1. Introduction: Your paper is about your personal leadership plan, and needs to include a review of 5-7 topics that we have covered in this course. Your intro needs to set the stage by explaining the need for a leadership plan, as it relates to your current or future goals. These can be related to work or life, but I think work is an easier path, personally. Your thesis statement needs to highlight the fact that through employing certain tactics, you will be able to develop a leadership plan that will allow you to be a successful, ethical leader. (Listing the actual items is optional, but make sure the sentence is not too wordy.) This should be about 1/2 to 3/4 of a page.

2. Body (Part 1): You then need to transition it to a description of each of your chosen topics. Remember that body paragraphs should be 3-5 sentences and deal with one idea. As a result, each of your chosen topics should result in at least 2 paragraphs. The first should explain the topic. What is it? How does it impact leadership? The second should discuss the ethical implications, with specific focus on relation to your leadership plan. How will this topic make you a better leader? How will it serve to keep you grounded and focused on ethical actions? NOTE: If you need to provide 3 paragraphs for 1 topic, do so! This is an 8-10 page paper. There is opportunity for plenty of content to fill that space. Follow this approach for each topic. This should be 6-8 pages.

3. Body (Part 2): After you have described all of the topics, explain how they will work together to form your leadership plan. What will result from some of these concepts working together? How will you continue to stay sharp as a leader? Will you need to research changes in how these topics are used? This should be 1-2 pages of your paper.

4. Conclusion: This is 1 paragraph that sums up what has already been said. It does not introduce any new material.

As far as outside materials go, you should be using the text, as well as some other outside sources. For example, you could reference a military leader who is known for their leadership skills, or Google for how they motivate employees. Have some fun here!

If you follow this outline, you will do well. Remember though that every paragraph should be working to support your thesis. Stay on topic! If you have questions, email me. More specifically, if you would like to email me your thesis statement ahead of time, in order to receive feedback, I am happy to provide it. I will check my email every day between now and Tuesday to ensure that I get a response out within 24 hours.

ACTUAL ASSIGNMENT:

Final Paper

Create and eight- to ten- page (excluding title and reference pages) personal leadership development plan.  Utilizing at least five current scholarly sources, in addition to your course text, address the following components:

1.   Select five to seven leadership concepts that were presented in class (listed below) to describe and evaluate for this assignment.

2.   Discuss the different ethical aspects of each of the five to seven concepts you selected as they relate to your individual leadership style.

3.   Describe how you currently, or plan to, incorporate these elements into your leadership style/development.

Select five to seven of the following concepts for your Final Paper:

• Personal mission statement
• Personal vision Statement
• Leadership qualities
• Leadership traits
• Behavior approaches
• Leadership Style (select one of the following)
  • Situational Leadership
  • Servant Leadership
  • Transformational Leadership
  • Transactional Leadership
  • Charismatic Leadership
  • Coalitional Leadership
• Personal Mastery
• Emotional Intelligence
• Motivation
• Empowerment
• Communication
• Team development
• Conflict management
• Leading change
• Leadership and diversity
• Strategic leadership
• Culture

Writing the Research Paper

1.   Must be eight- to ten- double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

2.   Must include a title page with the following:

a.   Title of paper

b.   Student’s name

c.   Course name and number

d.   Instructor’s name

e.   Date submitted

3.   Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.

4.   Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.

5.   Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.

6.    Must use at least five current scholarly sources, in addition to the course text.

7.   Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

8.   Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing CenteR