For your final paper, I would like for you to choose a leader that you know, write up 5-10 questions, and interview him or her about his or her experience as a leader. ( Do not choose a celebrity, a historical figure or yourself. Interview a real person you know.) Then write your final paper using the following guidelines:
Please structure your paper in the following way:
Part 1 (1/2 page): Short biography of the leader you choose. Tell me who this person is, how is the person a leader (title or otherwise), what is your relationship to this person and a little about this individual’s background.
Part 2 (1/2 page): List 5-10 well thought out questions that you will ask your person. Questions can be anything you are curious about but should include clear ties to the subject mater we have discussed.
Part 3 (2-4 pages): For this part I would like you to discuss what you learned from conducting this interview. (I do not need a transcript saying “I asked ___” “She/He said____”) Instead, tell me what surprised you? What was affirming? What stuck with you as an important point to remember? I am looking for the highlights in your mind. What made this experience valuable and what elements were thought provoking. For this section, I would also like to see you reference at least 3 concepts, by name, that we discussed in this class. Indicate your concepts by making the names bold as you use them in your paper . You may use any concepts you like from the whole class. I just want to see you make the connections between what you learned and what is happening in the “real world.”
Here is a short expert from part 3 of someone’s paper as an example:
“When I asked Susan about her biggest fear as a leader, I was surprised to learn that she worried most about developing her employees and she wondered if she was doing enough to help them grow and learn new things. This made me think that Susan strives to be a transformational leader because she is so concerned with mentoring her employees for their own growth rather than just being focused on meeting current goals. I find this inspiring because I want to be that kind of leader too. I want to see people grow and become even more capable because I was a leader in their life.”