READ:

Robbins & Judge: Chapter 12 – Leadership

Robbins & Judge: Chapter 13 – Power

This assignment covers and therefore combines readings from two weeks.  I hope you read both chapters early and begin thinking of the assignment. 

Your response needs to be in-depth and thorough.

LECTURE:

In chapter 12, you will have read about the range of styles and behaviors that characterize the traits and habits of different business leaders.  There are many ways of defining leadership and many ways that leaders behave.  From reading Chapter 12, you will recognize that persons may be drawn to one leadership style over another.  The chapter highlights a range of leadership theories that have historically shaped our understanding of leaders’ behaviors. However, in spite of their diversity, leaders are necessary for people to work in organized ways to deliver successful results.  I often say that the tone of an organization is set at the top … with the leader.  Whether the leader is ethical or compassionate or unscrupulous or any other aspect of character, helps set the tone throughout an organization.

As work settings change the demands that organizations have of leaders have also changed.  One emerging approach to leadership is the leader as coach.  The leader has an eye toward the goals of the company while modeling the behaviors desired of others and serves as a teacher/guide to help individuals grow, produce, flourish, and do their part in delivering success. This lesson also presents Principles of Leadership that are taught to members of the military.  These are principles that the military expects leaders to apply and adopt in order to succeed and perform optimally.  As plebes in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, “new” managers of men and women are taught eleven principles of leadership from the Army’s manual, Principles of Leadership.  The principles are as follows:Know yourself and seek self-improvement, Be technically and tactically proficient, Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions , Set the example, Know your people and look out for their welfare , Keep your people informed, Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished, Develop a sense of responsibility among your people, Train your people as a team, Train your people as a team, Employ your work unit in accordance with its capabilities. 

Written assignment 1:  The Character of a 21st Century Leaderwill include the following components:  This individual assignment will be pasted in the assignment section of NYU Classes. 120 pts

1: In your own words, briefly summarize your understanding of leadership and explain the importance of character in effective leadership. Here you might also pull in one or more principles of leadership (from the 11 principles) that resonate with you. (1 page)
2: Choose one view of leadership theory that resonates with you, explain it in your own words, and describe how it helps improve performance and productivity among employees.  (1 page)
3: Reflect on the view of leader as a coach. From the article, summarize what does it mean to you? How do concepts of motivation and communication help you to understand how a leader shapes the success of the people who work in an organization. (1  page)
4: Having read the chapter and based on your new understanding of the different bases of power, explain:  Why don’t more people in organizations question the prudence of what they are being asked to do?  Include a critical discussion of leadership behavior and types of power.  (1 page)
5.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, comment on the use or misuse of effective leadership qualities and power in leading your organization or your state. (1 page)  Your comment must draw on reliable sources, like your organization’s website, correspondence from your company’s CEO/President, your state’s official website, etc.  Your analysis must also use leadership theories and concepts of power to support your commentary. (30 points)

10 additional points for proper APA formatting.  For this paper, you will not need to complete an abstract.  Use this link to get guidelines for APA formatting. Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab had developed a prescriptive guide for writing an APA formatted paper.