| Course | GM586 Transformational Leadership |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Behavior development plan |
| Length | About 890 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for GM586 Unit 9
Ask Before I Propose: A Unit 9 Development Plan for One Leadership Behavior
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
GM586: Transformational Leadership
Unit 9 Behavior Development Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The university dining operation, the writer, the observer and every score are composite and illustrative; the research cited is real.
Baseline
My Unit 3 interpretation found my largest self-rater gap on intellectual stimulation: a self score of 3.4 against a rater mean of 2.4 on the full range questionnaire's 0 to 4 scale. The minutes of eight menu-planning meetings explained it. In six of the eight, I presented a proposal and then asked for comments. Supervisors offered eleven ideas across those meetings, almost all after my proposal, and three were adopted. I believe I invite ideas; the record shows I invite reactions to my ideas.
The behavior I will practice is simple to state: in any meeting where a decision is open, I will ask the group for ideas before I share my own view.
Rationale for One Behavior
My Unit 3 results also showed gaps on individualized consideration and active monitoring. I am choosing one behavior because practice needs focus. K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Krampe and Clemens Tesch-Römer found that expert performance develops through deliberate practice: effortful activity aimed at a specific weakness, with feedback, repeated over time (Ericsson et al., 1993). Practicing three behaviors at once would spread my attention and make feedback harder to interpret.
The behavior can be practiced. Julian Barling, Tom Weber and Kevin Kelloway trained bank branch managers in transformational leadership, including intellectual stimulation, through a workshop and follow-up booster sessions. Months later, the trained managers' subordinates rated them higher on transformational behaviors than the control group's subordinates rated theirs, and the subordinates reported greater organizational commitment (Barling et al., 1996). Kevin Kelloway, Julian Barling and Jane Helleur later found that training and feedback each improved subordinates' ratings of leaders' transformational behavior (Kelloway et al., 2000). Feedback is why my plan includes an observer.
The Observer
Denise, a peer manager who runs the residential dining hall, attends my menu-planning meetings and rated me on the Unit 3 questionnaire. She has agreed to observe all twelve meetings and mark a tally sheet. She does not report to me and I do not report to her, which makes honest feedback easier.
The Practice Schedule
The twelve meetings are arranged in three tiers of four, from lowest to highest stakes.
Tier one, meetings one to four: menu rotation. These meetings choose the next month's rotating dishes. The stakes are low, the supervisors know the food better than I do, and a poor choice costs one month. I will open each meeting with a question, such as "What should come off the rotation and what should replace it?", and say nothing about my own view until at least three ideas are on the table.
Tier two, meetings five to eight: catering pricing. These meetings set prices for campus catering packages. The stakes are higher, because pricing affects the department's budget and I am accountable for it. I will share the cost data first, then ask the catering supervisor and the others to propose prices before I give mine.
The final tier is a staffing decision on which I already hold a view, because that is exactly where my habit of proposing first is strongest.
Tier three, meetings nine to twelve: the weekend staffing change. The department must decide how to staff the new weekend brunch service. I already believe we should move two weekday cooks to weekend shifts. In these meetings I will describe the problem and the constraints, ask for options, and hold my view back until the group has proposed and discussed at least two. If the group's preferred option differs from mine, I will say what I think and why, but the decision will be made on the merits in the room.
The Tally Sheet
Denise will mark four columns during each meeting.
Ideas invited before my view. A mark for each time I ask for ideas before stating my own position on an open question.
Ideas offered. A mark for each distinct idea someone other than me offers.
Ideas tested or adopted. A mark for each idea that the group decides to try or adopt, recorded at the end of the meeting.
My view first. A mark for each time I state my own position before inviting others, which is the habit I am trying to break.
Measures of Progress
By the end of tier one, I expect the "my view first" column to show no more than one mark per meeting. By the end of tier three, I expect at least twelve ideas offered across the four staffing meetings, and at least two adopted or tested. Six months after the plan begins, I will ask the same seven raters to complete the questionnaire again. A rise of half a point in their mean intellectual stimulation score would show the change is visible to others, not just to Denise and me.
What Could Go Wrong
The most likely failure is in tier three, where I may ask for ideas but signal my preference in how I frame the problem. Denise will mark any framing that she thinks points to a particular answer, and we will discuss it after each meeting.
References
Barling, J., Weber, T., & Kelloway, E. K. (1996). Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(6), 827-832. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.81.6.827
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.3.363
Kelloway, E. K., Barling, J., & Helleur, J. (2000). Enhancing transformational leadership: The roles of training and feedback. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(3), 145-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730010325022
What the GM586 Unit 9 assignment asks for
In GM586 Unit 9 you write a plan to develop one leadership behavior. Carry forward a baseline from earlier evidence, such as self and rater scores and records. State the behavior in terms an observer could recognize. Defend focusing on one behavior with research on deliberate practice, and show with research that the behavior can be developed. Choose an observer who attends the settings where the behavior happens, does not report to you and has no stake in the result. Build a practice schedule that rises in difficulty, ending where the habit you want to change is strongest. Provide a tally sheet with columns the observer can mark during each session. Set measures of progress, including a later rerating. Name the most likely failure and how you will catch it. Expect about five pages with the schedule and tally sheet as appendices, citing the research in APA 7.
How this GM586 Unit 9 example is built
The baseline carries forward a 3.4 self score against a 2.4 rater mean and eight meetings in which eleven ideas, mostly offered after a proposal, led to three adoptions. The behavior is defined as asking for ideas before stating a view. Ericsson, Krampe and Tesch-Romer justify a single focus, and Barling, Weber and Kelloway and Kelloway, Barling and Helleur show training and feedback improve ratings. Denise, a peer manager, observes. Tier one covers menu rotation, tier two catering pricing with cost data first, and tier three the weekend brunch staffing decision, which the highlighted sentence explains. The tally sheet records ideas invited first, ideas offered, ideas tested or adopted and the writer's view first. Measures set targets by tier and a rerating at six months, and the most likely failure, framing that points to an answer, is planned for.
GM586 Unit 9 rubric: what earns full points
GM586 instructors look for a plan built on evidence, focused on one observable behavior and designed to be measured. A baseline carried from earlier results earns credit because it shows the plan follows from analysis. The behavior should be defined clearly enough that an observer can tally it. Research on deliberate practice and on training effects should support the single focus and the belief that the behavior can change. A schedule that grows harder, ending in the most difficult setting, shows understanding of practice. A tally sheet with clear columns and targets by stage makes progress visible. A later rerating by the same raters ties the plan to the original gap. Ericsson and colleagues in Psychological Review, Barling, Weber and Kelloway in Journal of Applied Psychology and Kelloway, Barling and Helleur form the citations in APA 7.
Common GM586 Unit 9 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Many GM586 Unit 9 plans list several behaviors and general activities, such as reading a book or attending a workshop, without any way to measure progress. Others choose an observer who reports to the writer. A frequent gap is difficulty: practicing only in easy settings leaves the habit untouched where it matters most. Some writers set no baseline, so improvement cannot be shown. Carry forward your scores and records, define one behavior an observer can count, defend the single focus, pick an independent observer, build a schedule that ends in the hardest setting, design a tally sheet, set targets and plan for the most likely failure.
Get a GM586 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Bring the behavior you mean to develop, the evidence that singled it out, and a colleague who could observe it, described by role only. The Unit 9 prompt and rubric complete the set. Free the first time and delivered in 24-48h, the plan comes back with its practice tiers and tally sheet drafted. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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GM586 Unit 9 questions, answered
Why develop only one behavior?
Because practice and observation both lose precision when spread thin. An observer counting one well-defined act can do it reliably for a dozen meetings; an observer tracking five behaviors mostly records impressions. The plan can acknowledge other gaps and say when they will be addressed, which shows judgment rather than neglect. Many prompts accept or even request a single focus.
Who makes a good observer?
Someone who attends the settings where the behavior happens, has no stake in the outcome and does not report to you. A peer manager is often ideal. Brief them on the definitions, tally the first sessions together and compare notes, then let them continue alone. An observer who knows exactly what counts produces data a rubric can recognize as evidence.
What if the behavior does not improve during the term?
Report it. A plan's value lies partly in its measurement, and a flat tally is a finding. Examine whether the practice was too easy, the definition too loose or the setting unsuitable, and propose the adjustment. Instructors usually grade the design and the honesty of the review, not whether the numbers moved within a few units.
Where can I find a free GM586 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page carries a full GM586 Unit 9 development plan for intellectual stimulation, with a baseline, twelve practice meetings in three tiers, an observer's tally sheet and APA 7 references.
Why does the plan end with a staffing decision?
The writer already holds a view on the weekend staffing change, which is exactly where her habit of proposing first is strongest. Practicing there tests whether the behavior holds when she has an opinion to protect.