My virtual online doctoral class stepped into the real classroom this weekend when I joined my seven classmates at school in Alameda all day Saturday and Sunday. These are fantastic people who have interesting areas of potential research. The first time we met, back in January, we had an informed discussion about uprisings in Egypt and several of my classmates had actually lived there. Hearing first hand from the challenges and opportunities of life in the Middle East was inspirational. I was able take the experience back to my classroom on Monday and help my students in Executive Leadership contextualize the revolution.
Our final class paper is a reflection on our learning in this course. For the past six weeks this course has encouraged me to reflect on my pursuit of a doctorate. Why am I compelled to earn this degree? What I realized is that although I am passionate about developing team leadership in creative enterprises, I have discovered that I am a “do-er” as opposed to a researcher.
Ironically, my Professor just said to the class that Amy’s research study focus is so clear and she knows what she is talking about, that it will probably not change over the next few years. What I need to do is pursue my area of interest but in a way that fits into my lifestyle – doing as opposed to researching.
Here’s my area of interest:
What is going on that is causing me to do research?
Problem Statement:
Creative teams require effective leadership in order to be able to accomplish both artistic and business goals.
What do I want to know from conducting this research?
Purpose Statement:
Identify effective leadership practices that support creative teams in accomplishing both artistic and business goals.
Assumptions
A1: There are effective team leadership practices.
A2: Creative teams require effective leadership to accomplish both business and artistic goals.
Research Questions
RQ1: What are the leadership practices that will be effective for creative teams to reach both artistic and business goals?
Qualitative?
RQ2: Are effective creative team leadership practices identical for reaching both artistic and business goals?
RQ3: What are the constructs of effective leadership in creative business teams?
