Purpose
This assignment provides students the opportunity to apply their knowledge of leadership by evaluating the skills, values, methods, and performance of someone in a leadership position. Through a personal
interview, the student will determine the leader’s strengths and weakness, accomplishments and failures, but, most importantly, how that individual’s approach to leadership conforms or diverges from the model
presented by Kouzes and Posner in The Leadership Challenge. In a written report, the student will comment on the leader’s compliance with the Kouzes and Posner model, and provide recommendations on how
that individual could improve his or her leadership in light of this model. For more information on the Leadership Challenge model, you can visit the website. Finally, students will have an opportunity to reflect on
the experience and describe what they learned and how it will help them in their leadership journey.
Description
To successfully complete this assignment, students will have to perform the following:
1) Select a Pastor to interview.. This assignment is designed to help you understand leadership in the field you have chosen; please make every effort to make this assignment relevant to you. Be sure to
inform your interviewee that the interview and the paper will be held in strictest confidence and will only be shared with your professor.
2) contact the leader and determine a date and time for the interview. The interview can be in-person, on the phone, or through internet video conferencing (e.g., Skype) and should be about 30 minutes in
length (it can be longer if the interviewee agrees; please be respectful of his or her time). To prepare for your interview, you may review the contents of this website, or find similar resources that offer interview
guidelines.
3) Prepare at least seven (7) interview questions: remember, the questions need to relate to the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership and must help you determine the interviewee’s leadership style and
evaluate how closely he or she reflects the model. The following questions are adapted (with additions) from Kouzes and Posner’s online resource, The Student Leadership Challenge. You may use the questions
from this list or develop your own:
• What does leadership mean to you?
• What strengths do you believe you have as a leader? Weaknesses?
• What has been your greatest influence as a leader?
• Do you believe that leaders should make other people feel strong and confident? If so, what do you do to help others feel this way?
• Do you think it is important to delegate? If so, why?
• What are three or four actions you believe are essential to enable others to be successful?
• What advice do you have for building relationships and trust in a group or organization?
• How would you describe your leadership style (e.g., servant leadership)? If so, how do you demonstrate that leadership style in your organization or group?
• What are your core values and how are they reflected in what you do as a leader?
• How do you facilitate improvement, manage change, and deal with mistakes in your group or organization? How do you deal with your own mistakes?
• How do you manage conflict within your group or organization?
4) Conduct the interview and take notes on the responses you received during the interview. Also, note the date, time, and location of the interview.
5) The paper will consist of four (4) main sections: (1) a report, (2) a reflective essay, (3) references, and (4) appendix:
a. The report should be about 1500 words in length and comprised of the following: (i) introduction, (ii) brief summary of the results of your interview, (iii) a critique of the leader, including strengths
and/or weaknesses in light of the Kouzes and Posner model, and (iv) your recommendations for improvement. Use additional resources (e.g., books, articles, etc.) to support your recommendations, as needed.
b. The reflection essay portion of the paper should be about 500 – 750 words: write an essay on what you learned from this leadership interview. This should not be a repeat of the report section, but an
overview of what you learned and how you can use this information in your own leadership experiences. Be sure to tie in the themes from The Leadership Challenge model and the other texts and resources from
the course on character, culture, and service, including the results of the Christian Character Index and your initial definition of leadership offered in Week 1.
c. In an appendix, include the notes from the interview (questions and answers), date, time, and location.
d. A reference section or bibliography must be included (refer to the syllabus for app

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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