Instructions

As you go through this specific course, you are getting the very high view of concepts that typically are a discipline in and of themselves. In order to help tie these together in a fashion that you may be able to use in your immediate life, I have put together this assignment.

Portfolio 1 will consist of a self-assessment of your leadership and decision making styles, and an analysis as to whether you agree or disagree with the instrument conclusions. The second aspect of this portfolio will require you to identify circumstances in which your “default” may not be the best process for every situation, and then identify alternative strategies that may be more appropriate. 

Your paper should be in well written narrative, in Times New Roman 12 point font with one inch margins. Double space the paper, bear in mind each section requires an analysis.  You may elect to submit your paper in a word document attachment or you can cut and paste it into the assignment submission window. If you elect to put your name and the course on the first page, that doesn’t count as one of your paper pages. 🙂

Use the folder titles as named sections of your paper, then discuss what is required. Please keep in mind the general rules of capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Each section requires a 2 to 3 page response, so if your submission is 3 or 4 pages, you are not following directions.

Section 1 Leadership Instruments

The folder contains several leadership style instruments. There is no reason or requirement to pay for a more exact instrument. Take at least two of the instruments. When you are done, you will complete a two or three page write up identifying which instrument you took and what style was identified. They may not use identical language to the theories in your book, so you may have to tell me which of the book theories your instrument most closely resembles.  Do you agree or disagree with the instrument and why or why not? Do you sometimes use more than one style for the same decision? 

Instrument Selection

http://www.yourleadershiplegacy.com/assessment/assessment.php

Disc Assessment

http://8dimensionsofleadership.com/the-assessment/

Leadership Test

http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/2152

Mind Tools

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_50.htm

Instrument based on Kurt Lewin’s Theory

http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquiz.htm

Social Psychology Site

http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/app/social/chap9_1.html

Section 2 Planning

Most organizational planning flows from Synoptic Planning, which builds upon the scientific method of rationality, leading to strategic analysis etc. However, you as an individual should also apply a planning methodology to the various aspects of your life.  In this folder are a variety of planning tools, from study aids to time management to project planning.  Select an area of your life that you feel you could improve your planning component. Identify what, if any your current planning or management style is, and then determine if one of these tools could work better.  How do you think it will help you? What appeals to you about it? 

A two to three page write up answering the above questions will be Section II of your paper.

Personal Management Tools

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-personal-project-management-tools-1441334694

Study Style Evaluation

http://www.cmu.edu/acadev/resources/planningtools.html

Personal Goal Setting

http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

Time Management Apps

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/top-15-time-management-apps-and-tools.html

Section 3 Decision Making Models

There are three styles of decision making articulated in your book:

1) Rational Model

2) Incremental Model

3) Heuristic Model.

Identify an example in your own life where you used each one of these models, for a total of three examples.  You may not have realized at the time that you were, in fact, using one of the decision making models. A few sentences giving me what the circumstances were, what your process was to make the decision, which model it falls under, and what the outcome was.  Was that model the best one for the situation you faced? Would one of the other models have been more appropriate?   Now that you have more of a structure for decision making, will you apply them in current decision making?

As there are three examples, this section should be about 3 to 5 pages long, depending upon how much detail you provide. You should use the example from Week 8 DB as one of the three, and include your assessment of the responses from your classmates.