Leadership Essay: Nelson Mandela

The essay is to be a scholarly, well-researched descriptive and comparative analysis of the leadership qualities and achievements of a specific well-known leader to be chosen by you. The leader may be chosen from any of the three (public, private or not for profit) sectors. It is important to remember that the essay is NOT a simple report on the life of the leader, but a critical research based reflection, utilizing the readings and learnings in our class, on the question of the relevance and analysis of character, achievements and legacy of the leader you have chosen. In the conclusion section of the essay, you MUST address how successful the leader may have been in the other two sectors and what would she/he have to do differently to achieve the same level of success. You are required to draw upon materials outside the required readings for your research on the leader you have chosen to write about.

Your essay needs to have a coherent theme and be written clearly and systematically. The essay should reflect your ability in describing, evaluating the characteristics and achievements of the leader you have chosen while integrating and synthesizing applicable concepts from the readings for your reflective analysis. Grades for the paper will be based on:

(1) the clarity and presentation of your findings,

(2) the logic you use in making your evaluation,

(3) originality and relevance to the readings (Research), and

(4) how well you follow the requested format. Spelling and document structure will also count towards your grade.

Each paper must be four pages (double-spaced) in length, with proper citation at the end of the essay (do not count to the page limit), and in font size 12.