By semester’s end, we will have examined leadership from many different perspectives. Your final project is designed to give you both structure and choice, and it will draw on the past, present, and future. As such there are three components described below. You should work on these three components as time permits throughout the semester. You will present the third component as part of our class leadership showcase. All components are due on the day of our final exam.
Past— Essay (Learning)
The first component of your final project requires you to survey the past, choose a historical figure, and compose a “Leadership Profile” biographical essay. The essay should be 5-6 pages, which includes your Works Cited.
To create a well-researched and well-written essay you will need to complete five steps:
- Select the leader you want to profile, have the subject of your biography approved by the instructor.
- Begin research. You may use, but should not rely on, reference sources.
- Look for patterns in the research and create an outline.
- Use the outline as a structure to write the biography.
- Proof read and edit.
- Make sure to cite your sources using Chicago Style, 16th edition.
Useful information to collect as you research your essay:
- Year and place they were born
- Family background
- Early life (home, school, and/or other early influences)
- Education (undergraduate, graduate, law school, and/or military service)
- Early career (influences on early career and/or challenges in early career)
- Significance of their career overall (challenges, successes, and/or changes)
- What was this person’s leadership style?
- Other important events (legislation, discoveries, awards, published books)
- Significance of achievements (how did or how does this person’s achievements contribute to society)
Present— Interview (Listening)
The second component of your final project will involve interviewing someone who you consider to be a leader in their current field (corporate, non-profit, educational, place of worship, government, local community). You will record and transcribe the interview, convert the audio of the interview to an mp4 file, and upload the interview audio and transcript through SoundCloud or similar program, to the OHMS project sponsored by the University of Kentucky. You will also create markers or tags for key terms, people, or events. Here are the specific instructions:
- Select a family, institutional, or community leader to interview. The person should be someone that is respected and viewed as an effective and/or exemplary leader in an organization.
- Approve your selected interviewee with the instructor, and also have the interviewee sign the permission form that allows you to publish their interview to OHMS, a scholarly digital project designed to collect oral histories.
- Contact the leader and determine a date and time for the interview. This should be an in-person or phone interview but not an email interview. It is important for there to be dialogue between both parties. The interview should last approximately one hour.
- Look at the list of questions provided and create/add at least two of your own questions in order to personalize the interview. Questions should be open-ended (or require more than a one-word answer).
- Conduct and record the interview and take additional notes. Be sure to include the date, time, and location as well as the person’s name, position, and organization.
Possible Questions:
- What part of your personal biography or background led you to this position?
- What cultural identities/experiences are most salient for you?
- What experiences have most shaped you as a leader?
- Were you called into leadership or did you seek it because of held convictions?
- How have you learned from obstacles and challenges faced?
- What does leadership mean to you?
- How would you characterize your leadership style?
- What are your professional strengths/weaknesses?
- What or who has been your greatest influence?
- Leaders help to turn ideas into action and empower others. How do you accomplish this?
- Do you feel it is important to delegate? If so why? When/how do you delegate?
- How do you measure success and how do you learn from failure?
- What are two or three action steps you believe are essential to enable others to be successful?
- What advice do you have for building relationships and trust in an organization?
- What do you want your legacy to be?
Future— Poster (Communicating)
The third component challenges you to think about your style of global leadership, assess your story (accomplishments, interests, aspirations), and create your very own leadership “brand.” You should draw on course content as well as your essay and interview subjects. This will culminate in a personal “Leadership Profile” poster that will reflect critical thought, creativity, and scholarship. The final product is intended to be useful beyond this course, and could be used as part of networking sites, your resume or curriculum vitae (c.v.), or cover letter. You can choose any program you like, but the final poster format must be a printable 11×17 PDF or Word document. Specific presentation guidelines for our leadership showcase (December 7) will be distributed later in the semester. Your poster should include the following:
- Logo, Name, Photo (optional)
- Short quote, phrase, or motto
- I am a leader because. . .
- Inspired by. . .
- Defining moment
- Leadership style/philosophy
- Areas of interest
- Experiential highlights/skills
- Professional goals
