Students will conduct an interview with a leader or manager in an organization. Examples of leaders or managers to interview are a university official, a politician, a community service volunteer, a manager, an executive team member or an entrepreneur. After their interview, students will write a seven- to eight page, double-spaced paper synthesizing the results of their interview and discussing how this interview relates to the course materials.
In their papers, students are expected to address the following questions:
1. What style of leadership does the interview subject exhibit?
2. What does the individual identify as his or her style of leadership?
3. What characteristics could be observed in this leader?
4. Does this leader subscribe to the contingency approach to effective leadership?
5. What is this individual’s strategy for making decisions?
6.How did this person achieve a position of leadership?
7. What has best prepared this leader to lead: Education? Experience?
8. What was an example of a recent challenge and the steps taken to produce results for this leader?
9. What type of leadership development does this person employ?
10. What has been learned via “on the job” experience (i.e., something not learned in school)?

In their papers, students should combine their own thoughtful analysis with ideas and information found in a minimum of two scholarly sources other than the textbook. Therefore, as in any scholarly writing, students should
not merely copy information from another author, but use evidence to support the contentions they have drawn from their findings and critically analyze related literature – this paper has to be an analytical paper, not a summary of readings. This paper must meet APA requirements of format and style. Students must cite the sources of all ideas, facts, and information used that are not their own, even if they have put the information into their own words. Failure to do so is plagiarism, even if the oversight is unintentional.

Components % of Grade
DAS-U-Analysis and use of course concepts 30%
DAS-U-Evidence and support 30%
DAS-U-Organization and coherence 20%
DAS-U-Style and mechanics 20%
TOTAL 100%