Group Project: Building a Dream Team (20%)

 

Objective of this Assignment:  Select and justify a leader for a given project.

Instructions:

• Length: Your report is to be four (4) to five (5) single spaced pages in length (approximately 1,500 to 2,000 words).
• Format:  Your report is to be completed in Microsoft Word (or equivalent) - due to the way that I give feedback, please do not submit PDF files.
• Concept:  For this assignment we look for the factors that need to be considered when matching the right leader to the right project (for our leaders in this project, we will look at using real-life leaders, as they represent a mix of obtainable leadership styles).
• Acceptable projects and leaders: You can look at common workplace projects that run all the time, or more complicated ones that might even change society as we know it.  A list of acceptable projects and leaders is shown at the end of the assignment.
• Format: When laying out your assignment you should present the first two sections of your report (these are common for everyone), and then each member of the group will do their own sections 3 and 4.  Each individual's sections can be added as annexes to your assignment. (Don't forget to add your name to your annex.)

The learning objective of this assignment will be to examine the critical balance between the right leader, the right project and the right team, and most importantly, how you utilize the course material to support your decisions.  To be successful in this project, you will need to be able to demonstrate how you can apply multiple formal leadership theories to a single situation.

As mentioned, this is a combination of a group and an individual project; many of the learning outcomes of this assignment are expected to be achieved through the exchange of ideas and the exploration of thoughts that happen within your group.  So (as effective leaders do), it is important to engage your teammates and encourage discussion of what your favourite leader might have been able to do if they had taken up an alternative occupation.

Grading

On this assignment you will work as a group on the first two sections, but then work individually for the last two sections.  Collaboratively, the group members will work together to complete the first two sections of this assignment, and then you will each individually propose and justify a leader in the last two sections.

Ideally, you should each propose different leaders with different leadership styles to address the project.  The learning opportunity is to see how your teammates' leadership candidate recommendations differ from yours.  Remember that there will not be any one 'right' answer to this assignment; the assessment will be based on how well you can defend or justify your leadership candidate.

 

Note: Feedback comments for each individual student will only include the assessment of the group portion and of their own individual portion.

Assignment Template

Your group's assignment must include the following sections:

Section 1 (Group): Selection and description of a project. As a group, identify/design a project which will require leadership (later on, you will be assigning a leader to this project).  When deciding what project your leader will lead, you can either search for an actual project (internet search) for your leader to take over, or you can create your own project that is based on a combination of an actual (past or present) project and some made-up elements to make it interesting or to fill in any gaps that you might have on the project.

Examples of just some of the projects that you might consider having your leader take on would include:

• Development work for an upcoming video game or electronic device
• Saving an organization that is in decline or is close to collapse
• Leading a response to a humanitarian issue or other crisis
• Designing a creative and innovative fun park
• Guiding a business through change
• Changing organizational norms

Section 2 (Group): Project Environment: As a group, describe the project environment or the situation.  Your project's description should focus on those elements of the project that are related to defining the type of leader needed (I am not interested so much in detailed specifics about the project itself; only the leadership challenges that the leader would face).  Examples of information that should be provided include:

• What is the goal or objective of the project? What is the desired outcome, the path forward, what are the project's priorities or acceptance criteria that the leader is expected to achieve?
  
   
• What is the challenge that the leader faces?  For example, is there:
  • Disunity and a disorganized workplace?
  • Organizational resistance to change?
  • Uncertainty on how to proceed?
  • Very high quality standards?
  • Tight deadlines?
  • Too many risks?
  • Limited budget?
  • Something else that makes this project challenging and in need of a leader?
    
     
• The followers - who are the workers on the project or the leader's followers?

Describe the project workers (or the leader's followers) in such a way that you can determine what type of leader would be needed for them to become motivated, focused and to operate effectively.

• What state is the project in?

Describe the project in sufficient detail to support your selection of leaders.  For example:

• Has it just begun, or is it underway and has maybe just reached a critical state?
• Is it on target or is it spinning hopelessly out of control?
• Is everyone united or are they at war with each other?

So - you get to select a project (section 1) and describe what state the project is in (section 2) - but be careful to describe the project in sufficient detail to support your selection of whom you wish to lead the project.  Keep in mind that I am not interested in project details that do not support the selection of a leader.

Team Member Annex (Each team member will have their own annex - the title must include their name). Each annex will include the following information:

Section 3 (Individual): Select a real-world leader (past or present).  Individually propose a real-life leader as the candidate to take over this project - someone who possesses the right mix of leadership skills that you feel would be needed to lead the project that you specified in sections 1 and 2.

This section can be a lot of fun, as you can search through leaders to see who you think would do a good job on this project.  This section should include the following information:

1. Identify your recommended leader candidate whose skills you feel the project needs - for example, your project might need, and you might recommend:

 

1. Oprah Winfrey due to her high emotional intelligence,
2. Napoleon Bonaparte due to his strategic brilliance,
3. Mahatma Gandhi due to his unrelenting persistence,
4. Margaret Thatcher due to her 'iron will',
5. Steve Jobs due to his incredible creativity,
6. Walt Disney due to his visionary imagination,
7. Or any number of other leaders who possess different mixes of traits and behaviours (see note below on acceptable leader candidates).
   
    

Although the idea of bringing any leader you want onto your project is very unrealistic - for the purpose of this assignment, you can assume that (somehow) you will be able to find someone else (other than the actual leader - who may be deceased or is busy elsewhere) who possesses the exact same set of desired leadership traits and behaviours and would be willing to work on your project.

1. Identify your leader's leadership style: Based on the leadership styles by Kurt Lewin (or others), describe your leader's basic leadership style.  Keep in mind that a mix of styles is possible (after all, real people are complex).
   
    
2. Support your assessment of their leadership style by citing behaviours and traits that they exhibit(ed) that support your assessment of their leadership style.  Ensure that the leadership behaviours and traits that you highlight in your candidate are those that you feel would be useful on a project of this nature.

 

Section 4 (Individual): Bring it all together:  In this section you need to draw upon at least 5 different theories, models or concepts that are introduced within the course material that support your conclusion that your identified leader would be a good candidate for running this project.

The concepts that you draw upon can include leadership principles, leadership models, motivational theories, team building concepts, etc. - any material that has been introduced in the textbook and lesson notes and that justifies the selection of your leader.

To make feedback easy, you should highlight and identify each concept that you are using in support of your candidate.

For example: Perhaps your project idea is to take over the project to develop the next 'Call of Duty' video game that (for some reason) is behind schedule and needs to be accelerated.  You might argue that you need a leader who is similar to Gordon Ramsay (the chef/restauranteur) to head up the team due to his autocratic / demanding leadership style. You might support your assessment that he is autocratic by noting how he interacts with subordinates (he tells his followers what to do rather than working collaboratively with them).  Your overall goal would be to draw sufficiently upon the course material (theories and models) to show that the project needs his autocratic leadership style along with his behaviours and traits (unilateral decision making, fixed focus, determination, energy, clarity and commitment to quality) to get the project back on track and make it successful.

 

Be creative with this project - but keep focused on the learning objectives.

 

 

Important Assignment Notes:

• Feel free to be creative with this project in exploring what other career opportunities might have awaited our well-known leaders.

 

Acceptable projects:  Your project should be in one of the following categories:

• Business-oriented ones (launching of a new product or company)
• Business turnaround: Saving a failing business
• Improving society: Raising awareness for a positive social cause
• Hosting a community event
• Pulling a team together to work towards a common cause

 

• Acceptable leader candidates:  Your ideal leader should be one that is most likely known to the class and (ideally) drawn from one of the following categories:
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Business leaders
  • Inventors
  • Renowned project management experts (for example, Harold Kerzner)
  • Political leaders
  • Community or social media leaders (only if they are commonly known for working towards positivesocial outcomes)
  • Actors, entertainers, or movie stars are acceptable but only as their real life personas and not the fictional characters that they play. Gordon Ramsay or Bono would both be acceptable; Sylvester Stallone would also be acceptable, but not his on-screen persona (character) of "Rocky Balboa".
    
     
• Unacceptable leader candidates:  Please note:  Not all publicly known people are acceptable for use in this assignment.  Do not use the following types of leaders:
  • Any dictators, despots, criminals or people with legal charges pending
  • Any fictional characters (from books, movies, literature, or cartoons)
  • Any cult figures, activists or those advocating questionable practices
  • Any religious leaders
  • Anyone who is (or was) known to work against the common good of society