The topic is whether democratic leadership is always preferable. There are a lot of angles you can take, but one big job is to "unpack" the term 'democratic': what does it really mean? What does it imply? Here are some angles: 1. All organizations need good two-way communication to succeed. It is difficult to envision how can this be achieved in the absence of a democratic culture. 2. Many organizations require secrecy in order to function properly. But secrecy seems to be in conflict with democracy, because it limits information to some decision-makers. 3. All organizations require obedience, yet, the obligation to obey doesn't seem to fit well in a democratic context. (Or does it?) 4. Democracy requires compromise, yet sometimes an organization needs "uncompromising leadership" in order to thrive. (Or not?) 5. Organizations thrive on expert decision-making, yet democracy does not seem to be compatible with this, since everyone is involved in the decision-making. In other words, often democratic leadership leads to mediocrity. Help me think of more angles. Title ABC/123 Version X 1 Leadership Blog Template LDR/300 Version 5 1 University of Phoenix Material Headline Blogging Tips 1. Spend quality time in the planning & research phase of your blog. Your facts must be accurate. 2. Carefully consider your readers so that your message is understood and useful. 3. Create an engaging opening to your blog; you want them to read everything so be careful not to be boring! 4. Add an image, photo, chart, or graph to convey an important point in your blog. 5. Keep your paragraphs short, using clear, concise sentences to convey the essence of your topic to your readers. Opening Message #1 Message #2 Message #3 Message #4 Wrap- Up/Conclusion *Visit several of your favorite websites to see how blogs are written. Resources for Readers *Use may use this template as a guide. Citations (APA) Leadership Blog Template Copyright © XXXX by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Purpose of Assignment The purpose of the assignment is to construct a leadership blog that evaluates the effects of culture, gender, and teams on leadership style and effectiveness in a shifting global business environment. By constructing an internal leadership blog, the student is developing skills that can enhance their business writing techniques. Resources:  Videos listed in Week 5 and Leadership Blog Template View the videos listed in this week's classroom materials. Establish an internal leadership blog based on your selected company (a blog for your company employees only) by incorporating the following criteria and using the Leadership Blog template: · Describe the Team Leadership Model. · Illustrate culture and leadership. · Appraise the effects of gender, leadership style, and leadership effectiveness. · Formulate the implications ...

1. The topic is whether democratic leadership is always preferable.
There are a lot of angles you can take, but one big job is
to "unpack" the term 'democratic': what does it really mean?
What
does it imply?
Here are some angles:
1. All organizations need good two-way communication to
succeed. It
is difficult to envision how can this be achieved in the absence
of a
democratic culture.
2. Many organizations require secrecy in order to function
properly.
But secrecy seems to be in conflict with democracy, because it
limits
information to some decision-makers.
3. All organizations require obedience, yet, the obligation to
obey
doesn't seem to fit well in a democratic context. (Or does it?)
4. Democracy requires compromise, yet sometimes an
organization

2. needs "uncompromising leadership" in order to thrive. (Or not?)
5. Organizations thrive on expert decision-making, yet
democracy does
not seem to be compatible with this, since everyone is involved
in
the decision-making. In other words, often democratic
leadership
leads to mediocrity.
Help me think of more angles.
Title
ABC/123 Version X
1
Leadership Blog Template
LDR/300 Version 5
1
University of Phoenix Material
Headline
Blogging Tips
1. Spend quality time in the planning & research phase of your
blog. Your facts must be accurate.

3. 2. Carefully consider your readers so that your message is
understood and useful.
3. Create an engaging opening to your blog; you want them to
read everything so be careful not to be boring!
4. Add an image, photo, chart, or graph to convey an important
point in your blog.
5. Keep your paragraphs short, using clear, concise sentences to
convey the essence of your topic to your readers.
Opening
Message #1
Message #2
Message #3
Message #4
Wrap- Up/Conclusion
*Visit several of your favorite websites to see how blogs are
written.
Resources for Readers

4. *Use may use this template as a guide.
Citations (APA)
Leadership Blog Template
Copyright © XXXX by University of Phoenix. All rights
reserved.
Copyright © 2016 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of the assignment is to construct a leadership blog
that evaluates the effects of culture, gender, and teams on
leadership style and effectiveness in a shifting global business
environment. By constructing an internal leadership blog, the
student is developing skills that can enhance their business
writing techniques.
Resources: Videos listed in Week 5 and Leadership Blog
Template
View the videos listed in this week's classroom materials.
Establish an internal leadership blog based on your selected
company (a blog for your company employees only) by
incorporating the following criteria and using the Leadership
Blog template:
· Describe the Team Leadership Model.
· Illustrate culture and leadership.
· Appraise the effects of gender, leadership style, and leadership
effectiveness.
· Formulate the implications of leading in a changing global

5. business environment.
· Use at least one image, photo, chart, or graph to deliver a key
concept within your blog.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word blog for your company.
Format your assignment using the Leadership Blog template and
consistent with APA guidelines.
Videos
http://fod.infobase.com/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=116778
http://fod.infobase.com/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=50420&loid=1
74493
http://fod.infobase.com/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=52917
https://search-alexanderstreet-
com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/view/work/2820158
Critical Thinking, also known as Dialectic, is the method of
philosophy. It is a method applicable only to open questions,
that is, questions that are not answerable by means of
observation or calculation. In this regard it is applicable both to
private open questions - which, because of their private,
particular nature, cannot be considered philosophical - as well
as public, or general question - that is, ones which require no
special knowledge or information about particulars in order to
be answered.
The method of Critical Thinking consists of a method of
framing issues and testing conclusions which is similar to the
deductive manner in which science frames theories and then
tests hypotheses deduced from them. The main difference is that
science deals only with questions that can be answered by

6. observation and calculation, i.e. closed questions, while
Dialectic only. deals only with open questions.
In a wider sense, critical thinking can be described as
deductively framed argumentation. In this sense, the method of
science is embraced within Critical Thinking.
The Dialectic Method/Essay Format
Philosophy proceeds by the presentation and development of
arguments regarding controversial general open questions.
To “take a position for the sake of argument” means to present
an argument for or against a controversial thesis, regardless of
whether or not you’ve decided that you subscribe to that
argument.
To present an argument means
i. to state a thesis - negative or affirmative; and
ii. to state a rationale for that thesis.
A rationale is a set of premises which, together, entails the
thesis, i.e. the conclusion of the argument. This means that the
premises must be such that, if they are all true, then the
conclusion has to be true as well.
There are two kinds of premise that are included in any
rationale:
1. formal, or “major” premise, and
2. material, or “minor” premise.
A material premise is the evidence for the conclusion. It is the
most likely kind of premise to be stated; the least likely to be a
“hidden” premise.

7. A formal premise is a “connecting” premise: it connects the
evidence deductively to the conclusion; i.e. it expresses the
intended deductive relationship between the evidence and the
conclusion.
A formal premise is the most likely kind of premise not to be
stated, i.e. to remain “unstated” or “hidden”.
Every well-presented argument has at least one material premise
and at least one formal premise.
The way to construct an argument is backwards:
n First, think of the conclusion you want to argue for - for
the sake of argument.
n Next, think of the strongest evidence that there is to
support that conclusion.
n Thirdly, express the deductive connection between the
conclusion and the evidence.
To develop an argument is to defend it, then criticize it, then try
to rebut the criticism against it, then assess whether the rebuttal
effectively handles the criticism.
To defend an argument is to do two things:
i. provide explanatory (not dictionary) definitions for
pivotal terms in the premises.
ii. advocate for the truth of each of the premises.
Notes:
1. Each definition should be in a paragraph by itself, and
each premise should be advocated for in a separate paragraph.
You should try to defend more than one premise at a time.
2. The conclusion is not to be defended, since it is already

8. taken care of by the
premises.
To criticize an argument is more succinct: it is simply to turn
the tables and try to say why one of the premises of the
argument - the one most vulnerable to criticism - may actually
be false, or at least dubitable. This should take a good-sized
paragraph. Be careful in your criticism to remain patient and not
try to turn back to rebuttal of the criticism too quickly.
To rebut criticism is to turn the tables on the criticism and try
to say how the criticism fails to refute the argument. This also
should be a good-sized paragraph. It should be based on new
insight and not merely be a restatement of the defense.
To assess an argument in this context is to judge whether the
rebuttal overcomes the criticism or not. This can be done in a
paragraph, either before or in concluding. If done in concluding,
the concluding paragraph should be a good-sized paragraph.
This, in short, is the method of dialectic reasoning, and that is
what justifies it as the format for philosophical essays. In real
life the method is reiterative, where there may be several rounds
of criticism and rebuttal, then revised presentation of the
argument, etc.
In this class, I ask you to go each of the steps once per paper.