Homework answers / question archive / Project 1: Assessing Your Strategic Leadership Capacity and Potential Start Here MBA 610 Course Guide As a student in UMUC's MBA program, you will acquire the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) needed to assume leadership responsibilities in today's complex, multinational, and multicultural work environment

Project 1: Assessing Your Strategic Leadership Capacity and Potential Start Here MBA 610 Course Guide As a student in UMUC's MBA program, you will acquire the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) needed to assume leadership responsibilities in today's complex, multinational, and multicultural work environment

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Project 1: Assessing Your Strategic Leadership Capacity and Potential
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MBA 610 Course Guide

As a student in UMUC's MBA program, you will acquire the competencies (knowledge, skills, and abilities) needed to assume leadership responsibilities in today's complex, multinational, and multicultural work environment. You will examine and reflect upon your current leadership proficiencies and share actions you will take to enable you to leverage strengths and identify areas for further development. While your career path may not currently focus on assuming an executive leadership position, you are probably pursuing this degree because you want to move into positions that will involve increased responsibility and will advance your career.

Leadership opportunities are waiting to be assumed by both managers and leaders.

As a manager, you may assume greater responsibility for managing larger programs, projects, and staff. As a professional, you may assume greater responsibility serving as the lead for a particular project or a temporary role managing a team or solving a problem. Remember, you don't have to be a manager to become a leader.

Project 1 provides two developmental opportunities. First, you will create a long-term career plan that outlines your professional and leadership goals. This plan also enables you to identify the short-term skill needs that require further development. In addition, you will have an opportunity to plot out a specific path to increase your leadership competency and achieve your career goal. You will review and update your leadership development plan (LDP) each semester, sharing it with your instructors for input and guidance and using it as a means of documenting your progress in meeting your short-term and long-term goals.

Project 1 provides a second developmental process through completion of a skills gap analysis. You will complete an assessment that parallels the skills needed to succeed in each of the four MBA 610 projects. You will have an opportunity to select those most relevant to your developmental needs. At the end of the course, you will have an opportunity to complete this skills gap analysis again to measure your improvement.

You can get started in Step 1 below. Good luck!

When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below to self-check your work before submission.

• 1.3: Provide sufficient, correctly cited support that substantiates the writer’s ideas.  
• 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.  
• 2.1: Identify and clearly explain the issue, question, or problem under critical consideration.
• 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem.
• 2.3: Evaluate the information in a logical and organized manner to determine its value and relevance to the problem.
• 2.4: Consider and analyze information in context to the issue or problem.
• 2.5: Develop well-reasoned ideas, conclusions or decisions, checking them against relevant criteria and benchmarks.
• 5.3: Create, implement, and evaluate a personal leadership development plan.

Step 1: Define a Career SMART Goal

As MBA students, you are career-directed professionals constantly striving to strike a practical work-life balance. You may not always have the time or resources to manage your career effectively. The following resources will serve as basis to develop your career goal or goals:

• Career Exploration
• Career Planning and Changing
• Individual Career Management
• Career Goal

For this step, think about one long-term career goal. Where would you like to be in your career in three to five years? How will you get there? What resources do you need? What short-term skills do you need to enhance your chances of achieving your career goal? To help you achieve your career goal, complete the following tasks using a leadership development plan (LDP):

• First, download the LDP Template and save it in local storage using the following file-naming protocol: lastname_firstname_preliminary_LDP.docx
• Second, identify and describe in writing one long-term career goal using the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely) format. Read SMART goals for specific guidelines.
• Third, place this goal in the LDP template section entitled Long-Term Career Goal.
• Fourth, identify and list five to six short-term development skills that you will need to acquire in order to make progress toward your long-term career goal. Place these skills in the Short-Term Skills Development section of the LDP.
• Finally, place your LDP in the dropbox located in the last step of this project.

Career and leadership development is an ongoing process that will continue well beyond receipt of your MBA. This submission of your leadership development plan is preliminary, as you will have the opportunity to update your LDP in Step 5 of this project. Having two submissions gives you the opportunity to assess and reflect on knowledge you have acquired throughout the term.

When you have submitted your preliminary LDP, proceed to Step 2, where you will work on a preliminary skills gap analysis.

 

Step 2: Complete A Skills Gap Analysis

The preliminary leadership development plan allowed you to identify and develop a plan to help you achieve one long-term career goal. Step 2 will introduce you to a skills gap analysis, which will assess your specific skills as they pertain to each of the four course projects and help you identify the skill areas you want to enhance. You will revisit the skills gap analysis at the end of the term in order to measure the progress you made as a result of completing the four course projects.

Complete your preliminary skills gap analysis and related skills gap table by the end of Week 1. Carefully follow the instructions below:

• The preliminary skills gap analysis has four parts that parallel each of the four course projects. After you complete the preliminary skills gap analysis, select one skill area from each of its four parts where a meaningful gap exists. These should be skill gaps you want to reduce during this term to enhance your leadership skills, bolster your current career, and ultimately achieve your career goals.
• Place each of the four skill area gaps you identified from the skills gap analysis in the skills gap table. The table has a separate space for each of your four gap goals.
• In the skills gap table, list the developmental activities, completion date, resources and costs, and expected outcomes associated with each of the four skills gap goals you identified. The table serves as an action plan that leads to the accomplishment of each of the four skills gap goals. It details the activities you will undertake to reduce each of your four selected skill gaps during the remaining weeks of this term.
• Consider all appropriate activities and resources that would help reduce each of the four skill gaps. These resources might include conferences, books, free online classes, mentorship, coaching, observation, professional associations and groups, networking, volunteering, journaling, and so forth. Select the appropriate activities related to each of your four skill gaps and list them in the skills gap table. Submit your preliminary skills gap analysis and the skills gap table in the dropbox located in the last step of this project. This part of Project 1 is now complete.
• You will update your preliminary skills gap analysis during the last week of the term to assess the progress you have made on the skill gaps you identified and to determine the impact of this course on your leadership and career goals.

After you submit your preliminary skills gap analysis and skills gap table, continue to Step 3.