Developing and Improving Organizations and Leaders as a Sergeant Major

The L200 series focuses on the challenges of developing and improving organizations and leaders as a Sergeant Major while operating on day-to-day requirements to accomplish the mission.  Sergeants Major have the critical charge of accomplishing the mission and improving the organization.  A Sergeant Major’s challenge is establishing the proper balance between these two often-competing demands.  This block of lessons use a blend of military and civilian case studies to read and analyze, which critically analyzes contemporary and traditional paradigms of organizational-level leadership in decisive action operations. 

During the L200 series lessons, the course design allows for you to reflect on the difficult challenges Sergeants Major face such as; can you accomplish your assigned missions and still fail as an organizational leader?  Should you try to change a successful organization?  Must your personal values align with organizational values?  Why negotiate when you can use authority, force, or the threat of force to achieve your goals?  Can your organization succeed without a vision?  Are you learning the right lessons from your experiences as a leader? 

The four questions will be available once you select begin and will remain open until Module 2 closes. 

Instructions

Instructions: Construct a substantial essay response. Cite your references IAW current APA formatting standards. See form 1009(w) DL Special for specific grading requirements.

A substantive response should include appropriate content knowledge and include support from the lessons or references used within the lessons.  A substantive response should promote an exciting, vibrant, and demonstrated learning. Good writing depends on good style and good writing for an online environment should be clear, lively, and easy on the eye

The writing should be:

• Appropriate in tone and language for a wide-ranging audience, from students to specialists;
• Informed, accurate, and balanced;
• Clear, coherent, and easy to understand;
• Mechanically correct and consistent in every respect.

To be appropriate in tone, your writing should:

• Be neutral and factual;
• Use diction appropriate to a general audience;
• Use any editorial conventions and spellings that may be appropriate to a particular field of specialization;
• Explain specialized or unfamiliar historical terms in cases where using them is necessary;
• Avoid rhetorical flourishes, colloquialisms, and unnecessarily fancy vocabulary;
• Avoid the use of  “we” or “our” (unless a reflection exercise)

 To be informed, accurate, and balanced, writings should:

• Convey an awareness of the content and its application in your environment (importance).
• Express perspectives on content that reflect contemporary research and discourse about the subject;
• Cite major sources used in preparing framework materials and give sources for any debatable statements made about the content;
• Acknowledge briefly in a low-key, neutral manner collection materials that may be offensive to some readers.

To be clear, coherent, and easy to understand, NDLP documents should:

• Use short paragraphs;
• Contain no unnecessary words or sentences;
• Use linking capability to avoid repetition (see “linking in text” below);
• Divide longer responses into separate linked sections, each with a descriptive subheading.

* While there is no minimum word count associated with the questions, the quality of your response will have an impact on the overall score.

** You have the option of writing this in MSWord and then copy/paste into Blackboard select begin to view and answer the essay questions.

Multiple AttemptsThis test allows 3 attempts. This is attempt number 1.Force CompletionThis test can be saved and resumed later.Your answers are saved automatically.QUESTION 1

1. This assessment targets ELOs 400-SMC-1015.13 (L201: Organizational Power and Influence), 400-SMC-1015.18 (L206: Building Organizational Teams), and 400-SMC-1015.15 (L210: Organizational Culture and Climate).

Assignment Instructions: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L201, L206, and L210; utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, compose a short answer essay to the question prompt below. This essay can be written in MS Word and then copy and paste into Blackboard or you may type your response directly into Blackboard under the assignment instructions. DO NOT ATTACH YOUR WORD DOCUMENT. COPY/PASTE ONLY!

Topic of Essay: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L201, L206 and L210; construct a substantial essay utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, describe the relationship of organizational culture and climate (L210) and how a Sergeants Major can use the concepts and theories of power and influence in gaining organizational commitment (L201) to build high performing teams (L206).

Provide accurate and relevant examples of how can you use these concepts as a CSM/SGM to support your response.

QUESTION 2

1. This assessment targets ELOs 400-SMC-1015.19 (L207: Developing Learning Organizations) and 400-SMC-1015.20 (L212: Implementing an Organizational Vision).

Assignment Instructions: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L207 and L212; utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, compose a short answer essay to the question prompt below. This essay can be written in MS Word and then copy and paste into Blackboard or you may type your response directly into Blackboard under the assignment instructions. DO NOT ATTACH YOUR WORD DOCUMENT. COPY/PASTE ONLY!

Topic of Essay: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L207 and, L212; construct a substantial essay utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, describe the responsibilities of the Sergeants Major in helping the commander develop a learning organization (L207) and how these responsibilities also assist the commander in the development and implementation of an organizational vision (L212).

Provide accurate and relevant examples of how can you use these concepts as a CSM/SGM to support your response.

QUESTION 3

1. This assessment targets ELO 400-SMC-1015.21 (L213: Influencing Outside Organizations).

Assignment Instructions: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L213; utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, compose a short answer essay to the question prompt below. This essay can be written in MS Word and then copy and paste into Blackboard or you may type your response directly into Blackboard under the assignment instructions. DO NOT ATTACH YOUR WORD DOCUMENT. COPY/PASTE ONLY!

*To ensure that you understand the grading requirements look at SMC-DL 1009W Special for the short essay.

Topic of Essay: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L213; construct a substantial essay utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories,explain the pre-negotiation analysis concepts of alternatives, interdependence, and interests and how the Sergeant Major can leverage these concepts to extend influence within and beyond the chain of command (L213).

Provide accurate and relevant examples of how can you use these concepts as a CSM/SGM to support your response.

QUESTION 4

1. This assessment targets ELOs 400-SMC-1015.05 (L202: Leader Development (Analyze leader development doctrine), 400-SMC-1015.06 (L202: Leader Development (Analyze the leader self-development), 400-SMC-1015.29 (L202: Leader Development (Analyze the Sergeant Major’s role in developing leaders), and 400-SMC-1015.15 (L210: Organizational Culture and Climate).

Assignment Instructions: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L202 and L210; utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, compose a short answer essay to the question prompt below. This essay can be written in MS Word and then copy and paste into Blackboard or you may type your response directly into Blackboard under the assignment instructions. DO NOT ATTACH YOUR WORD DOCUMENT. COPY/PASTE ONLY!

*To ensure that you understand the grading requirements look at SMC-DL 1009W Special for the short essay.

Topic of Essay: Analyze the concepts and theories you read about in L202 and L210; construct a substantial essay utilizing key language and terms from these concepts and theories, explain how the Sergeant Major can influence the various stages of the leader development framework for their leader development program within their organization to make overall self-development (L202) an organizational cultural norm (L210).

Provide accurate and relevant examples of how can you use these concepts as a CSM/SGM to support your response.