Assessment 3: Individual Essay
Background: Being a positive leader involves awareness that effective leadership is relational, which in turn requires you to understand the needs of employees. Engaging young professional males in the workplace may require a different approach from engaging experienced baby boomers professional females. Similarly, ethnicity can also affect employees needs in the workplace. This assessment provides an opportunity to synthesise the many studies about how employee diversity should inform authentic leadership behaviours.
Purpose: The following assessment aims to promote skills associated with GA7 Cultural competence. Leaders need an awareness and understanding of the diversity of employees in terms of demographics, gender, education and expertise and ethnicity if they want to engage them (LO1). This assessment expects students to master competency in understanding the links between “authentic leadership, effective Leader-Member Exchange and management support and the psychological capital of different types of employees” (LO2).
Marks 48%
Due: Week 12 Sunday 5pm
Format: 2000 words
Task: Essay
You are required to write an essay. There are three options from which you may choose one. The essay must be supported by in-text citations and a reference list on the final page. You are expected to analyse and integrate theoretical and practical knowledge to demonstrate how you would implement positive leadership behaviours in your workplace or the workplaces described by the business owners and managers.
Option 1:
Listen to the interviews given by the business owners and managers, roundtable discussions and youtube interviews found in the ‘Unit Content’ area under ‘Student Resources’ in Blackboard. These resources show various levels of authentic leadership and also discuss the link between authentic leadership and employees’ Psychological Capital, wellbeing and performance. You are expected to:
(1a) Use at least five journal articles about authentic leadership and/or Psychological Capital to compare and contrast the extent to which at least two business owners or managers display authentic leadership behaviour and high PsyCap, and,
(1b) Evaluate which strategies/pathways could be used to improve their authentic leadership behaviours to increase a diverse group of employees’ Psychological Capital, performance and wellbeing. You can focus on two owners/managers, or compare and contrast different examples.
OR
Option 2
(2a) Use at least five journal articles about authentic leadership and/or Psychological Capital to compare and contrast the extent to which you demonstrate authentic leadership behaviour and high PsyCap when managing, and,
(2b) Apply your new knowledge and skills about authentic leadership and PsyCap to develop a pathway for you to become a more effective positive leader. Use the unit content and the reading list to identify what behaviours in leaders are most likely to create better outcomes for a diverse group of employees (in terms of age, gender, ethnicity). Make sure you identify the relationships between specific behaviours and the outcomes based on the evidence in the research articles in the reading list.
OR
Option 3
(3a) Use at least five journal articles about authentic leadership and/or Psychological Capital to compare and contrast the extent to which management in your workplace demonstrate authentic leadership behaviour and high PsyCap when managing you (and/or your colleagues), and,
(3b) Apply your new knowledge and skills about authentic leadership and PsyCap to develop a pathway for them to become more effective positive leaders. Use the unit content and the reading list to identify what behaviours in leaders are most likely to create better outcomes for a diverse group of employees (in terms of age, gender, ethnicity). Make sure you identify the relationships between specific behaviours and the outcomes based on the evidence in the research articles in the reading list.
Formatting
• Do include a title page with a title that identifies the topic of your essay
• Do not include an Executive Summary or Table of Contents
• Do structure your essay with an Introduction, followed by the main body of the essay where you reflect on what you have learnt in this unit. Finish with a concluding paragraph.
• Do use Times New Roman, 12-point font, double line spacing
• Do number your pages
• Do refer to the literature conforming to the SCU Harvard referencing style
• Do not use headings and sub-headings for an essay
• You will be provided with an essay structure to follow
• You will be introduced to the journals you are expected to use during the unit.
Submitting: Please submit your essay via the Turnitin Blackboard link.
Feedback: Learners can expect feedback within 7 days in the form of a marking rubric. Additionally, the marker may provide electronic comments on your paper.
Assessment 3: Essay Worth 48%
Criteria High Distinction
48 marks Distinction
36 marks Credit
31 marks Pass
24 marks Fail
24 marks
Demonstrate proficiency in academic communication practices : the ability to write academic sentences in well constructed paragraphs effectively in an academic context using at least 5 journal articles.
8 marks Demonstrate proficiency expertly in the written essay – with respect to:
• Structure
• Length
• Spelling and Grammar
• Referencing Demonstrate high proficiency in the written essay – with respect to:
• Structure
• Length
• Spelling and Grammar
• Referencing Demonstrate some proficiency in the written essay – with respect to:
• Structure
• Length
• Spelling and Grammar
• Referencing Demonstrate adequate proficiency in the written essay – with respect to:
• Structure
• Length
• Spelling and Grammar
• Referencing Demonstrate inadequate proficiency in the written essay – with respect to:
• Structure
• Length
• Spelling and Grammar
• Referencing
Demonstrate Knowledge and Research literacy: the ability to identify and use relevant information effectively in analysis .
20 marks Expert ability to identify and use relevant information effectively to analyse the owner/managers or self
Proficient ability to identify and use relevant information effectively to analyse the owner/managers or self
Some ability to identify and use relevant information effectively to analyse the owner/managers or self
Limited ability to identify and use relevant information effectively to analyse the owner/managers or self
Very low ability to identify and use relevant information effectively to analyse the owner/managers or self
Demonstrate Critical Reasoning: the ability to make evidence-based judgements about strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
20 marks Demonstrates expert ability to argue and justify strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
.
Demonstrates very good ability to argue and justify strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
Demonstrates good ability to argue and justify strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
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Demonstrates adequate ability to argue and justify strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
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Demonstrates an inability to argue and justify strategies to build PsyCap and authentic leadership behaviours for a diverse workforce.
.