Report format. Don’t write long

Don’t add references in the list that you didn’t use or you didn’t add the in text citation.

• Your assignment:

1.  

1.1 Description of leadership practice and consequence

Nelson Mandela once said “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”.

What do you think was meant by this and why might this be important for a leader? To

address this question you will be required to either read the book ‘Playing the enemy’

by John Carlin or to watch the movie ‘Invictus’ that depicts the leadership displayed by

Nelson Mandela (you are free to do both). Please note that in your assignment write up

there will need to be demonstration of proof that you have actually read the book or

watched the movie as there are some differences between the book and the movie.

(You can buy a copy of the e-book from Amazon and rent or buy the movie from the

same). You should note that reading the book may actually be more helpful for you for

the perspective of this assignment as the printed word does afford you more time to

ponder the points being made – but that choice is left to you.

You should look at a number of scenes from which you have derived learning and

lessons about leadership as a result of watching the movie and/or reading the book

insofar as it is relevant to Mandela’s quote above. Please note that this is not about

whether or not you agree with Mandela’s brand of politics. This is about leadership and

how Mandela belief in speaking to the heart has helped you to learn about leadership

and what you need to do to develop yourself in the area of own leadership. You will be

expected to describe, in sufficient detail, the scenes that you are going to use to derive

your leadership learning from. In particular you will be looking at how Mandela

develops his brand and power of leadership as a result of speaking to the heart, which

he then uses to help him leader the people.

1.2 Critical analysis of the situation, theory identification, integration and

application

Having looked at the scenes you will need to critically analyse how leadership

communication was displayed and demonstrated. You can argue for both effective or

ineffective leadership communication displayed but remember that this is NOT about

whether or not you agree with Mandela’s politics. You should then identify relevant

theories and concepts (from leadership, motivation, team building, personality,

communication, relationship capital and so on) that are pertinent to the scenes chosen

and described and link them to the analysis.

Do remember that the reliance on one theory alone is unlikely to be sufficient as

leadership is multi-faceted. A very important aspect of this section is that you must

integrate and apply the theories and concepts into the analysis. For example, merely

stating that the scene showed that communication principles were violated will not put

you in good standing as far as marking is concerned. You will need to identify which

areas of the communication process were affected and provide good breadth and depth

of discussion and justification to support your assertion.

Remember that you should also include the LDA (Leadership Development Activity) that you have engaged in (either those provided in class or those that you have been able to obtain from other academically reputable sources) to enhance your discussion.

1.3 Reflection on changes required using theory and LDA to support arguments presented

 

Reflect on the changes that you will need to make in your own life, in the near-term, so

as to become a more effective leader as a result of having learned about leadership,

especially with regards to relationship capital development, from Mandela.

Remember to use theories and relevant LDA to support your argument. You must

include the lessons derived from relevant LDA to support your discussion. In addition to

your reflection on the changes required you should also consider how these changes,

once identified, might be practically implemented.

1.4 Identification of lessons learned and overall experience

Comment on possible leadership gaps for the future that you may have identified as a

result of your learning through this learning and discuss the areas that you might need

to work on for the future, especially in the area of relationship capital. You might write

about how this incident has demonstrated the need for such skills and what the insights

derived mean for the development of your own leadership abilities.

Important Notice: Attached a number of slides that will further explain what is expected

There are six marking criteria in this assignment

and they are explicated in some detail in these slides.

 

The five marking criteria are as follows:

12 Marks: Description of leadership practice and consequence (scene descriptions)

22 Marks: Critical analysis of the situation, theory identification, integration and application

18 Marks: Reflection on changes required using theory and LDA to support arguments presented

9 Marks: Identification of lessons learned and overall experience

6 Marks: Presentation and referencing of assignment

3 Marks: Correct English grammar, spelling, usage