Leader-Biography
Choose a favorite leader – a person who (in your opinion) has met all the tests of leadership, and has achieved significant goals because of his/her leadership skills and abilities (either good or bad). Write a paper describing this person.
► Begin the paper with an argument to support your choice (why this person is a great leader). Your paper should include the leader’s background (what in his/her background motivated him/her seek power or leadership), his or her bases of power initially and over time, his/her overarching goals and the dominant traits, skills, behaviors, and characteristics that define(d) him or her. Is this person a charismatic, transactional, servant or autocratic leader? Being famous, rich, an entertainer, an athlete, or just being a highly visible person does not necessarily qualify one as a great leader. What was this leader’s contribution to his followers? What was achieved because of this person??
► Describe any unique or significant external circumstances or situations that propelled this leader into a significant position. Describe how this person became a significant leader. Use any of the leadership theories in our texts to support your argument. Was there any change in style over the course of this leader’s career? Did the person suffer any setback in his career? How were these setbacks overcome? Briefly describe this leader’s ethics – what did he contribute to society (if different from what he/she contributed to his followers). In summary – explain how this leader became a leader and what defines his leadership today, or at the peak of his/her power.
► Conclude your paper with an assessment of the “portability†or the breadth of this person’s leadership ability. Could he or she have emerged or attained the stature in another time, place, country, or culture? Could the person succeed in another culture, time, situation, or environment? Why or why not? Choose a very different leadership position that your leader would likely excel in, and one that would likely be a failure. Defend your choice. For example, if you are writing about a political figure, would he likely be a success in industry or the military or as a politician during war years, etc.
â–º Your leadership paper should be a minimum of five pages.
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Note: The paper must be prepared in APA style, with appropriate citations and rerferences.