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....

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%

Format:
2000 words

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 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%