Assignment: Leadership in Action
Effective leaders play a critical role in shaping organizations, motivating employees, making decisions, and achieving organizational goals. In this assignment, you will analyze a real leader and evaluate how their leadership style has influenced the success or failure of an organization. Choose a current or former leader from a business, nonprofit organization, government agency, or sports organization.
Examples include:
- Satya Nadella (Microsoft)
- Mary Barra (General Motors)
- Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX)
- Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo)
- Howard Schultz (Starbucks)
- Tim Cook (Apple)
- Any leader approved by the instructor
- Provide a brief overview of organization background:
- The organization
- Its mission and primary activities
- The leader you selected
- The leader’s role within the organization
- Write a leadership analysis. Discuss the leader’s management and leadership approach.
- What leadership style does this individual appear to use? (Autocratic, Democratic, Transformational, Transactional, Servant Leadership, etc.)
- How does the leader motivate employees?
- How does the leader communicate with employees and stakeholders?
- What decisions or actions demonstrate their leadership approach?
Provide specific examples!!
3. Discuss organizational impact. Evaluate the impact of the leader on the organization.
- Employee morale and engagement
- Organizational culture
- Financial performance
- Innovation and growth
- Public image and reputation
Do you believe the organization would have been as successful under a different leader? Why or why not?
- Reflection. Imagine you have just been promoted to a management position.
- What leadership qualities would you want to emulate?
- What management challenges do you think would be most difficult?
- What lessons did you learn from the leader you analyzed?
Your submission should be approximately 3–5 pages in length, double-spaced, using a professional 12-point font. If you use outside sources, please cite them appropriately.
Grading Rubric (50 Points Total)
Criteria
Excellent
Good
Fair
Needs Improvement
Points
Organization and Leader Background
Provides a comprehensive overview of the organization and leader. Clearly explains the organization’s purpose, industry, history, and the leader’s role. Demonstrates strong understanding of the business context.
Provides a solid overview of the organization and leader with only minor details missing. Demonstrates a good understanding of the business and leadership role.
Provides a basic overview but lacks important details or sufficient context about the organization or leader.
Provides limited, unclear, or inaccurate background information. Important details about the organization or leader are missing.
10
Leadership and Management Analysis
Thoroughly analyzes the leader’s management and leadership style. Effectively applies course concepts and provides multiple relevant examples. Demonstrates critical thinking and insight.
Analyzes the leader’s style and incorporates course concepts with relevant examples. Analysis is generally accurate but may lack depth.
Demonstrates a basic understanding of leadership concepts but relies more on description than analysis. Limited examples are provided.
Provides minimal analysis, lacks supporting examples, or demonstrates little understanding of leadership and management concepts.
15
Organizational Impact Evaluation
Provides a thoughtful evaluation of the leader’s impact on organizational culture, employee motivation, innovation, performance, and reputation. Conclusions are well-supported by evidence.
Evaluates several aspects of organizational impact and supports conclusions with some evidence, though analysis may not be fully developed.
Discusses organizational impact but provides limited evidence or weak connections between leadership actions and outcomes.
Evaluation is superficial, lacks supporting evidence, or fails to connect leadership actions to organizational results.
15
Reflection, Writing Quality, and Professionalism
Reflection is thoughtful and demonstrates meaningful personal insight. Writing is clear, organized, professional, and free of major grammar or spelling errors. Assignment fully meets formatting requirements.
Reflection demonstrates understanding of leadership concepts. Writing is generally clear and organized with only minor grammar, spelling, or formatting issues.
Reflection is somewhat limited and lacks depth. Writing contains several grammar, spelling, or organizational issues but remains understandable.
Reflection is brief, incomplete, or off-topic. Writing contains significant grammar, spelling, formatting, or organizational issues that affect readability.
10