect on what you learned from this interview. What made the most impact on you and why? How does what you learned in the interview either validate, refute, or reinforce what you have learned about organizational behavior in this class? Make specific reference to theories, models, etc.
Guidelines: This should be a 5 pages double spaced paper with 1 inch margins. Do not include a cover page. Name and class number should be listed on left side of the page. APA formatting for citations should be used. Paper should be submitted as a Word document (not PDF).
The following questions serve as both an interview guide and the framework for the reflective paper:
1. What is the name of the person you interviewed, with what organization or entity is he or she associated, and what sort of leadership role does he or she have?
2. Why did you select the person you chose to interview?
3. Find out the following from the leader you interview and address each aspect in your
paper:
o self-description of his or her leadership style
o how he or she obtained this position of leadership
o personal philosophy or view of leadership
o how the leader developed this philosophy (e.g. other people, situations, etc.)
o opinion as to whether or not the leader’s own gender, culture, and/or ethnicity
impacted his or her development of this personal philosophy/view of leadership,
or how or she leads others
o how, as a leader, he or she interacts with and is impacted by followers
o thoughts on group process and leadership
o what are the practical day-to-day issues of leadership with which he or she deals
o thoughts on leading through change
o thoughts on strategies to enhance personal or group relations
o ethical responsibilities of a leader
o advice for you as a student studying leadership
o anything else that might interest you
4. What did you learn from this interview that made the most impact on you and why?
5. How does what you learned in the interview either validate, refute, or reinforce what you have learned about organizational behavior in this class? Make specific reference to theories, models, etc.
Evaluation of this assignment is based on: 1) the depth to which all of the above questions were answered (the most weight is given to numbers four and five), 2) the degree to which the assignment instructions were followed (e.g. paper length, font, spacing and margin specifications), and 3) grammar and spelling.