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OL 328 Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
In Module One, you reviewed the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in your textbook. In Modules Four and Five, you learned much more about the practices of Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act. You have also learned about several leadership theories and approaches, including:
Transformational and Transactional Leadership
Authentic Leadership
Think about the areas of improvement you identified in your Leadership Development Action Plan in Module One. Consider how you could apply the two practices of exemplary leadership (Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act) and at least one leadership theory or approach to improve in the areas you identified.
Use the feedback from Milestone One, your Leadership Development Action Plan, the two practices of exemplary leadership, and at least one leadership theory or approach to address the following criteria:
Analyze how you will use the Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act practices to improve the three leadership areas that you selected in Module One.
Analyze one leadership theory or approach you reviewed in this course and analyze how it will help you with the leadership areas you selected.
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3-2 Final Project Milestone One: Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision
Cherelle Pratt
OL 328- Leadership
July 19, 2024
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3-2 Final Project Milestone One: Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision
The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, outlined by Kouzes and Posner (2023),
provide a comprehensive framework for effective leadership. Various leadership concepts help in
leadership development. They include Transformational, Authentic, Servant, Situational,
Contingency, and Path-Goal Leadership. This paper focuses on applying two specific practices—
“Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision”—along with the Servant Leadership theory to
address three key areas of personal leadership improvement: enhancing communication skills,
building emotional intelligence, and developing strategic thinking and planning abilities. Thus, it
becomes possible, in light of how these practices and theories interact with the latter
developmental areas, to come up with a roadmap for leadership that is more positive and
productive.
Leadership Areas for Improvement
Enhancing Communication Skills
Communication is an essential aspect of leadership that determines the productivity of a
given organization. In the framework of healthcare organizations, effective and efficient
communication is mandatory for the teams’ objectives and the protection of the patients. This
paper will demonstrate that the competencies of expressing thoughts, listening, and adjusting
communications according to the audience can significantly influence a leader. This area requires
enhancing skills related to the organization of verbal and non-verbal communication, listening,
and presentation of information.
Building Emotional Intelligence
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Self-awareness and interpersonal skills are some of the factors that have been noted to
define leaders’ emotional intelligence, especially in healthcare organizations. This area includes
the ability to manage feelings and behavior, have personal goals and be persistent, understand
others’ feelings and wants, and cooperate with them. If emotional intelligence is improved,
cooperation and interaction with colleagues and patients can also be improved along with
conflict management. It does this through the acquisition of skills for identifying and regulating
one’s emotions and those of others.
Strategic Thinking and Planning
In today’s fast-changing healthcare environment, one must think and plan strategically.
This skill involves assessing the existing conditions, predicting the future state, and outlining
ways of addressing this future state in the long run. Strengthening skills in the area of strategic
thinking and planning is beneficial for a leader when it comes to decision-making, resource
management, and overall organizational performance. It entails having a wide-angle lens,
thinking about things in multiple ways, and considering the present with the future in mind.
Model the Way
Kouzes and Posner (2023) state that “Model the Way” is one of the five fundamental
leadership practices, meaning that leaders should act in a certain way first. This is based on the
belief that one has to set and define their values and live by those standards to gain followers’
respect. It is more than being able to speak the right words or have the right opinions; it is living
them out each day.
Using “Model the Way” in the mentioned leadership areas can significantly influence.
Leaders can model good communication skills by being clear, brief, and transparent in their
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dealings, thus creating an excellent example to emulate. In developing emotional intelligence,
leaders can demonstrate how they handle emotions when interacting with employees. With
regard to strategic thought and planning, leaders can exemplify this competency by always
taking the future consequences of their actions into account and engaging their subordinates in
planning, which fosters the culture of strategic planning. Thus, through the example of such
behaviors, leaders enhance their own competencies and contribute to the development of similar
behaviors in their subordinates.
Inspire a Shared Vision
Inspiring a Shared Vision, as outlined by Kouzes and Posner (2023), involves a leader’s
ability to envision an exciting future and enlist others in a shared vision. This practice involves
the ability of the leader to think out of the box, visualize possibilities, and be in a position to sell
these ideas to the team members. It is an act of painting a picture of what the organization wants
to be in the future and how everyone can assist in this endeavor.
It is possible to improve a leader’s effectiveness by applying this practice to the identified
leadership areas. Regarding communication skills, “Inspiring a Shared Vision” challenges
leaders to articulate their ideas clearly and persuasively, helping them develop more impactful
communication strategies. This practice also contributes to building emotional intelligence by
requiring leaders to connect with others’ aspirations and emotions, fostering empathy and
relationship-building skills. For strategic thinking and planning, the act of envisioning the future
and mapping out paths to achieve it directly enhances a leader’s ability to think long-term and
plan strategically. By regularly engaging in this practice, leaders improve their capabilities and
create a more engaged and forward-thinking organizational culture.
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Servant Leadership
Servant Leadership, a theory popularized by Robert K. Greenleaf, emphasizes the
leader’s role in serving others and prioritizing the growth and well-being of team members and
the community (Canavesi & Minelli, 2021). This approach shifts the traditional power hierarchy,
placing the leader in a supportive role rather than at the top of a pyramid. Servant leaders focus
on empowering and developing others, fostering a sense of community, and ensuring that the
highest priority needs of others are being served.
Applying Servant Leadership to the selected leadership areas can yield significant
improvements. In enhancing communication skills, this approach encourages active listening and
empathetic communication, as servant leaders prioritize understanding and addressing the needs
of their team members. For building emotional intelligence, Servant Leadership naturally aligns
with developing empathy, self-awareness, and social skills, as it requires leaders to be attuned to
the emotional needs and growth of others (Saleem et al., 2020). In terms of strategic thinking and
planning, this leadership style promotes a holistic view of organizational success, encouraging
leaders to consider the long-term impact of decisions on all stakeholders. By adopting Servant
Leadership principles, leaders can create a more collaborative, emotionally intelligent, and
strategically aligned organization, while simultaneously developing their own leadership
capabilities in these crucial areas.
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References
Canavesi, A., & Minelli, E. (2021). Servant leadership: a Systematic Literature Review and
Network Analysis. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34(3), 267–289. Ncbi.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09381-3
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2023). The Leadership Challenge (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1119736158.
Saleem, F., Zhang, Y. Z., Gopinath, C., & Adeel, A. (2020). Impact of servant leadership on
performance: The mediating role of affective and cognitive trust. SAGE Open, 10(1).
Sagepub. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019900562
