Self-Reflection & Leadership Action

Overview

This deliverable supports the following course objective: to identify your leadership strengths; and explain how you are influenced by and how you exert influence on the people around you.

You will interview two of your team members, asking for feedback on the strengths you exhibited during the semester, as well as for feedback on the progress you made relative to your original leadership action plan (part 1). Then, you will reflect on the results of this feedback, as well as your own perceptions of your strengths and progress. On your own, you will describe the progress you made this semester with respect to your leadership action plan (part 1), and the areas you still need and want to address as you move on from this course. You will revise your action plan for continued implementation.

Step 1: Feedback Gathering

Choose two of your team members (i.e., the individuals in your assigned teams) and ask these individuals to do the following:

• Think of a time or situation when they saw you at your best this semester. Tell a brief story about what you were doing in this situation. Describe why they thought you were performing well in this situation. Based on this story, describe what unique benefits you offered others in this situation.
• Regarding your current action plan, do they find it to be focused on the four behaviors/characteristics that would be most impactful to your development as a leader? From their perspective, what other behaviors/characteristics should you consider incorporating into your new action plan? What professional development activities would they suggest helping you improve in those areas?
Step 2: Self-Reflection – Pause for just a moment…

Considering your own perceptions of your strengths, as well as the results of the feedback gathered in step 1, reflect on your leadership behaviors/characteristics in the context of your original action plan. What are your top strengths? What might still be your challenge areas? Given what you have learned about yourself and about leadership in this course, does your action plan make sense as a tool to assist you in your leadership development? What changes should you make to the plan and why?

Step 3: Written Self-Reflection

In no more than two pages, double-spaced, please address the following points. Please use full sentences and paragraphs to present your ideas.

• Briefly describe the progress you’ve made this semester with respect to your original leadership action plan (part 1). (Approximately one page)
• Identify the four behaviors/characteristics that you still need and want to address as you move on from this course. To do this, explain your rationale for the changes/modifications you will make in your new leadership development action plan. Be sure to also identify the two individuals who provided you feedback in Step 1. (Approximately one page)
Step 4: Updated Leadership Action Plan

Using the template provided on page 4—the same one you used to develop your original action plan—create an updated action plan to strengthen your leadership capabilities over the course of the next 12 months. Your new plan may include two of the four behaviors/characteristics from your original action plan or it may incorporate different behaviors/characteristics. It should, however, address two (2) behaviors/characteristics, and you should make significant changes from your previous plan to your new plan. Once again, the plan should be designed to improve your effectiveness as a leader, so the plan must be specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time bound (SMART). In fact, the more specific the plan, the more likely you will be able to act. Use full sentences to address the following points in the plan.

• Describe the behavior that you want to change, and the change you would like to see in the next 12 months.
• Describe the barriers that hinder your desired change.
• Describe the enablers of your desired change.
• Identify the professional development activities that may assist you with this change (e.g., student organizations, conferences, workshops, online tutorials, meetings). Be specific.
• Identify target dates for change. Include check points or milestones to monitor your progress, i.e., if your target date is one month from now, identify weekly milestones, or if your target date is three months from now, identify monthly milestones.

Clarifications

• This assignment should be typed, minimum 11-point font. Submit the written self-reflection (2 pages, double-spaced), and new leadership action plan in a single Word document. Remember to use the template on p. 4 for updating your leadership action plan. Assuming you allocate one page to each behavior/characteristic, your document may total 4 pages.
• Be sure to proofread carefully.
• If you use exact words, especially if you capture someone’s exact words, you must put quotation marks around the cited material to acknowledge that these are not your own words. If you have citations, you must also include a references page or works cited page with your submission (this page does not count towards your page limit). Remember, plagiarism is claiming work as your own that you have copied from another person, whether that other person knows about it or not. This includes copying from web sites without proper source citation and using papers prepared by current or past students. This also includes submitting work previously completed for an assignment (in this course or another course) without my permission. False claims of any kind may be considered a violation of the Academic Integrity policy.

• Please add your name to the Academic Integrity Pledge and include it at the beginning of your assignment: “I _ [student name]_affirm that I have not and will not give or receive unauthorized aid on this deliverable and I will complete this work honestly and according to the instructor’s guidelines.”
• Submit your assignment to the Canvas dropbox by 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, May 1 AND bring a hard copy of the project to the Department of Management & Organization office (room 452 Business Building) by 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, May 1. There will be no late submissions accepted.