Write an eight- to ten-page paper (not including the title and reference pages) that addresses your personal best leadership experience. Personal best is a time when you believe you had performed at the peak as a leader. Be sure to incorporate elements from our reading in regards to your leadership approach, the type of leadership application; transactional, transformational, situational, etc. Some questions to address in the essay are: · What characterized the situation?  Who was involved?  Where and when did it take place?  Who initiated it? · What approach did you apply to the situation? · What type of leadership would you classify yourself as in this situation? · What motivated you to engage in this project?  How did you challenge yourself and others? · What did you aspire to achieve?  How did you build enthusiasm and excitement? · How did you involve others?  How did you foster collaboration?  How did you build trust and respect?  How did you build the capacity to excel? · What values and principles guided you and others?  How did you set the example?  How did you progress from one milestone to another? · How did you recognize individuals?  How did you celebrate success? · What lessons about leadership did you learn from the experience? Writing the Final Paper The Final Paper: 1. Must be double-spaced and 12 point font 2. Must be formatted according to APA style 3. Must include a cover page that includes: a. Title of paper b. Student’s name c. Course name and number d. Instructor’s name e. Date submitted 4. Must include an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement 5. Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and a conclusion paragraph 6. Must include a reference page written in APA format 7. Must use at least five scholarly sources, including a minimum of two from the Ashford Online Library. 8. Must document all sources in APA style. 9. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Grading Rubric Distinguished - Outlines a detailed discussion of the leadership situation. Relevant details are included in the explanation.  The leadership approach applied to the situation is clearly outlined. Distinguished - Clearly and comprehensively discusses how the leader addresses motivation, enthusiasm, and collaboration in the situation Distinguished - Provides a detailed discussion on the values and principles that guided the leader in the situation.  Both the values and principles are supported by relevant details, demonstrating a clear understanding of the connection with leadership styles.  Distinguished - Thoroughly discusses the leadership lessons learned from the experience.  Provides specific examples on lessons learned, and how to apply new knowledge.  Distinguished - Clearly and comprehensively explains in detail the issue to be considered, delivering all relevant information necessary for full understanding. W ...

1. Write an eight- to ten-page paper (not including the title and
reference pages) that addresses your personal best leadership
experience. Personal best is a time when you believe you had
performed at the peak as a leader. Be sure to incorporate
elements from our reading in regards to your leadership
approach, the type of leadership application; transactional,
transformational, situational, etc. Some questions to address in
the essay are:
· What characterized the situation? Who was involved? Where
and when did it take place? Who initiated it?
· What approach did you apply to the situation?
· What type of leadership would you classify yourself as in this
situation?
· What motivated you to engage in this project? How did you
challenge yourself and others?
· What did you aspire to achieve? How did you build
enthusiasm and excitement?
· How did you involve others? How did you foster
collaboration? How did you build trust and respect? How did
you build the capacity to excel?

2. · What values and principles guided you and others? How did
you set the example? How did you progress from one milestone
to another?
· How did you recognize individuals? How did you celebrate
success?
· What lessons about leadership did you learn from the
experience?
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:
1. Must be double-spaced and 12 point font
2. Must be formatted according to APA style
3. Must include a cover page that includes:
a. Title of paper
b. Student’s name
c. Course name and number
d. Instructor’s name
e. Date submitted

3. 4. Must include an introductory paragraph with a thesis
statement
5. Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and a
conclusion paragraph
6. Must include a reference page written in APA format
7. Must use at least five scholarly sources, including a minimum
of two from the Ashford Online Library.
8. Must document all sources in APA style.
9. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according
to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Grading Rubric
Distinguished - Outlines a detailed discussion of the leadership
situation. Relevant details are included in the explanation. The
leadership approach applied to the situation is clearly outlined.
Distinguished - Clearly and comprehensively discusses how the
leader addresses motivation, enthusiasm, and collaboration in
the situation
Distinguished - Provides a detailed discussion on the values and
principles that guided the leader in the situation. Both the
values and principles are supported by relevant details,
demonstrating a clear understanding of the connection with
leadership styles.

4. Distinguished - Thoroughly discusses the leadership lessons
learned from the experience. Provides specific examples on
lessons learned, and how to apply new knowledge.
Distinguished - Clearly and comprehensively explains in detail
the issue to be considered, delivering all relevant information
necessary for full understanding.
Week 6 Lecture
This final week our focus is on culture and leadership, as well
as leadership ethics. These are two very important topics in
terms of understanding and working with business strategies.
Our first chapter reading this week focuses on culture and
leadership. What is culture and why is it important in terms of
business strategies? There are many definitions for culture.
According to our textbook, “culture is defined as the learned
beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols and traditions that are
common to a group of people” (Northouse, 2013, p. 384).
Another definition on culture is that
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge,
experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies,
religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the
universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a
group of people in the course of generations through individual
and group striving (Texas A&M University, Culture, n.d., para.
1).

5. One last definition might be that “culture is the characteristics
of a particular group of people, defined by everything from
language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts
(Zimmermann, 2012, para. 1). Now that there is an
understanding of what culture is, why is culture so important in
terms of business strategies? There is a great interview that
dives into the importance of aligning culture and strategies in
organizations that is recommended to read. It can be found via
this link:
Aligning Organizational Culture with Business Strategy (Links
to an external site.)Links to an external site.
(http://www.towerswatson.com/en-
US/Insights/Newsletters/Global/strategy-at-
work/2013/viewpoints-qa-aligning-organizational-culture-with-
business-strategy).
The value of connecting both the organizations strategy, which
would include the values, vision and mission, with the culture is
a win-win for both the organization and the employees that
come together that make it happen. As we have defined above,
culture is a shared connection of knowledge, beliefs, values,
etc. In an organizational culture these shared beliefs create an
environment in which the stakeholders work together to not
only be productive but to also create a successful organization.
It should be noted that “culture formed by the moment, will also
change by the moment, and ultimately it will disappear in a
moment” (Myatt, 2012, para 4). Culture is not formed
overnight. It is developed over time and becomes second nature
to the organization and the manner in which it operates.
Below is a video that illustrates cultural dimensions:

6. Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory Video - Lesson and
Example (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
(http://youtu.be/mNntW_DA0x0)
When working with the term culture, there are many elements to
consider. These include ethnocentrism and prejudice.
Ethnocentrism is when a group feels their culture is superior to
others. Another definition would be that “ethnocentrism is the
tendency to believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is
centrally important, and that all other groups are measured in
relation to one's own (Princeton University, n.d., para. 1).
Prejudice according to our textbook is to have a fixed “attitude,
belief or emotion” towards another based on invalid information
(Northouse, 2013, p. 385).
Below is an interesting video on sociology ethnocentrism and
cultural relativism.
Sociology Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism (Links to an
external site.)Links to an external site.
(http://youtu.be/antnSXwrBnM)
Moving forward, let’s look at Chapter 16, which focuses on
leadership ethics. As we look at the contents of this chapter,
let’s break down the meaning behind leadership ethics. As
illustrated in our textbook, ethics relate to one’s “customs,
conduct or character” as they relate to ones values, morale and
what is and what is not appropriate (Northouse, 2013, p. 424).
An excellent article on the topic of leadership ethics that is

7. recommended is:
Ethical Leadership: Right Relationships and the Emotional
Bottom Line (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site.
(http://www.ethicalleadership.com/BusinessArticle.htm)
The principles of ethical leadership focus on five disciplines:
· Respect Others
· Serves Others
· Shows Justice
· Manifests Honesty
· Builds Community (Northouse, 2013, p. 431).
Below is an excellent video with Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple
discussing ethical leadership.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Ethical Leadership (Links to an
external site.)Links to an external site.
(http://youtu.be/3ygNKNaMv4c)
Forbes School of Business Faculty
References:

8. Boutot, R. (2011, November 10).
Sociology ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
[Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/antnSXwrBnM
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business. (2013, May
30).
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Ethical Leadership
(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
[Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/3ygNKNaMv4c
Education Portal. (2014, September 28).
Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory video - Lesson and
example
(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
[Video file]. Retrieved http://youtu.be/mNntW_DA0x0
Myatt, M. (2012, May 29).
Culture vs. strategy - What's more important? (Links to an
external site.)Links to an external site.
Forbes
. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/05/29/culture-vs-
strategy-whats-more-important/
Northouse, P. (2013).
Leadership theory and practice
(6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

9. Princeton University (n.d.).
Ethnocentrism (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site.
. Retrieved from
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Ethnoc
entrism.html
Texas A & M University (n.d.)
Culture (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
. Retrieved from
http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html
Zimmermann, K.A. (2015, February 19).
What is culture? Definition of culture (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site.
.
Life Science
. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-
culture-definition-of-culture.html