Professional Interview Essay

Due: Need date

The purpose of this assignment is to expose you to real experiences of business leaders in the community and how their values are reflected in their company and what skills they use to lead.

Evaluation Criteria: This assignment will be graded on your ability to clearly and concisely address some of the questions listed above; generate thoughtful reflection on the role values and leadership skills play in business; and make comparisons between the interviewee and your own values, skills and goals.
 * Spend 30-45 minutes interviewing a business community member. Discuss their leadership role in their business.  Your conversation should focus both on the role values play in their professional lives as well as the specific skills they use to lead.
 * Use the following questions as guidelines:
 * Do you consider yourself a leader? Why or why not?
 * Describe your leadership style.
 * What role do values play in leadership?
 * What are some of your guiding values and how do they play out in your business interactions?
 * Are these values reflected by your company’s values?
 * How important is it for a business leader to articulate common values to colleagues?
 * What are some (3-5) leadership skills that leaders need to have to be successful?
 * Why did you identify these skills? How does one learn these skills?
 * What leadership skill do you think will be particularly important to have in the future? Why?
 * Write a 4-5 page paper. Briefly summarize the conversation and identify the responses you found most interesting and why. Describe how you could integrate what you learned from the interview in developing your own Leadership Action Plan.
 * Attach a business card for the person to your essay. If a business card is not available, include the person’s name, title, e-mail, and daytime phone number at the bottom of your essay.
 * You may NOT interview anyone related to you.

The purpose of this assignment is to learn from the experiences of a professional within the business community and help you better articulate the role values and leaderships skills play within your leadership and professional development.