M23369 Critical Leadership: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives Module Brief

Aims 

Our overall aim is to deliver an integrated and intellectually challenging programme that we hope you will find pertinent, enjoyable and stimulating.  

The specific aims are to: 

• Enable critical engagement with competing theories in traditional and  contemporary areas of leadership 

• Explore practical applications of leadership theories 

• Facilitate the development of a personal leader/leadership profile and development  plan 

Learning outcomes 

On successful completion of this module students should be able to: 

1 Evaluate the leader versus leadership and management versus leadership debates

2 Appraise arguments, underlying assumptions and theoretical differences in areas of traditional and contemporary leadership research 

3 Exercise critical judgement in evaluating leadership theories  

4 Justify linkages between theory and practice in leadership 

5 Formulate self-awareness of leader/leadership ability and potential

Assessment 1: Interview-based essay: 60% of total marks

This assessment aims to assess learning outcomes 2, 3 and 4 by demonstrating an in-depth understanding of at least one newer leadership theory and an appreciation of others. This is done by looking for evidence of the theories in practice.

Step 1: 

• Pick ONE of the newer leadership theories covered in this module, or a  specific aspect of these theories that you find especially interesting, i.e. • Transformational leadership 

• Charismatic leadership  

• Distributed/shared leadership  

• Leader-member-exchange 

• Negative leadership  

• Implicit leadership theory/Romance of leadership 

• Ethical and or Authentic leadership 

Step 2: 

Research your chosen theory and: 

• Write a concise but robust literature review and if appropriate briefly explain its  links and differences to other theories 

• Ensure all theory specified is referenced accordingly following APA protocols • Consider how your chosen theory may manifest itself in practice so you are able to plan interview questions 

Step 3: 

Interview TWO people for up to 20 minutes each concerning the main theory that you have picked.

• You may interview either 2 leaders or 2 followers or one of each, however it is preferable they have work experience. 

• Assign your interviewees anonymous identifiers for the essay, DO NOT USE  NAMES 

Step 4: 

Analyse the interviews and integrate the practical examples with theory: • Identify the extent to which the responses provide evidence that the main  theory you have chosen exists in practice 

• Provide illustrative quotes to support your argument 

• Provide links to referenced literature  

• Identify, where appropriate, any evidence from your interviews that links to;  supports; proves; or disproves alternative leadership theories 

• Ensure all theory specified is referenced accordingly following APA protocols

Assessment 2: Personal leadership portfolio: 40% of total marks

The portfolio will assess learning outcomes 1 and 5 and is a means to monitor, build and reflect on your learning about leader selection, assessment and development.  The intention is that you will integrate learning from your work experience, personal development and academic teaching, applying theory to practice. Thus, your portfolio will demonstrate learning for assessment purposes as well as provide you with evidence of your skills and abilities in leadership and a development plan to enhance these.  

Section 1 

1.1. A short introduction outlining the theory and practice of how leaders are  assessed 

1.2. A table outlining the wide range of tools you have used to assess you as a  leader (Good portfolios will use a range of tools that far outnumber those  enclosed as appendices) 

1.3. A synthesis of the outcomes from section 1.2, providing a summary of your  main strengths and development needs as a leader 

Section 2 

2.1. A short introduction outlining the theory and practice of how leaders are developed. 

2.2. A personal development plan in table format based on section 1.3. 2.3. A justification of the methods/techniques you have selected in your plan for your leader development linking to relevant theory (you do not need to justify the development needs as these should be apparent from your linking to section 1.3).