Read a biography or autobiography of a recognized leader in any field (e.g. politics, sport, religion, the arts). Some examples include Oodgeroo of the Noonunccal tribe, Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and critique his/her leadership story and practices
Tips for Assignment 1. Please read the question and the criteria sheet carefully. 2. You will be required to read a biography or autobiography on a leader. This means you will be required to read a book or an e-book (not a short 3 page article on a leader). You may wish to access other material on your leader but your biography or autobiography (book) should be your substantive reference 3. Choose a well-recognized leader. Examples of such leaders have been identified in your assignment question ( Nelson Mandela, Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal tribe). The leader can be a leader of politics, sport, the arts, business, education or any other sphere. The leader can be living or dead. 4. You should select a biography or autobiography that provides you with information not only on the story of the leader (ie where they were born, life story, etc) BUT also provides insights into their leadership practices. When selecting a leader, go beyond a person who is an expert in a particular area. For example, a world famous golfer might be considered a “leader” by being an outstanding golfer BUT you need to choose a world famous golfer who has enacted his leadership in particular ways (ie worked with others, set up golfing schools, mentoring up and coming golf players etc). Thus, you need to be a bit discerning in your choice of leaders so that you can fully answer the question. 5. You need to critique the leader’s story and practices in the light of current leadership concepts and theory. I suggest you choose one or two theories at most – no more. Otherwise, you will not be able to explain the theories and apply them fully. Please note that Gronn’s theory of leadership as career is useful to explore leaders’ stories BUT not useful in helping illuminate a leader’s practice. Other theories (ie situational leadership, transformational leadership, narcissistic, etc) are very useful for exploring leadership practices but do not provide information about understanding a leader’s story. Please note that a concept is a leadership construct (examples of leadership concepts are power, vision, role model, influence, etc). So in addition to using a theory, you may wish to explore a couple of specific leadership concepts / constructs if they are relevant. 6. Read the paper by Ehrich & Creyton that tells the story of Redmond (a political activist) which is a reading in covered in Module 1.4. It might give you some ideas as to how to relate theory or concepts to a leader’s practice. 7. If you are really keen and wish to engage further, you may wish to read more than one substantive book. Ie you could read Gandhi’s autobiography plus a biography written about him. 8. And finally, please note that your reference list is NOT counted in the overall word count
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