Show how you have read widely and are able to develop an argument using literature to support and challenge a point of view. Compare and contrast ideas. Dont simply summarise others work; make the thinking your own, showing clarity of thought including arguments or points well-supported with references (for this assignment, expect to use at least 12 references).
Immerse yourself in the material. Note patterns and your own insights, be guided by the questions that arise. One idea will begin to emerge as important or promising. There is no point arguing for something already known or widely accepted. That would be boring or trivial.
Develop a thesis, support it with evidence, anticipate and address counter-arguments. Everything in your essay is directed towards establishing the validity of your thesis.
Demonstrate Critical Thinking: the ability to read theory accurately, use it meaningfully, apply it independently, analyse a range of ideas, and form a clear argument, based on readings, that can be defended with a specific trajectory of reasoning.
Please choose topic from the list
1. New paradigms for leadership are arising Adaptive, Distributive, Shared, Servant, Collaborative, etc. Are these more effective styles for dealing with 21st century challenges? Discuss.
2. What are the implications of a new online environment for leadership in the field of agriculture, natural resource management or rural development?
3. Pandemic leadership: what can we learn from responses in agriculture to the way in which COVID19 has impacted the food system?
4. Exploring indigenous leadership (e.g. African philosophy, Aboriginal philosophy, etc.)
5. What qualities and practices of leadership are required in a fast-changing highly-connected post COVID 19 world?
6. What difference would it make if we stopped using the term leader and instead talked about leading and leadership? What new opportunities does that open up?
7. What are the implications of leadership models for rural and regional development?
8. Why is relationship so important to leadership?
9. How would Adaptive Leadership be relevant in the current multiple crises affecting the world?
10. Is it leadership if a person leads towards a worse future for followers?
11. How can we deal with/challenge/negotiate inappropriate forms of authoritarian leadership?
12. How do the responsibilities and practices of followship relate to leadership success?
13. Explore how leadership presents in your home country. How might it be different in your home country to another country and why? Compare with a leadership model, such as Lewins leadership styles.
14. How are women leading in Africa/China/Vietnam/Chile, etc?
15. How do hierarchy and power affect leadership practice?
16. Why is the ability to ask a powerful question so valuable to leadership?
17. Leadership and Learning – how are these two linked?
18. How to be a resilient leader and how to sustain yourself as leader, when leadership requires constantly treading unknown paths and taking risks and bearing responsibility?
19. What is the relationship between leadership, change and innovation?
20. What is a leaders role in developing more leaders?
21. Margaret Wheatly said, Expect leadership to come from anywhere. How does power and privilege affect our idea of what leadership is? What is the affect of leadership that comes from those who have little formal power?
22. Why might leadership be a more important skillset in the current world than management?
23. How is Systems Thinking important to leadership?
24. Or any challenging question about leadership that interests you.
