The president/CEO of your company has just paid you a wonderful compliment and offered you an interesting opportunity. It turns out that the president is a Sacred Heart University MBA alumnus from the early 90s. He knows that you are currently working on your MBA (or leadership certificate) at Sacred Heart. In fact, your company has generously paid for a good percentage of your tuition. During a brief meeting with the president yesterday afternoon he invited you to join him and several other members of his management team for lunch next week. After you accepted he joked that you will be working for your lunch!

The president mentioned that during a recent casual lunch discussion on the changing nature of organizations (including your company!) he and the other management team members started talking about leadership and the roles of leaders. They debated whether the nature of leadership might be changing and discussed what the company should be doing to select and help prepare future leaders. The president told his team members that he knew of an especially promising employee who is currently studying leadership in Sacred Heart University’s MBA program – you!

The president indicated that he remembers some leadership “theories” he studied years ago but would love it if you could briefly summarize insight to be had from the best known broad approachesto leadership through the ages. He’s also curious to hear about more recent approaches since he graduated and what is being discussed these days. “I don’t need or want a summary of individual theories because my colleagues and I won’t remember all the names and details. So stay with broadcategories of theories when you talk about historical leadership approaches and just share with us any useful insight you think those broad approaches might offer. Then what we are especially eager to hear is what you and your MBA colleagues want and expect from leaders.”

Right before you left the president’s office, he threw out another challenge. He mentioned that in the next few years the company will be expanding its operations in China. “You know,” he says, “this whole emphasis on cross-cultural management has exploded- for obvious reasons - since I completed my MBA. So, during our lunch together, could you also share some advice on how company managers might need to vary their leadership style if they are working in China?”

After walking out of the president’s office yesterday you felt both honored and nervous. You believe that the president genuinely wants your advice. Knowing the president is a classic MBTI intuitive type and that he loves to talk about concepts, you want to prepare for your lunch. What insight could you gather from broad leadership approaches and what advice would you give about implications of such ideas for developing leaders?

When you mentioned the invitation to your boss this morning she was very supportive and convinced you what a wonderful opportunity the president’s invitation is. “I don’t want to make you more nervous – and honestly I don’t think you need to be nervous because our president is a genuinelynice guy who will make you feel very much at home with the management team. Besides, the very fact that he offered you the invitation means he really respects you! Your lunch conversations with him and the others will actually be fun. But don’t be surprised if the president turns to you at the end, asks you to describe yourself as a leader, and to share what aspects of leader behavior you feel like you want to develop further. Yes, I know you might not have any formal leadership responsibilities right now in our company. But we all lead and influence others in numerous ways – whether formally or informally at work or in other aspects of our lives. You can tell him about times when you have led or influenced others or how you would hope to lead others when you do have a formal leadership position.

Here’s my advice if he does ask. Don’t b.s! The president is into honesty and the value of self-awareness! I’ve heard him say dozens of times that none of us are perfect and that all of us have room to grow as leaders. So assess yourself honestly and be honest with him! Believe me, he will appreciate that honesty. For that matter, if there is something controversial you want to say about leadership, say it! ”

Now, hours later, you’re sitting down to think about what you want to say. You have a fleeting thought that this lunch conversation might even be the president’s way of checking you out for a potential promotion. “No way of really knowing,” you mutter to yourself. “I’m just going to say what I really think and have fun talking with these folks!”

Here’s your opportunity to prepare what you will discuss with the president and his management team members. You know the president is the type who will ask you lots of questions and you want to make sure you elaborate your thoughts well enough so that the ideas and the logic behind them is clear. You have decided you will just talk through your ideas during the informal lunch, butthat you will also hand the president a memorandum afterward which presents your ideas in writing – and even includes reflections on your own leadership style.So that the president can follow up with any of your ideas he might want to read more about you will also include for him your references list.

A memorandum to be given to the president after your lunch is the deliverable for your final assignment.

“Business brief “or essay style are both fine. The president is rumored to be a stickler, however, for coherent business writing with a logical flow to any document.