PAD 515 – Assignment 3: Public Leadership Case Study

Arrange to attend a public meeting or other event to observe a public leader (e.g. governor, mayor, county executive, commissioner, city/county council member, etc.) in action. Write a 5-6 page report (excluding title and reference pages) analyzing various aspects of the leader’s communication style and effectiveness. Your report should apply concepts from Chapter 9 of Daft (2010) and address the following requirements:

1. Summarize the context of the meeting with specific facts (who, what, where, when, why).

2. Assess how the leader set the agenda for conversations, and whether and how he/she used dialogue and discernment.

3. Identify and describe, with examples, both the poor and the good communications skills you observed in the leader.

4. Rate the leader’s use of questions and active listening skills.

5. Explain how the leader used persuasion and influence.

6. Rate how the leader used nonverbal communication techniques.

7. Summarize what you learned from an analysis of the leader.