Writing Question

1

Leading Through Uncertainty

How executives navigate ambiguity, make decisions with incomplete information, and maintain team stability during organizational disruption or change.

Change management, sensemaking, decision-making under risk

2

Building and Sustaining Organizational Culture

The intentional practices leaders use to shape culture and what happens when culture goes wrong. Real stories from inside the C-suite.

Organizational culture, values alignment, socialization

3

Psychological Safety in High-Performance Teams

Creating environments where people speak up, take risks, and innovate without fear and what leaders do (or fail to do) that breaks this down.

Team dynamics, trust, motivation, group behavior

4

Leading Across Difference: Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Moving beyond compliance to authentic inclusion how leaders address bias, advocate for underrepresented voices, and build truly equitable workplaces.

Diversity, perception, organizational justice, power

5

The Future of Work: Managing Hybrid and Distributed Teams

Lessons from leading teams that never (or rarely) share a physical space trust, accountability, connection, and performance at a distance.

Motivation, communication, team cohesion, autonomy

6

Authentic Leadership and Personal Brand

What it means to lead as your full self navigating authenticity vs. organizational expectations, and building a leadership identity that is sustainable.

Leadership identity, self-concept, emotional labor

7

Conflict as a Catalyst: Productive Disagreement in Organizations

Reframing conflict from something to manage to something to leverage strategies executives use to turn tension into growth and innovation.

Conflict resolution, negotiation, communication

8

Resilience, Burnout, and Well-Being in Leadership

Honest conversations about executive stress, burnout prevention, and how organizations can build cultures that sustain people not deplete them.

Stress, resilience, organizational support, well-being

9

Ethics, Power, and Accountability at the Top

How leaders navigate ethical gray areas, exercise power responsibly, and create cultures of accountability even when it costs them something.

Ethical decision-making, power dynamics, organizational trust

10

Developing the Next Generation: Mentorship and Sponsorship

The difference between mentoring and sponsoring, why formal programs often fall short, and what intentional talent development actually looks like.

Leadership development, socialization, OCB, career paths

Component 1 Summary & Critical Engagement (37.5 points)

Begin with a brief, focused summary of the speaker’s central argument or message (34 sentences). Then move beyond summary to critical engagement:

Component 2 Theoretical Connection (37.5 points)

Connect the speaker’s insights to at least two concepts, theories, or frameworks from our course readings or class discussions. Strong responses will:

Component 3 Personal Leadership Application (37.5 points)

Reflect on your own leadership experience and context. This is where your professional reality enters the conversation:

Component 4 Forward Action (37.5 points)

Reflection without intention is incomplete. Close your essay with a concrete forward-looking statement:

Length

Approximately 3 to 4 double-spaced pages (excluding your heading information)

Format

Prose essay (no headers required). Standard APA formatting: 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial, double-spaced, 1-inch margins.

Citations

A minimum of two citations is required: (1) the course textbook and (2) at least one scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article. APA format is required for all in-text citations and the reference list.

Submission

Submit via the course LMS as a Word document or PDF. Session 1 reflection is due April 1; Session 2 reflection is due April 22.

Attendance

Attending live is strongly encouraged your presence supports our speakers and enriches the Q&A experience for your peers. However, live attendance is not required. The full recording will be available within 48 hours of the session. You must engage with the complete session (live or recorded) to complete this assignment.

Component 1: Summary & Critical Engagement

(37 pts)

37

Concise, accurate summary followed by incisive critical analysis. Identifies assumptions, tensions, or gaps in the speaker’s argument with clear reasoning.

Summary is accurate. Critical engagement is present but may lack depth or specificity. Reader gets a sense of your perspective but it could be stronger.

Summary is adequate but critical engagement is weak or generic. Reflection stays at the surface restates rather than analyzes.

Little to no critical engagement. Summary is inaccurate, incomplete, or missing. Response reads as passive consumption, not analysis.

Component 2: Theoretical Connection

(38 pts)

38

Clearly identifies two or more relevant OB concepts. Explains each concept accurately and articulates a specific, insightful connection to the speaker’s content. Goes well beyond name-dropping.

Two concepts identified and connected to the session. Explanation of the concepts is generally accurate but the connection may be surface-level or underdeveloped.

One concept addressed meaningfully, or two mentioned but without clear connection. Theory feels bolted on rather than organically integrated.

No OB concepts referenced, or concepts are misidentified/misunderstood. Theory section is absent or irrelevant.

Component 3: Personal Leadership Application

(37 pts)

37

Rich, specific reflection on personal leadership experience. Clearly connects the session to a real context, role, team, or challenge. Demonstrates genuine self-awareness and intellectual honesty.

Personal reflection is present and specific enough to be credible. Connection to the speaker is clear, though depth of self-insight may be moderate.

Reflection is vague or generic. References personal experience but does not ground it in a specific context or draw meaningful connections to the session.

Personal reflection is absent or superficial. Response is impersonal reads like a summary, not a reflection.

Component 4: Forward Action

(38 pts)

38

Identifies one specific, realistic action with clear context: who is affected, when/where it will happen, and what success looks like. Demonstrates intentional, growth-oriented thinking.

Action item is present and generally concrete. May lack specificity about context or success criteria, but the intention is clear and credible.

Action item is vague or aspirational without operational detail. Reads more like a general wish than a plan.

No forward action identified, or response is too vague to evaluate. Reflection ends without applying insight.

A Note on Voice and Depth

The strongest reflections in this course will not be the ones that demonstrate the most knowledge they will be the ones that demonstrate the most honesty. You are leaders in your own right. Bring your real experience, your real questions, and your real reactions into this work. Generic responses will earn generic scores. Courageous specificity will earn your best grade.