Homework: Leadership Studies
Students will engage in a critical analysis of leadership theory and practice, based on readings from the first half of the semester to include Chapters 1-10 of the text Northouse (2021), Leadership: Theory and practice. Feel free to bring in key concepts from the Keohane, N. O. (2010). Thinking about leadership text as well. My primary concern with this analysis paper is that students engage materials in ways that demonstrate at least three dimensions: First, students should demonstrate strong engagement with theories and concepts from the book chapters and readings. Second, students should engage these materials critically (what is working, what is not; what are strengths and what are limitations). Third, students should feel free to explore a variety of ideas that relate to leadership.
I suggest that you approach the paper by:
o Identifying 3-4 concepts from the chapters that resonated with you. Introduce each of the concepts, reference back to your primary text and bring in at least three external citations/references (from scholarly publications), that support the concepts.
o Give examples of current events or experiences in which you can apply these theories and concepts. E
o Explain how these theories or concepts relate to you (this can be in your personal life or professional career). These concepts can be any that were introduced in the text that we have already covered.
These somewhat broad instructions for paper one are intended to give students great latitude in how they approach the homework: critical analysis structure, compare and contrast dominate theories, development of an innovative leadership approach, etc. However, without detailed and consistent references to readings from this class, the paper will not receive a passing grade.
Make sure that the paper has a well-developed structure and engages reading materials from this class. One of the biggest challenges for students is creating their own analytic structure with a clear purpose or goal. The structure or organization of the paper should include:
o Introduction that: i) establishes interest, ii) establishes the topic of focus, iii) provides a clear thesis statement (goal or purpose followed by a brief justification of its importance), and iv) a preview of central points or organization of the body of the paper.
o In the body of the paper, students should think of each first sentence of a paragraph as a "mini-thesis" that establishes the goal or direction of the paragraph. This first sentence is often an argument, position, or strong "stand alone" statement. By stand-alone statement I mean an idea that makes sense on its own.
o Conclusion--summarized key ideas (sometimes this is a summary of key points learned or suggests directions for future analysis).
Remember, for your paper to be academic in nature you must bring in external citations from scholarly or refereed journals. This paper is not an opinion piece and you should not be citing work that is not scholarly. Also, remember that the text books for this class should be used as the primary Please do NOT use materials from John Kotter's leadership books. I want students to write papers that integrate key ideas from our text. Google Scholar is an excellent resource for scholarly work.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.