Assessing a Situation/Discussion Board

Assignment Description

The Discussion Board (DB) is part of the core of online learning. Classroom discussion in an online environment requires the active participation of students and the instructor to create robust interaction and dialogue. Every student is expected to create an original response to the open-ended DB question as well as engage in dialogue by responding to posts created by others throughout the week. At the end of each unit, DB participation will be assessed based on both level of engagement and the quality of the contribution to the discussion.

At a minimum, each student will be expected to post an original and thoughtful response to the DB question and contribute to the weekly dialogue by responding to at least two other posts, either the instructor\’s response to one of your posts, or posts from students. The first contribution must be posted before midnight (Central Time) on Friday of each week. Two additional responses are required, each on different days, after Friday of each week. Students are highly encouraged to engage on the Discussion Board early and often – at a minimum of three (3) different days each week, as this promotes learning and is an important factor in grading for the Discussion Board assignment.

The purpose of the Discussion Board is to allow students to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content and the DB question. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB will be accepted after the end of each unit.

Assignment Details

This DB has three parts.
What do you believe are the top five characteristics of a good leader? What are the top five for a good manager? Discuss the similarities and differences between a manager and a leader.
In what ways would transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles be ineffective in encouraging organizational commitment?
How might leadership style need to change with an organization\’s environment?
In your own words, please post a response to the Discussion Board and comment on other postings. You will be graded on the quality of your postings.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Assessing the Situation

Characteristics of a Good Leader One of the important qualities of a leader is the aspect of decisiveness. Once a leader makes up his mind, he does not hesitate to commit himself to hands on deck. Leaders are consistent with their decisions and rarely change their minds or backs down unless it critically important, decisiveness, in this case, implies being committed (Wajdi, 2017). Leaders are courageous, a virtual that one is born with or can be developed, this is important in confronting challenges and problems and keeping the quest for goals or dreams (Wajdi, 2017). A leader is passionate which implies that they care what they do. Passion is having boundless energy and one is not shy of what they do. Commitment to team building and collaboration are an essential characteristic of a leader which involves encouraging employees to work together as opposed to being competitive to each other (Wajdi, 2017). This leads to improved morale and high productivity. A leader is a good communicator and inspires…