Leadership Toolkit

Aspects of leadership

The following questions help students reflect on leadership and leadership development.

Questions for students to ask themselves about leadership
What are the most important things that a leader has to do?
When I look at what I've written, are my thoughts more oriented towards the leadership process, the leader's behaviour, or outcomes from the team?  Which do I really think is the most important aspect of leadership?  Why?
Do I prefer to 'follow', rather than 'lead?' Why might this be, and does it matter?
Do leaders always lead, or are there situations where an acknowledged leader might be better to let someone else take over the leadership?  For example.......?
What are the most important qualities of a good leader?
Which of these qualities do I need to develop further?

Adapted from: Komives, S.R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T.R. (1998).  Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Some creative exercises to raise students' awareness of their own leadership are given in:

Angelo, T.A. & Cross, K.P. (1993). (2nd ed.)  Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass:

   Focused Autographical Sketches, pp.281-284;
   Profiles of Admirable Individuals, pp. 267-270; and
   Everyday Ethical Dilemmas, pp. 271-274.

Griffith Library Catalogue Number:  LB2822.75.A54 1993.

And

Lucas, N., Komives, S.R., & McMahon, T.R.  (1998). Instructors' Guide to Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference. The Leadership class.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.academy.umd.edu/publications/leadership_education/exploring_curriculum.htm - The%20Leadership%20Class

Other Resources:

Eaton, M. & Pougiales, R. (1994).  Work reflection and community: Conditions that support self-evaluations. Cited in: MacGregor, J. (Ed.) Student Self-Evaluation:  Fostering Reflective Learning. San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, James M., & Posner, Barry Z. (2003). Challenge is the opportunity for greatness. In Leader to Leader, 28(Spring), pp. 16-23.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October, 2006:
http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/L2l/spring2003/kouzes.htm

 

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