BAM060 Strategic Leader

In this section of the portfolio you should be working with the various models of leadership that you have studied in this topic and use these to further your reflections upon yourself as a strategic leader.

[Adapted from Nahavandi, pg 263] (TO 3.5)

Select two top-level organisational leaders either from your own organisation (past or present) or through research on public companies (many public profiles of top managers proliferate on the internet that provide you with enough detail about these people to complete this task).

Complete Self-Assessment 7.1 in Nahvandi, pg. 263 for your chosen leaders as well as yourself and plot them on the challenge-control matrix grid.

Discuss how your chosen leaders have used their challenge-control position to affect their organisations. Reflect upon what your effect as a strategic leader will bring.

(TO 4.3; 4.4)

Complete the self-assessment exercises in Nahvandi (ch. 4) and report your scores for each exercise. Be aware: these self-assessments are meant to develop your own self-awareness. The EQ, proactive, Type A, and narcissism scales in Nahvandi’s chapter have not been scientifically tested and validated: they provide you with a general description of your behaviours and preferences.

Describe and analyse each of the characteristics measured in the self-assessments with a focus on identifying your strengths and areas for development. (You may find it helpful to return to work you did in Topic one for your portfolio, specifically, review the results of your personality-type test and your analysis of same. Your analysis should include any identification of changes to the Topic 1’s work.)

Remember: changing personality is not the goal, rather understanding should be your focus. By developing an increasing self-awareness, you can build on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

Building upon the self-assessments, work through the exercise below on what your ideal organisation would be.

Your Ideal Organisation

Think of working in the organisation of your dreams. What would it look like? How would it be organised? How would people interact?

Provide a description of your ideal organisation. In doing so, consider the following organisational characteristics and elements: