Now for the real perspective. I am in a new job, at a new institution for the first time in 15 years, in a new house, in a new state, in a new area of the country. Not many people get to "start fresh" or a "fresh start" all that often, and I have one in front of me. I have new colleagues, and new staff to supervise, and new students to work with, in an organization that has been through a bit of an personnel upheaval over the past 3 years; they too are staring in the mirror and seeing a reset opportunity looking back at them. So my thought is, if I am going to do this (which is a fact that was decided months ago) I might as well do it with intention and reflection. This project seems like a phenomenal opportunity to thoughtfully engage in personal and professional development that also directly aligns with my current educational path.
Enough with the introductions. I will take the next week to think about, and perhaps blog throughout, as I create the post that will be my experiential leadership plan that will be implemented throughout this 12 week course, and then blogged about weekly in weeks 3-10.
Thank you for joining me on this personal leadership journey! I welcome comments throughout, sharing of resources, and if by any chance something I says inspires you, I would love to hear about what my learning is teaching you!
Best!
Emergent Leadership Model (Individual Project)-20%
Through extensive research, the Center for Creative Leadership and other leadership development scholars and practitioners have proposed many ways in which to support the development of leaders. Pulling upon the leadership development literature presented in Week 2, as well as your own reflection of your areas of potential growth, design an experiential leadership plan that can be implemented during the course of the term. This plan should focus on the students’ own growth as a leader (not the development of others). This assignment consists of a blog or voice-thread that includes the following:
Blog or Voice-thread Entry #1: Personal Leadership Development Plan The first entry to the blog or voice- thread should describe your personal leadership development plan and highlight its importance and relevance based upon the leadership development literature provided in class.
Weekly Entries (Weeks 3-10): Throughout the course of the term, students will actively engage in their own personal leadership development by through the enactment of their PLDP and continued reflection. At the end of Weeks #3-10 of the course, students will develop either a blog entry or voice-thread summary documenting the action they took that week as well as their own reflections related to their leadership growth. They will submit this blog or voice-thread as a part of their final deliverable.
Final Summary and Reflections: As the final blog or voice-thread entry, each student will share their overall reflections and outcomes of what they have learned while enacting their PLDP. This documentation should include not only your own reflections upon what you learned, but also links to the ideas presented in the course literature and your originally outlined PLDP. In addition, it should include a discussion of how you have applied this insight to your work as a scholar-practitioner.
