Effective Leadership

Write an essay detailing a selected individual’s leadership style and approaches in relationship to his or her communication, using and applying various leadership methods and theories.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria.

• Competency 1: Analyze business communication situations.
  • Analyze a leader’s methods of influence.
• Competency 2: Analyze the interrelationships of communication within organizational systems.
  • Apply theories related to leadership styles to describe a leader’s communication.
  • Analyze a leader’s communication from a situational leadership perspective.
  • Describe a leader’s use of power bases in relationship to a leader’s communication.
• Competency 3: Communicate effectively.
  • Write clearly to convey the intended content and follow APA rules for attributing sources

This assessment focuses on the ever evolving topics of organizational leadership and effective communication competencies:

• Who are the truly influential leaders in our organizations and personal lives?
• How do we each individually define leadership and how did we come to our current level of understanding?

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Modern thought holds that true leadership versus management occurs when followers willingly choose to follow their leader out of a belief in their ability to manifest a well communicated mission, goal or outcome. Hamel and Prahalad (1996) write, “The role of leader as forecaster is to articulate a future so full of exciting possibilities that no one will be able to rest until it is achieved” (p. 186). According to Farren and Kaye (1996), “Leaders are bridges that connect people to the future. They include others’ visions in their own, building alliances and partnerships based on shared aspirations” (p. 187). True leadership results in shared realities and a sense of trust!

In addition, it has been suggested that potential followers engage in both conscious and unconscious evaluations of a potential leader, but they will only follow and strive to perform at their full potential if they believe this leader to be credible. To help support this theory, Bornstein and Smith (1996) have identified what they consider to be the Six Cs of Leadership Credibility:

1. Conviction: The passion and commitment the person demonstrates toward his or her vision.
2. Character: Consistent demonstration of integrity, honesty, respect, and trust.
3. Care: Demonstration of concern for the personal and professional well-being of others.
4. Courage: Willingness to stand up for one’s beliefs, challenge others, admit mistakes, and change one’s behavior when necessary.
5. Composure: Consistent display of appropriate emotional reactions, particularly in tough or crisis situations.
6. Competence: Proficiency in hard skills, such as technical, functional, and content expertise skills, and soft skills, such as interpersonal, communication, team, and organizational skills (pp. 283–284).

We all act as both leaders and followers within our families, at work, and in our social lives. Take some time reflect upon our own beliefs and competencies in regard to leadership and communication.

References

Hesselbein, F., Goldmith, M., & Beckhard, R. (Eds.). (1996). The leader of the future: New visions, strategies, and practice for the next era. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Farren, C., & Kaye, B. L. (1996). New skills for new leadership roles. In F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith, & R. Beckhard (Eds.), The leader of the future: New visions, strategies, and practice for the next era (pp. 175-188). New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1996). In F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith, & R. Beckhard (Eds.), The leader of the future: New visions, strategies, and practice for the next era (p. 186). New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Bornstein, S. M., & Smith, A. F. (1996). In F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith, & R. Beckhard (Eds.), The leader of the future: new visions, strategies, and practice for the next era (pp. 281–292). New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Library Resources

The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:

• Scott, J. T. (2005). Concise handbook of management: A practitioner’s approach. Birmingham, NY: Hayworth Press.
  • Chapter 5, “Management Competencies and Styles,” addresses Charles Handy’s six methods of influence.
• Ephrpos, P. H., & Vassil, T. V. (2005). Groups that work: Structure and process. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
  • Chapter 7 addresses Goleman’s six leadership styles.
• Mitchell, S. (2005). A concise guide to program management: Fundamental concepts and issues. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
  • Chapter 9 addresses the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid.
• Aswathappa, K. (2010). Organisational behaviour. Mumbai, India: Himalaya Publishing House.
  • Pages 401–413 of this e-book cover a range of leadership theories.
• Kondalkar, V. G. (2009). Organisation development. Delhi, India: New Age International.
  • Pages 201–202 address French and Raven’s bases of power.
• Mendonca, M., & Kanungo, R. N. (2007). Ethical leadership. Buckingham, GBR: Open University Press.
  • Pages 33–34 address ways leaders influence others.

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Course Library Guide

A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BUS-FP3050 – Fundamentals of Organizational Communication Library Guide to help direct your research.

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

• MindTools. (2013). The Blake Mouton managerial grid. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_73.htm
• MindTools. (2013). The Hersey Blanchard situational leadership theory. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_44.htm
• Manage Train Learn. (2013). Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum. Retrieved from http://www.managetrainlearn.com/page/tannenbaum-and-schmidt

Bookstore Resources

The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the Capella University Bookstore. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific –FP (FlexPath) course designation.

• Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2015). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Throughout your career, you could undoubtedly benefit from analyzing the communication style and approaches of other leaders and managers you consider effective and successful. This assessment provides an opportunity and framework to do that in the context of effective leader communication.

Complete the following:

• Choose an individual who you know personally and consider to be an effective leader. This person may be someone you have worked for or with or have been in contact with through organizations in the community.
• Research the various leadership theories and methods referenced in the assessment instructions below using the Capella library and other sources. The suggested materials in the Resources for this assessment is a good place to start.
• Write an essay detailing the selected individual’s leadership style and approaches in relationship to his or her communication through the following:
  • Use Charles Handy’s six methods of influence to analyze how the leader influences others and pose potential methods that might improve communication effectiveness.
  • Apply different theories related to leadership styles to describe the leader’s communication and specify which might be most effective in explaining the communication.
    • Describe which of Goleman’s six leadership styles best fits the leader.
    • Identify the leader’s position on the Tannenbaum-Schmidt leadership continuum.
    • Analyze the leader’s place in the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid.
  • Analyze the leader’s communication using Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory and potential changes using situational leadership that could improve communication.
  • Using French and Raven’s description of five leadership power types, explain how the leader communicates and potential shifts in the use of power bases that could improve communication.

Additional Requirements

Your essay should be well organized and written in clear, succinct language. Follow APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.

Academic Integrity and APA Formatting

As a reminder related to using APA rules to ensure academic honesty:

1. When using a direct quote (using exact or nearly exact wording), you must enclose the quoted wording in quotation marks, immediately followed by an in-text citation. The source must then be listed in your references page.
2. When paraphrasing (using your own words to describe a non-original idea), the paraphrased idea must be immediately followed by an in-text citation and the source must be listed in your references page

 

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