Assessment Description

Throughout this subject you have been exposed to various perspectives on leaders, leadership and the impact on organisations. You have also participated in numerous group activities in class, as well as undertaking questionnaires and psychometric assessments. Throughout the course, you have been encouraged to keep a reflective journal which you should now draw upon to write a reflective essay.

You are required to answer the following question:

What type of leader am I and what are the key areas that I need to improve to become more effective?

The purpose of the assessment is to write a reflective essay that includes discussion of what and how you have learnt, what you have done or experienced, and how this learning applies to the theories and concepts of leadership that you have been exposed to.

A reflective essay is an academic analysis of your own experience. It still follows academic conventions; for instance, it is structured with a beginning, middle, and end, and it should have a logical series of paragraphs. Think of it as similar to a case study, but rather than analysing an organisation, you are analysing yourself. You need to critically reflect on thoughts, feelings and actions, then integrate these reflections with the theoretical concepts. A reflective essay should be written in both the first and third person.

Gibb’s (1988) framework of reflective learning is a useful starting point:

Your reflective essay should include:

• A clear introduction defining scope.
• A brief discussion of what leadership is, including any appropriate theory.
• A discussion of the questionnaires completed, and what these mean for you as a leader.
• A discussion of the class activities you were part of, and what these mean for you as a leader.
• A clear articulation of what your own development areas are, why they require development and what you could undertake to improve them.
• A clear conclusion that summarises your leadership.
• A reference list.
• An appendix that shows any questionnaires and psychometric assessments you have
  done including your own results.
• An appendix that shows a 1-page example from your learning journal.

Further guidance:

• You should include a minimum of 10 references. At least 6 of these should be academic journals. The rest can be textbooks and appropriate websites.
• You should adopt the Harvard referencing convention throughout your essay as well as in the reference list at the end.
• It is recommended that you use the structure outlined above and adopt sub-headings based on each bullet point.
• The attached marking rubrics guide the marker when awarding marks for your essay. You should review your paper in line with this to ensure there is nothing you have missed.
• It is important to check your similarity in turnitin. All sentences highlighted must be either paraphrased in your own words or put in quotes and referenced accordingly. You should be aiming for as low a similarity score as you can. Similarity highlighted in a contents page, reference list or appendices is nothing to be concerned about.
• Some useful resources for reflecting writing include: