LEADERSHIP PORTFOLIO
One of the core deliverables of this course is the Leadership Portfolio (see attached guide at the end of the syllabus). You have committed a significant part of your life in the achievement of your college degree. The portfolio will be your plan as to what you intend to do with it and how you wish to grow as a leader. Your plan will address your personal mission statement, vision, values, ethics, strengths and weaknesses, and an outcome-based plan to continue to guide you in your development as a leader.
Guide to Your Leadership Portfolio
Purpose and Overview of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is for you to design a personalized self-development program that will enhance your personal and leadership capabilities and increase your understanding of how you impact others. To do this, you will be asked to conduct a thorough self-assessment and determine your personal mission, vision, and core values, as well as your strengths and weaknesses in several different areas. Based on that self-assessment, you will be asked to write and begin to implement a specific action-based plan to take your leadership journey further.
Elements of the Portfolio
Note that in the sections that follow, I have included a lot of different questions. These are meant only to spur your thinking, not as a template for your portfolio. You should not necessarily “answer” all these questions, nor should you limit your expression of your leadership philosophies to these questions. They are provided only to give you an idea of the types of information I am looking for in each section. Also, as you write the various sections of your portfolio, remember to reflect on all of the components and activities of the course (the readings and class discussions, the outside book you selected to read, and your group project) as well as other relevant experiences from your life.
- Perspectives on Leadership
To be an effective leader, you must first have a firm grasp of what it means to be a leader. In this section, you should discuss your perspective on leadership. Draw from the readings and your own experiences to define or to describe the concept of leadership. Be as descriptive as possible. Some questions you might address in this section include: What does leadership mean to you? What makes a leader effective? What does it look like, sound like, feel like? What are characteristics of good leaders? What are characteristics that distinguish good leaders from great leaders? What are the rewards, sacrifices, and pitfalls of leadership?
In addition, you should discuss who your leadership role models are, and why. Which of their personal characteristics or what aspects of their leadership style or philosophy inspire you? How close or how far you are from living up to their examples? When identifying these people, try to think broadly, perhaps beyond your normal boundaries and beyond the “usual suspects” that we tend to point toward when we talk about great leaders. Think about people you have known and admired in your personal and professional lives. Think about historical figures that you have read about or seen portrayed in films. Think about people who have not necessarily held “positions of leadership,” but have had a positive influence on you or on others.
Lastly, discuss the book you chose and read. Why did you choose the book? What were the key concepts you can take with you for the start of your career? What were some of your favorite quotes and why? What impact did it have on you? How will you put what you learned from the book into action? This first section of your paper should be approximately two pages long.[unique_solution]
- Perspectives on Self
Knowing who you are is one of the first steps in developing a useful personal development plan. As Stephen Covey wrote, “A key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about, and what you value.”
a). What is my purpose? The first component of this section is your personal mission statement, or statement of personal purpose. Your purpose is what provides meaning to you, or your reason for being. Your statement might start with a phrase such as “I believe I am here to….” Or “My main purpose or mission in life is to….” Or you might choose another way to express your purpose. Your mission statement should be concise (a paragraph or two) and be written with a logical flow. Also, comment on your eulogy. Where you are on your mission to date? What legacy that you would like to live and leave? What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? (Note: an easy and interesting way to start your mission statement is at www.franklincovey.com/msb/)
b). What are my passions? The second part of this section is your personal vision statement, in which you will capture your vision of what kind of leader you want to become and what you might want to create or accomplish as a leader. Be as descriptive as possible, using visual language to “paint a mental picture” of your desired outcomes. Imagine you have the leadership role of which you have always dreamed. Where are you? What are you doing? Whom are you leading? In what ways are you influencing them? What are the core values you are communicating to those you are leading and to the stakeholders of your organization? How does this role fit with your personal mission and values? Think about what you wrote in your Perspectives on Leadership section, as well as your mission statement. Your personal vision statement should be no longer than one to two paragraphs.
c). What do I believe in? The third component of this section relates to your ethical credo and core values. In this section restate your ethical credo from your workbook here. Reflect on why you chose to write what you did. Core values reflect what is most important to you, across time and contexts. Examples of core values might be: honesty, integrity, freedom, respect, security, wealth, equality, discipline, power, etc. You should identify a prioritized list of three to five core values that guide your actions and decisions. For each value, provide a brief description of what each value means to you and an example of how you have incorporated this value in your life. You should also reflect on your Ethical Lens Inventory. What impact did it have on you and how has it helped to shape your values. Lastly, what is that “inch” you are willing to die for and how will you protect it? This section should be approximately 1 to 2 pages long.
d). Who am I? The fourth part should be a reflection on what you learned about yourself from all the assessments, journal exercises and class activities this semester. List the roles that you know as your identity; include key roles such as spouse, parent, sibling, friend, colleague. Think about writing a self-portrait of yourself. What would it look like to a potential employer? How would you depict yourself? This section should be approximately 1-page long.
d). How did I do? The fifth part of this section should contain your reflections on your roles and performance in the simulation and team project. Discuss what roles you played in each and what you learned because of participating on your team. Consider your reactions to working in a team and the insights you gained regarding your own strengths and weaknesses as a team member, leader, and follower. What did you notice about your leadership behaviors in terms of dealing with tasks and people – were you stronger in one area than another? What parts of the project did you like the most? What part(s) did you like last? This section of your portfolio should be approximately 1 page in length.
e). What is and isn’t in my suitcase. In this sixth part of the Perspectives on Self, you will write a summary of your strengths and weaknesses. This will require an honest self-assessment of your own characteristics and how these patterns of behavior affect your interactions with others and your ability to lead others. This should be based on an honest and critical self-examination of your past behavior and your behavior in this course (particularly with respect to group assignments and the feedback you receive from group members). In this part, you should create two lists; provide a brief discussion of how each of the items in the list has affected your personal and professional development to date, and how each of them affects your interactions with others (especially as it relates to your ability to lead others). Be sure to also discuss your strengths from the Strength Finder exercise and the strength training that you have done this semester. This part of your portfolio should be approximately 2 pages long.
- Perspectives on Development
a). Short and Long-term Goals. In this section of your portfolio, you will identify your goals or objectives regarding your development as a leader and specify the strategies you will use to achieve them. Your objectives should come from your personal purpose, core values, leadership vision, and identity, build on your strengths, and address your weaknesses. Discuss your Top 5 from the previous exercise you did at the beginning of the semester. How do you build on these? Like all good objectives, they should be challenging but attainable and they should be specific. Are there measurable outcomes that can be associated with each of the goals? How will you know when you have reached them? What evidence will you have? What will you see, hear, and feel to know that you have achieved your goal? Your goals should include both intermediate (1 to 2 years) and long-term goals (5 to 10 years). This part of your portfolio should include 2 short term and 2 long term goals and be one to two pages long.
b). Strategy to Achieve Goals. Once you have identified your goals, you will need to specify the strategies you will employ to achieve each of them. Your strategies should be specific and include a discussion of the activities that you will need to undertake, the obstacles you will need to overcome, the steps you will take to overcome them, the resources (financial, human, informational, emotional, etc.) you will need, and a time frame for implementing these strategies. Your strategies should be challenging and comprehensive, but realistic. This part of your portfolio should be approximately one to two pages long.
Grading Criteria
The following criteria will form the basis for evaluating your leadership portfolio:
- Clarity, organization, format and professionalism:
- Clear writing style
- Logical flow of writing
- Use of headings and subheadings
- Clear transitions between sections
- Numbered pages
- Proof-read and spell-checked
- Paper should be single spaced, with double spacing between paragraphs and sections
- 12 point Times New Roman font for the body of the paper
- One inch margins
- You may incorporate images in the document if you feel they add to the expression of your ideas, but please do not forego content in favor of style.
- Thoroughness: Complete coverage of all the elements of the portfolio, as outlined above.
- Quality:
- Degree of effort, care and critical thought put into each part of the portfolio
- Depth of integration and reflection – does the portfolio reflect/make connections between your personal mission, values, vision, personal profile and your objectives and strategies? Is there evidence of having incorporated knowledge and insights from class discussions, activities, journal exercises and readings into the portfolio?
- Are the objectives and strategies specific and detailed?
- Creativity and variety shown in developing objectives and identifying strategies (and specific activities within each strategy)
- Level of commitment and “stretch” demonstrated throughout the portfolio
Final Thoughts
You should complete as much of your leadership portfolio as you can, as early as you can, and then simply modify, tweak, change and add as you continue to learn more about yourself and get other ideas regarding possible developmental activities and strategies. It will help you to make regular progress if you will record your thoughts and insights based on class discussions and readings in a journal.
I understand that taking an honest look at oneself can be uncomfortable for some. It is not my intent to embarrass or intimidate any of you through this project. Please only include information that you feel comfortable sharing. Your leadership portfolio is confidential. I am the only one who will read it, and all information will be kept strictly confidential. I do not keep any copies of your portfolios.