Assessment Task: Leadership Development Report
Writing instructions and Marking Rubric
This assessment task is a REPORT.

This module requires you to use a particular style of writing which involves both the way the report is structured and the way that you acknowledge other people’s ideas used in your work.

The structuring of a report is uploaded.

Your first step in preparing for this assessment task should be to complete this tutorial.

Investing time before you start writing will result in a better report.

Your second step should be mastering the art of referencing. There are many styles of referencing in use in different disciplines and geographical locations. You are required to use the Harvard Business Referencing System. This is uploaded to the referencing folder.
Make sure that you can clearly distinguish the difference between an essay (page 28 of the document) and a report (page 36).
Remember: this current assessment task is a REPORT not an ESSAY.

The critical thinking element
We want you to be very comfortable with questioning everything you read and hear.
Anyone can remember facts and state other people’s views but a far more useful skill is to critically review what you read and hear and decide for yourself how reliable, accurate, applicable, contemporary, objective and fair it is.

In this report, your assessor will value the fact that you are able to see both benefits and deficiencies in a particular theory. Make sure you look through the critical thinking exercises in the course site to get a clear understanding of critical thinking!

How many references should I cite?
There is no right answer to this question because it all depends on what you write in your report. Some statements you make in your report will certainly need a reference to support them.
So, to determine how many references you need to cite, first (as described in the report writing tutorial) draw a mind map of ideas to go into your report and for each idea try to link it to a reference source.

Marking Rubric

How will the report be marked?
The rubric is reproduced over the page and will be used as a way of providing feedback to you on how you performed.

The most important thing about the rubric is that it DEFINES what you will be marked on. If you include additional material that is not mentioned in the rubric it will not attract any marks, if you forget to write about something listed in the rubric, you’ll lose marks.

So the rubric is like a contract between you and your lecturer. Following the rubric clearly is your best strategy for a good result

Pass 50 €“ 59%
€¢    Demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of the subject.
€¢    Material is deployed in a disciplined way with sophisticated comprehension of key issues
€¢    Demonstrated ability to critically review, analyse, synthesise and apply theoretical and technical body knowledge in a broad range of areas and diverse contexts.
€¢    Shows reasoning and creative skills to use knowledge and awareness to exercise critical thinking and judgement in selecting and applying methods and technologies in identifying and solving problems with intellectual independence.
€¢    The work is clearly structured and convincingly supported by appropriate evidence, argument or illustration.
€¢    Reflective statements provide a thoughtful commentary on the task with insights into learning and interaction.
€¢    Demonstrates critical evaluation and analysis of relevant theories as a basis for independent lifelong learning.
€¢    Extremely solid, thorough, comprehensive written work, with a high level of academic integrity but without great originality.

Report Element    Marks available    Marks awarded     notes
You have included a clear description of  €“ and justification for €“ for your leadership development plan components.
You should include:

a    Explanation of  your contextualisation of the CMU Model     5        Did you utilise the whole model or did you focus on a subset of issues within the model? Why?

b    Diagnosis of your leadership strengths and
weaknesses    5        How did you carry out this diagnosis? What information / journal article / other source will you cite in your report to support the diagnostic process?
c    Industry-specific issues (e.g. manufacturing industry
vs financial consulting)    5        Considering the industry sector that you work in (or intend to work in) are there any issues that are either unique or especially important?
d    Person-specific issues (e.g. gender, age, culture)    5        Your personal characteristics are important in shaping your leadership development. What can you say, for example, about the impact of your gender or your age group or your cultural background or the country / culture in which you are likely the work?
e    Timeframe for plan (multi-staged? 2 years? 5 years?)    5        What time frames will you place on various aspects of your leadership development?  How soon could you reasonably expect to achieve a leadership development goal?
f    Plan evaluation approach(es )
5        How will you know that you’ve achieved the goals set out in your leadership development plan? What kind(s) of data and information will inform this?

Your plan is supported by key theory and practice literature. This literature has been cited and formatted according to the RMIT Business Referencing Guide
15        Which ideas, theoriesand approaches in leadership have you incorporated into your plan? Which reputable source will you cite when discussing these?
There is clear evidence of input to leadership plan from an industry leader.
What did the leader suggest?
What did you change as a consequence of the leader’s advice?
5        What did the industry leader have to say about your draft leadership development plan? How have you modified your draft as a consequence? (For example, if the leader you consulted said that your timeframe to achieve your leadership gaols was unrealistically short, did you then extend the timeframe top achieve these?)
Total marks  for this assessment task    50