Leadership profile Malcolm X
Instructions
Step 1: Reflection
Think about your leadership definition. Choose a person (someone you don’t know but about whom you can learn more) who you believe embodies those qualities.
Before going on to Step 2, reflect on your leadership definition and this person. What qualities did you name in your definition? In what ways do you believe this person embodies the leadership qualities that you described–in their personal or work life. Write a little about why you chose this person and what you expect to learn about them.
Step 2: Research
Spend some time researching the person you chose. Consider the following questions:
Did/does this person lead “from the front” or “from behind”?
Did/does this person have positional leadership? Do they have personal leadership?
Did/does person build power? How and for whom?
Did/does this person elevate others?
What impact has this person had on the people around them or on the world?
As you progress through your research, be mindful of gathering as much information about your person as possible–not only that which meets your hopes or expectations. Remember, people are complex. Your leader is/was a real, living person who made human choices every day that may or may not live up to your expectations–and that’s okay!
Look for quality sources–use primary and secondary source material. Think about creative ways that you can learn more about this person–can you interview them or someone who knows/knew them? Have others interviewed and profiled them or people who knew them? Here are a few short videos that may help you find and understand sources-
CRAPP Test
Conducting Journal Research
How to Use Rhetoric to Get What You Want
Step 3: Writing
In 1500-2500 words (~3-5 pages), write a profile of the person you chose. The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on the leadership qualities that you chose, and think critically about what it means to practice leadership every day.
Be sure to include, in some form, the reflection from step 1–why you chose this person and what you expected to learn about them. Are there ways in which this person does/did not live up to the
qualities you described? Does that change how you think of them as a leader? What will you take from learning more about this person?
