| Course | MGT 530 Leadership Theory and Practice |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | MBA leadership philosophy |
| Length | About 1,051 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MGT 530 Module 8
Fire, Smoke and Forty Employees: A Personal Leadership Philosophy From a Barbecue Restaurant's Floor
Student Name
Master of Business Administration, Aspen University
MGT 530: Leadership Theory and Practice
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Fire, Smoke and Forty Employees: A Personal Leadership Philosophy From a Barbecue Restaurant's Floor
I am the general manager of Delta Smoke House, a composite barbecue restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, serving about 1,800 guests a week. I lead forty employees: pitmasters who light the smokers at 4 a.m., kitchen staff, servers, hosts and a catering team. I started as a dishwasher here twelve years ago and worked every station before becoming general manager three years ago. This paper states my leadership philosophy, the stories behind it and the research that supports it.
Where Leadership Philosophies Come From
George et al. (2007) interviewed more than a hundred leaders and found that they did not share a common set of traits or styles. Instead, authentic leaders drew their purpose from their life stories, reframing experiences, including hardships, to understand who they were and why they led. They knew their values, balanced extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, built a support team and kept their lives integrated. Shamir and Eilam (2005) proposed a life-stories approach to authentic leadership development, arguing that leaders construct stories about their own lives that give meaning to their leadership, provide self-knowledge and explain their convictions to others.
Four Principles
| Principle | Story behind it | Course theory | Behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work the line before you judge it | As a dishwasher, a manager blamed me for a backup caused by a broken machine | Substitutes and situational leadership (Module 3) | Work a station each week; ask before correcting |
| The schedule is a promise | A manager changed my shifts without notice, and I nearly lost my second job | Servant leadership (Module 4) | Post schedules two weeks ahead; trade only by agreement |
| Credit goes down, blame stops here | A pitmaster's brisket won an award and the owner took the stage alone | Shared leadership (Module 5) | Name staff when guests praise food; take the hard calls myself |
| Say the hard thing early | I let a server's lateness slide for months until I had to fire her | Power and integrity (Module 6) | Address problems within a week, privately |
The Stories in More Detail
The first story still shapes how I correct people. On a Saturday when I was nineteen, the dish machine failed and plates piled up. The manager on duty walked in, saw the pile and told me in front of the line that I was too slow for the job. He never asked what happened. I fixed the machine myself an hour later. Today, when something goes wrong on the line, I work the station for a few minutes before saying anything, because what looks like a person's failure is often a broken machine or a bad schedule.
The second story explains my rule about schedules. In my early twenties, I worked here and at a warehouse to support my younger brother. A manager moved my shifts three times in one week without asking, and I nearly lost the warehouse job. Many of my employees work two jobs or care for children. To them, a schedule changed without warning is not a small thing.
How the Principles Show on a Friday Night
A leadership philosophy is tested on the busiest night of the week. On Fridays, I spend the first hour of service working the pass between kitchen and floor, where I can see problems before guests do. When a server is overwhelmed, I take a table rather than criticize. After close, I thank by name the people guests praised and handle any complaint calls myself. On the nights I fall short, it is usually because I stayed in the office with paperwork instead of being on the floor.
Becoming a Leader
Lord and Hall (2005) argued that leadership skill develops through stages. Novices rely on surface rules and are focused on themselves. Intermediate leaders draw on a wider repertoire and see situations more from others' viewpoints. Experts integrate skills, values and identity, so that leadership becomes part of who they are and they focus on collective outcomes. I am an intermediate leader. I no longer follow rules mechanically, but under pressure on Friday nights I still revert to giving orders rather than listening, a sign my principles are not yet fully part of my identity.
Who Supports Me
George and colleagues found that authentic leaders build a support team of people who will tell them the truth. Mine includes the head pitmaster, who has worked here longer than I have and tells me when I am wrong, the owner, who meets me monthly, and a former manager from another restaurant who has become a mentor. I will ask each to tell me when my behavior drifts from these principles.
Leading People Who Trained Me
Many of my employees taught me their stations when I was a dishwasher. Leading them requires a balance Lord and Hall's model helps explain: as a novice manager, I deferred to them on everything; as I develop, I must respect their expertise while still holding everyone to the same standards. The hardest conversations I avoid are with them, which is why the fourth principle matters most.
What I Am Still Learning
My weakest principle in practice is the fourth. I still avoid hard conversations, especially with long-time employees who trained me. Writing the principle down makes me accountable for it.
Where the Course Changed My Thinking
Before this course, I believed good leaders were simply born with presence. The research on traits and behaviors in Module 2 showed me that what leaders do matters more than who they seem to be, and the work on substitutes in Module 3 explained why my best pitmasters need little direction from me. The philosophy reflects that shift: it is built around behaviors I can practice, not qualities I hope to have.
Testing the Philosophy
Every six months, I will ask five employees from different stations, chosen at random, one question for each principle: does my behavior match it? I will share the results with my assistant managers and revise the philosophy after a year.
Conclusion
My leadership philosophy is built from the experiences of a dishwasher who became a manager. George and colleagues and Shamir and Eilam explain why those stories matter, the theories from this course support each principle and Lord and Hall's model shows where I stand on the path from intermediate to expert leadership.
References
George, B., Sims, P., McLean, A. N., & Mayer, D. (2007). Discovering your authentic leadership. Harvard Business Review, 85(2), 129-138.
Lord, R. G., & Hall, R. J. (2005). Identity, deep structure and the development of leadership skill. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(4), 591-615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.06.003
Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005). "What's your story?" A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 395-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.005
MGT 530 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
The final module of Aspen's MGT 530 asks for a personal leadership philosophy: a statement of how the writer leads, grounded in experience and in the theories studied. Use your classroom's Module 8 instructions as the guide; this example is one composite manager's philosophy. Tell the experiences that shaped your view of leadership, with enough detail to show how. State a small number of principles, each tied to an experience. Connect each principle to research from the course, naming the module or theory. Describe the behaviors that show each principle in practice, including on your hardest days. Place your development in a model of how leaders grow. Plan how you will test and revise the philosophy.
How the MGT 530 Module 8 example is put together
The writer manages Delta Smoke House, a restaurant serving about 1,800 guests a week. George and colleagues' Harvard Business Review article reports that authentic leaders find purpose in their life stories and build support around them. Shamir and Eilam's Leadership Quarterly article argues that leaders' life stories provide meaning and self-knowledge for authentic leadership. Lord and Hall's Leadership Quarterly article describes leadership skill developing from novice to intermediate to expert, as leader identity becomes more central. A table links four principles, such as "work the line before you judge it" and "the schedule is a promise," to stories, theories from earlier modules and behaviors. The plan asks staff for feedback on each principle every six months and revises the philosophy after a year.
Reading the MGT 530 Module 8 grading rubric
Leadership philosophies are judged on authenticity grounded in experience, clear principles, links to research and behaviors that show the principles in practice. This example builds principles from specific stories, following George and colleagues and Shamir and Eilam. Each principle connects to a theory from earlier in the course, so the philosophy reflects what the course taught and not only what the writer already believed. Lord and Hall's model places the writer's development honestly, admitting the principle that is not yet lived. The table makes the philosophy testable, the stories are told in enough detail to show how they shaped each principle and the plan commits to revising the philosophy based on what staff say.
MGT 530 Module 8 help: mistakes that cost marks
Leadership philosophies often list values, such as integrity and respect, without stories, theories or behaviors. Ground each principle in an experience. Connect principles to research studied in the course. Describe what each principle looks like in daily behavior, so others could see it. Keep the number of principles small. Be honest about where you are in your development and which principle you live least well. Finally, plan how to test the philosophy with feedback from the people you lead. Tell at least one story fully, so a reader understands how it changed the way you lead.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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MGT 530 Module 8 questions, answered
What does MGT 530 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's MGT 530 ends with a personal leadership philosophy grounded in experience and the theories studied. Check your classroom prompt.
What is a life-stories approach to leadership?
Shamir and Eilam's view that leaders develop authenticity by constructing and reflecting on the stories of their lives, which give meaning to their leadership.
How do leaders develop over time?
Lord and Hall describe a progression from novice to intermediate to expert, as leadership skills become more integrated and leader identity becomes more central.
Where can I find a free MGT 530 Module 8 sample paper?
The complete philosophy above, by a barbecue restaurant general manager, links four principles to stories, theories and behaviors.
How should a leadership philosophy be tested?
By asking the people you lead whether your behavior matches your stated principles, and revising the philosophy based on what they say.