Semester Leadership Project
Instructions
This project is intended to be a reflective experience whereby the five practices of exemplary leadership
are addressed by interviewing TWO* leaders of your choice, then discussing how these leaders fit each
leadership practice (or doesn’t). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we recommend these interviews take
place via video conference rather than in person.
*Optional: You can interview two different leaders and do a compare and contrast. Or you can interview
one leader and use a character from a movie to compare and contrast. If you choose a character from a
movie, be sure to cite the movie appropriately.
Please note – your submission must be original to this class. All assignments will be checked via Turnitin
– the inclusion of any assignment or components of assignments that have also been submitted to other
classes will be deemed as plagiarism and will be graded zero.
For the Mid-Term Check In
• Review the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (below) and develop interview questions in your own words reflecting these leadership practices. In case your interviewee is not familiar with these practices, be prepared with additional questions to clarify the answers you are seeking.
• Meet with a leader you respect and interview this person from the perspective of the five
practices of exemplary leadership. Ideally, you might try to find a leader working in a
position that interests you as a career.
• Due to Covid-19 safety precautions, we recommend interviewing in a video-conference
platform rather than in-person.
• If desired, record the interview for your own purpose and recall, but do not submit the
recording. Be prepared to transcribe (type out) the questions and answers word-for-word.
Do not use email or other written platforms to ask questions and receive answers.
Kouzes and Posner (2009) argue that despite differences in people’s individual stories, personal-best
leadership experiences revealed similar patterns of behavior. Keep this idea in mind as you interview
others.
Below are the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. Develop your own interview questions that correspond with the 5 topics rather than copy and pasting the questions as they are written. It is not uncommon for interviewees to not quite understand the intention of the question. Therefore, typically, it is wise to develop a primary question for each of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership and be prepared with one or more follow-up questions that help the interviewee to clarify their answer.
1. Model the Way: Leaders establish principles concerning the way people should be treated and
the way goals should be pursued.
• How does the leader convey personal values to the team members?
• How does the leader engage the team members in discussion of their values?
• How does the leader build team agreement on shared values?
2. Inspire a Shared Vision: Leaders envision the future, creating a unique image of what the
organization can become.
• How does the leader convey the personal vision to the team members?
• How does the leader engage the team members about their aspirations and personal
visions?
• How does the leader involve others in the common vision?
3. Challenge the Process: Leaders look for innovative ways to improve the organization and
potentially take risks and they accept the inevitable disappointments as learning opportunities.
• How does the leader identify opportunities for innovation?
• How does the leader engage team members in identifying innovation?
• How does the leader implement methods such that learning can occur from the mistakes
resulting from risk-taking, particularly when dealing with innovation?
4. Enable Others to Act: Leaders foster collaboration and strengthen others, making each person
feel capable and powerful.
• How does the leader build supportive working relationships with team members?
• How does the leader develop working relationships among team members?
• How does the leader develop competence and confidence in team members?
5. Encourage the Heart: Accomplishing extraordinary things in organizations leaders recognize
contributions that individuals make and share in the rewards of their efforts.
• How does the leader measure progress towards the meeting of goals?
• How does the leader recognize individuals for their contributions?
• How does the leader celebrate team accomplishments?
Review the Grading Guide:
Criteria Points
1. Interview
2. Questions
3. Transcript
1. Demonstrates initiative in locating and interviewing professional in area of interest.
2. Prepares interview questions in alignment with expectations outlined in instructions.
3. Demonstrates professional interview capabilities by asking questions that draw out thorough answers from the interviewee.
4. Effectively records questions and answers through a written transcript of the interview.
10 10 15 10
Logistics Format: a. Name, date, course number, and assignment
name according to syllabus guidelines b. APA Style margins, font, spacing c. References cited in-text and in a separate
reference list including both textbook and documentary and any additional resources
*Writing is proofread for spelling and grammatical errors
5
For the Mid-Point Leadership Project (due at the end of Week 5, April 17th)
Submit:
1. Write one paragraph to introduce the leader you have chosen and explain why you have
chosen this person to interview.
2. List your interview questions, with a transcription of the answers from your interview.
FINAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS are on the next page so you can prepare in advance.
The Final Submission is due at the end of the semester (May 8th)
The Final Submission (due at the end of the semester) will involve a second interview for comparing and contrasting the way in which the leaders use the Five Exemplary Leadership Skills.
1. Interview a second leader (or use a character from a movie to do a compare and contrast. If you
choose a character from a movie, be sure to refer to and cite the movie appropriately).
2. Introduce the leaders you have chosen and explain why you have chosen these people to
interview (1 paragraph for each leader).
3. Formatting:
a. Always put your name, date, course number, and assignment identifier. Put this in the
upper left or right of the first page of your assignment, but not in a header.
b. Use 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, and 1.5 line spacing 4. Write an essay that includes the following (5 pages):
a. Length: 5 pages minimum (using formatting above, there are about 620 words per page) b. Describe and discuss how each leader utilizes the five leadership traits (or does not). c. Compare and contrast the leadership styles of each leader, referring to examples
of five practices of exemplary leadership for each leader.
d. Use a minimum of five supporting resources to support your ideas and discussion.
• One of these may be the course workbook (textbook), two or more
must be peer-reviewed journal articles.
e. All resources must be cited in-text and listed in a reference list using APA citation and
reference list formatting.
Review the Grading Guide:
Criteria Points
4. Interview
5. Questions
6. Transcript
5. Demonstrates initiative in locating and interviewing professionals in area of interest.
6. Prepares interview questions in alignment with expectations outlined in instructions.
7. Completes written transcription of questions and answers of the first interview.
15 20 10
8. Demonstrates initiative in locating and interviewing second professional in area of interest.
15
9. Compare/contrast leadership styles
Describes comparison and contrast of both interviewees in relation to the 5 Exemplary Practices in Leadership using critical thinking skills.
20
7. Supporting articles 10
Logistics *Writing is proofread for spelling and grammatical errors
Format: d. Name, date, course number, and assignment
name according to syllabus guidelines e. APA Style margins, font, spacing f. 5 page minimum length of paper g. References cited in-text and in a separate
reference list including both textbook and documentary and any additional resources
10
