Leadership and Communication- Charlie Munger

MGT522 Leadership and Communication
Fall, 2020-2021
GuidelinesIndividual Assignment
My leader is : Charlie Munger

Objective
The objective of the individual assignment is to analyze students’ ability to evaluate and compare various leadership approaches, such as traits, functional, and relational – building on textbook chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5. Students are to demonstrate their understanding of each leadership approach (trait, charisma, transformational, transactional, and behavioral) with clearly related examples from real-life. Students are also expected to apply their knowledge of contingency or situational leadership by elaborating the most appropriate/fitting responses of the chosen leader on hypothetical situations.

Preparation
After the first day of classes, students need to select one inspirational leader that they wish to focus on during the individual assignment. Each student needs to select a different leader than the others. Criteria for selection are:
• Business leader (no political nor religious leaders) with formal management authority
• EITHER a famous business leader in the UAE or elsewhere OR a leader in a superior position in the student’s own organization or other close context (the student must have regular contact / know the leader well)
• The leader does not have to be famous– as long as that person has a verifiable public profile (e.g. LinkedIn)

Formatting Requirements
• Word limit per part: 500 words (total: 2000 words) / max. 20% deviation is accepted
(> 2400 words total = minus 1 mark)
• Font: Times New Roman, font size 12, line distance 1.5

Keep in mind
• You cannot copy-paste chunks of text from any source (textbook, websites, blogs, etc.) without providing references: not doing so is plagiarism according to ADU Academic Integrity Policy.
• Make sure that you do not forget any of the points outlined after the bullet-points, that your structure is clear and that all sentences are written in proper understandable English.
• This is not an English course (no deductions for typing errors or incorrect spelling), but if the instructor cannot understand what you mean, or cannot find the answers in large chunks of seemingly unrelated text, no marks can be attributed.

Part 1. Describe your leader through the lens of trait-theory (5 marks) – 500 words max.
Make sure that this part of your essay includes the following points:
• The name of your leader and a short description of achievements(1 mark)
• Two traits – taken from chapter 2 – thatyour leader displays very often and that make your leader unique(2 marks)
• Two cognitive factors – taken from chapter 2 – that your leader displays very often and that make your leader unique(2 marks)
You do this by including very specific examples of behavior and situations for each aspect you emphasize (motive, trait, or characteristic). A specific example looks like: “My leader X often shows X (aspect). For example, she was the first to introduce / he always responded with X when confronted by barriers such as X and X / she was able to overcome X by X / etc. etc.”Without appropriate real-life examples to support each point, you can only score half of the marks!

Part 2. Analyze the charisma and transformational qualities of your leader (5 marks) – 500 words max.
Make sure that this part of your essay includesanswers to the following questions:
• What two characteristics of charismatic leaders – taken from chapter 3 – does your leader display? How? (2 marks)
• Imagine you are the advisor to your leader: What two charismatic behaviors to develop – taken from chapter 3 – would you recommend him/her to work on, and why these two? There is no need to describe how (2 marks)
• Is your leader transformational – as described in chapter 3? Why (not)? (1 mark)
Again, make sure that you include very specific examples of behavior and situations for each pointyou make (characteristics of charisma, aspects of charisma to develop, transformational). A specific example looks like: “One charismatic trait of my leader X. For example, in a speech to the company about the current economic situation she said X, which made employees feel X / he has a way of making people feel X by doing/saying X / etc. etc.”Without appropriate real-life examples to support each point, you can only score half of the marks!

Part 3. Identify the behaviors and styles that your leader utilizes (5 marks) – 500 words max.
Make sure that this part of your essay focuses on:
• Two relationship-oriented behaviors that your leader often displays, with an example for each (2 marks)
• Two task-oriented behaviors that your leader often displays, with an example for each (2 marks)
• Would you describe your leader as autocratic or participative? Why? (1 mark)
As before, make sure that you include very specific examples of behavior and situations for each point you make. Without appropriate real-life examples to support each point, you can only score half of the marks!

Part 4. Situational Leadership (5 marks) – 500 words max.
Make sure that this part of your essay includes answers to the following questions:
• Describe one decision that your leader has had to make or that your leader likely will have to make in the near future: what was/is the situation, and what needed/needs to be decided? (1 mark)
• Describe each step in the Normative Decision Making Model for that decision: for each criteria that applies to your decision, explain why it is H or L.According to this model, which decision-making style was/is the most appropriate? (2 marks)
• Do you believe that the leadership style of your leader is quite consistent (stable, not changing much over the years) orcontingent(changing depending on the situation at hand)? Provide two arguments/examples to support your choice (2 marks)
As before, make sure that you include very specific examples of behavior and situations for each point you make. Without appropriate real-life examples to support each point, you can only