MBA 611 Assignment 8 – Slideshow & Verbal Presentation – Leadership Succession
Introduction
Organizations absolutely must have strong leadership to perform well and remain competitive. There are many styles and approaches to leadership, but all leaders share the ability to devise a vision for the organization, to share that vision with others through excellent communication skills, to think strategically, and to make tough decisions along the way. The best leaders share their successes and acknowledge the contributions of their teams.
Purpose
For this assignment, you will research and analyze the succession of leadership in an organization of your choice. By studying the organization’s leaders – past and present – you will be able to evaluate the impact these leaders have had over the years. This will allow you to develop your own insights on the importance of leadership and leadership styles in the context of real-world situations.
Getting Started
Students can choose any private sector, public sector, or non-profit organization to research and analyze. However, students will want to choose an organization that has a fairly long history involving at least three well-known historic and/or contemporary leaders. Students will conduct a good deal of research on these leaders, so choose an organization that has been studied and documented in the media and/or business journals. An ideal choice is an organization that has had at least one contemporary leader who has been filmed and recorded so that you have access to online audio and video files depicting that leader. Note that each leader you study does not have to be a CEO or President of the organization; it could also be a Chairman of the Board, Chief Financial Officer, or other senior executive. Do not choose three leaders from three separate organizations.
Once students choose an organization and identify the three leaders to study, it is then time to collect information on these leaders. Students should compile numerous examples of decisions made by each of the leaders, as well as the consequences of those decisions, good or bad. Wherever possible, make note of the leaders’ speeches and statements that reveal something about their leadership styles. Be sure to capture any other information or observations about the three leaders, too.
After the research information is gathered, students should:
Organize how to present each of the leaders analyzed for the assignment. (worth 5 points)
Determine each leader’s core characteristics and identify each one’s leadership style. (worth 10 points)
How did each leader make decisions? Give specific examples. (worth 10 points)
How did he or she communicate? Provide specific scenarios and explain. (worth 10 points)
Did you note any changes in any of the leaders during his or her tenure with the organization? Explain how each leadership style matured and evolved. (worth 5 points)
How did each leader impact the organization? Provide specific examples of each leaders’ impact. (worth 20 points).
Using the information found in your textbook and in course materials, identify the theory or model that best describes the way the leaders motivate their teams. These may be different for each (worth 20 points).
Your analysis of all three leaders will become the basis for the final deliverable, which will be a slideshow presentation supported by verbal recording over the slides about the organization’s leaders. The length of the recording should be 5-7 minutes. (The creativity and quality of the delivery mechanism is worth 20 points).
