Discussion Forum #2 – Unit 5 – “Leadership Styles”

Discussion Forum #2 – Unit 5 – “Leadership Styles” – 10%
Please find the corresponding discussion forum in the discussion board link on Blackboard. This
discussion forum will be introduced during the Unit 5: Week 8. You will have 1 week to complete
the discussion forum. No late contributions to the discussion forum will be counted.
This discussion forum is an opportunity for you to start exploring your leadership style, and to
become aware of your natural / innate leadership tendencies, as well as assessing other people’s
leadership styles.
We often think of the different leadership styles as falling under the categories of “less preferred”
or “more preferred”. However, as we have learned in class, and as a plethora of research studies
on leadership shows, each approach to leadership has its time and place for facilitating the
delivery of desirable outcomes. Success often depends on timeliness of the demonstrated
leadership characteristics, and their appropriateness to the task, its current stage, and the people
involved. Therefore, applying your self-awareness is crucial for meeting the objectives of the
project. Knowing what style of direction comes more naturally to you will make it easier to
recognize when your biases and preferences might be interfering with your professional
judgement and practice. In addition, understanding other people’s leadership styles may allow
you to understand them better, and to make working with them more efficient. This might be
helpful for adjusting your leadership and contribution styles more appropriately to situational
demands.
1) Complete any combination of the provided leadership style questionnaires, for a total of two
times (i.e. the same questionnaire twice, or complete each questionnaire once):
– the first time, answer the questions according to your own self-assessment to identify what
leadership style you gravitate towards – transactional vs transformational.
– the second time, answer the questions according to your experience of an individual in a
leadership position with whom you’ve worked with.
Each time you complete the questionnaire, calculate your scores. You can screenshot these
results to save the scores. You can either post the screenshots in your discussion forum post, or
simply state each respective score at the beginning of your post.
The questionnaires can be found at:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-style-quiz.htm
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/transformational_survey.html
2) Ensure that you have specifically stated your respective questionnaire scores (screen shot, or
text). Then, the body of your discussion forum post will be in response to the following questions:
– Were the results of the questionnaire surprising to you? Yes/no and why?
– Do you agree or disagree with the results of the test (explain your reasoning)?
– Do the results resonate with how you’ve conceptualized your leadership qualities prior to taking
the test? How you’ve conceptualized the other individual?
– Based on the results of the quiz, what issues do you think you might encounter as a leader and
how could you remedy them? Based on the results of the quiz, what issues would the other
individual encounter as a leader, and how could they remedy them?
– What strengths would your leadership style bring to the table in the context of workplace health
and wellness projects? The other individual?
When looking at your test score, please keep in mind that the results of any self-assessment are
likely to fluctuate (sometimes significantly). Leadership assessments employed by organizations
are much more comprehensive, and are beyond that scope of this course. The results of this
assessment are meant to inspire discussion and reflection, and invite you to think critically about
your leadership characteristics.
Grading Rubric:
Your post will be graded out of 10 marks:
– 2 marks for answering the following questions:
– Were the results of the questionnaire surprising to you? Yes/no and why?
– Do you agree or disagree with the results of the test (explain your reasoning)?
– Do the results resonate with how you’ve conceptualized your leadership qualities prior
to taking the test? How you’ve conceptualized the other individual?
– 4 marks for answering the following question:
– Based on the results of the quiz, what issues do you think you might encounter as a
leader and how could you remedy them? Based on the results of the quiz, what issues
would the other individual encounter as a leader, and how could they remedy them?
– 4 marks for answering the following question:
– What strengths would your leadership style bring to the table in the context of workplace
health and wellness projects? The other individual?
Important point: there is no such thing as a “right” or “wrong” answer to the question. What I am
looking for is a thoughtful discussion post by addressing each of the questions. Please include
any ideas that come to mind, but do not add “filler” to make your discussion post longer – this will
not earn any additional marks – just get straight to the point (be concise)!
(0)
No
discussion
post is
made
(4)
Incomplete –
several
questions are not
addressed
(6)
Needs
Improvement –
some questions
are not answered
and/or are
missing clarity
and
completeness, or
are not concise
(8)
Good – all
questions have
been answered,
but some are
lacking in depth
of thought, clarity,
or are not
concise
(10)
Excellent – all
questions have
been answered
thoughtfully, fully,
clearly, and
concisely
TOTAL MARKS = 10