LEADER DEVELOPMENT PAPER
The purpose of the Leader Development Paper is to provide you with an opportunity to identify and
develop existing and new leadership behaviors. You are asked to investigate, intervene, and evaluate
needed resources to assist in your goals for leadership behavior and skills development. The goal of this
investigation is to identify all repetitive behaviors including skills and/or patterns of behaviors that with
improvement would have the potential to develop your capacity as a leader. Your investigation will draw
on key experiences, observations, feedback received from others and learning acquired throughout the
semester from your Journal Group Discussion Questions, readings, class activities, and class lectures.
Your discussion will also include how you will go about supporting your learning. Refer to and cite at least
two different references in this paper. This paper is divided into three parts. Use the questions or
statements below to guide your discussion. Support your discussion with behavioral examples.
A. REFLECT/INVESTIGATE You are asked to conduct an investigation of your journal forum
entries, experiences during class activities, knowledge acquired through lectures and self–
assessments, etc.
1. Do a thorough investigation and review of all your journal group discussion question entries,
experiences during class activities, knowledge acquired from class lectures and self–assessment,
as well as any feedback you received from others with the goal of identifying behaviours that with
improvement would have the potential to develop your capacity as a leader. While conducting
your investigation be sure to consider observable behaviours and all internal dialogue(s)
influencing your behavior. Examples of where you might gather your behavioural data from
include:
a. Any self–assessments you may have completed examples: Situational Leadership–
Lead Self, Facilitation Skills, Kilmann Conflict Strategies, Meyers Briggs, etc.
b. As they relate to the following concepts: leadership, facilitating, decision–making,
relationship building, task completion, etc.
2. Using the information gathered from your investigation, provide a description of all the behaviours
and patterns of behaviours you have identified, including any repetitive internal dialogues
influencing your behaviour. Support your discussion with examples of the behaviours that you
have identified.
B. ANALYZE/INTERVENE You are asked to pick one behaviour or skill you would like to
develop and then create a step–by–step action plan to help you develop and implement the
behavioural change you would like to make.
a. From the investigation you conducted choose one observable behaviour/skill you
would like to focus on and put into practice during your group work in second
semester. Discuss why have you chosen this behaviour/skill.
b. Why is it important to you to make this behavioural change to your leadership
capacity? What is your motivation for change? What might happen in the future if you
do not improve this aspect of your leadership? What do you think will happen (what
are some possible impacts to yourself and others) if you choose not to change?
c. Use the S.M.A.R.T. Goal format (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time
bound) to create your step–by step action plan explaining how you will go about
achieving this behavioural change. Do we provide them with a S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Formula?
