Overview
week 1
Explain how this course will assist you as you move forward with your career plans. Briefly discuss your chosen direction for future career obtainment and goal achievement.
After introducing yourself, respond to the following discussion prompt:
Generally speaking, a good leader is strong and inspirational and has both a vision and a respect for others. With this in mind, compose a discussion post that explains what leadership means to you and explain how the power to inspire helps establish one’s credibility as a leader.
WEEK 2
No one ever likes to hear that they’re not doing well. However, sometimes, it’s a manager’s duty to provide guidance to low-performing employees and create a plan to help them improve. These conversations often mean the difference between a positive company culture and one that falls short.
In this discussion, reflect back on a time in your life when a past manager made a difference in a positive way and a time when a past manager made a difference in a negative way. How did the leadership communications in these cases embody or not embody best practices and systems theory principles? When a manager is addressing an internal audience, such as employees at their own company, what does effective leadership communication look like? You may alter the names of companies and/or people involved to protect their identities.
WEEK 3
Nelson Mandela once wrote, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."
Chances are that, at some time or another, you will be faced with communicating effectively with someone who has a completely different worldview. In situations like this, how can you break down barriers and create a successful exchange of ideas?
In this discussion, reflect on the importance of leaders finding common ground through effective communication. Use best practices and systems theory principles to support your ideas.
WEEK 4
In this discussion, conduct a SWOT analysis of your own for either a company for which you currently work or one you have worked for in the past. What surprises did you find? Share them with the class.
WEEK 5
Ethics and business are two things that should go hand in hand. An ethical compass is a central building block of any strong business, but sometimes, companies stray from ethical principles.
In this discussion, identify an ethical dilemma a company may face. You may use a real world or an imagined example. Using your example, explain the ethical dilemma the company faced as well as how it responded to the dilemma, including whether you agree or disagree with how the company handled the situation.
WEEK 6
Winning the social media battle is no longer a luxury for effective company leaders: it’s a must. Unfortunately, this arena is often the most overlooked.
For this assignment, imagine you’re the director of communications at Acme Enterprises. You get a call at 3 a.m. from The New York Times asking for a statement clarifying a post that was sent from your boss a few hours ago. The post—directed at your main competitor, Sockets-R-Us—calls out the company’s leadership team for its “shoddy business practices” and says the CEO “cannot wait to show his sockets” to his personal assistant.
Describe how you "get in front of this" before it becomes an issue for your CEO and to your company.
WEEK 7
For this assignment, evaluate the leadership traits of a successful, well-known leader of your choosing and determine the factors that you think make them successful in their environments. What traits would be transferable to other professional fields and why? Use earlier course material and other sources to justify your response.
WEEK 8
Can you be an effective communicator and leader if you’re constantly hitting refresh in your email inbox? Some of the most effective leaders are those who are never at their desk but are instead in the thick of it with their employees. While leaders like this believe that email can be an effective tool, they feel that face-to-face communication with their employees is the most effective way to lead.
For this discussion, state whether you believe face-to-face communication is the most effective way to lead and explain your answer. Next, describe what you think might be a challenge leaders face when they use face-to-face communication. Finally, share what your leadership style would be in the workplace. Would you be a leader who often uses face-to-face communication? Why or why not?
WEEK 9
Sometimes, no matter what you do, the plan fails. It could be because the strategy was unsound, the market changed, or because of another factor beyond your control.
Thinking about your professional career or a future career of choice, reflect on a situation when the communication strategy failed or might fail and expand on why you believe this to be the case.
WEEK 10
What a journey we have been on in these past nine weeks! We have looked at what to do and what not to do as we seek to become effective leaders and effective communicators. In this discussion, share what you believe are three takeaways from the course that you can see yourself using in either your current professional position or in a future role in the business world.