| Course | LDR 310 Applied Leadership Capstone (LDR/310) |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Leadership self-assessment and capstone proposal |
| Length | about 1,028 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | BS in Business |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for LDR 310 Week 1
The Dock Leads Who Were Never Taught to Lead: A Leadership Self-Assessment and Capstone Proposal at a Lake of the Ozarks Marina Company
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
LDR/310: Applied Leadership Capstone
Week 1 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Harbor Point Marinas, its staff and its figures are composites written for a model paper.
Harbor Point Marinas is a composite family-owned company that operates three marinas on the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri. It offers boat slips for about 900 members, boat and personal watercraft rentals, two fuel docks, a service shop and a lakeside grill. The company employs 28 year-round staff and about 120 seasonal workers from May through September, mostly college students and local high school seniors. Devon Marsh, 34, has been assistant operations manager for three years. He supervises nine dock leads, seasonal workers in their second or third summer who run shifts at the rental docks and fuel docks. Last season, 44 percent of seasonal workers left before Labor Day, and the company recorded 11 incidents at its fuel docks, including two fuel spills and a minor boat collision. This paper presents Devon's leadership self-assessment and proposes a capstone project.
How Leaders Develop
Day et al. (2014) reviewed 25 years of research on leader and leadership development. They described leader development as growth in an individual's capacity to lead, built through experience, feedback, reflection and relationships, and leadership development as growth in a collective's capacity to lead. Development happens mostly on the job, especially through challenging assignments, when people receive feedback and reflect on it.
When Self-Ratings Differ From Others'
Atwater and Yammarino (1992) studied leaders who rated themselves and were rated by subordinates. Leaders whose self-ratings agreed with others' ratings tended to be more effective, while overraters, those who rated themselves higher than others did, were often less effective. Self-other agreement served as a sign of self-awareness.
How Leader Identity Forms
DeRue and Ashford (2010) described leadership as something people come to hold through an exchange: one person acts as a leader, and others either accept or refuse that move. People claim leadership by acting as leaders, and others grant it by accepting their influence. Over time, repeated claims and grants create leader and follower identities. When claims are not granted, or people are placed in roles without opportunities to claim leadership, identities do not form.
The Self-Assessment: Evidence
Devon completed a 360-degree survey with ratings from his manager, the nine dock leads and three peers. He also reviewed last season's results and kept a reflection journal for two weeks.
Strengths
Ratings agreed on several strengths. Devon is fair in scheduling, decisive in emergencies and knowledgeable about boats, docks and safety rules. His manager praised his reliability.
Gaps
On coaching and availability, ratings diverged sharply. Devon rated himself 4.5 of 5 on developing others; dock leads rated him 2.6. Comments said he was usually at the service shop or the main office and that when problems arose on a shift, he came down and fixed them himself rather than helping the lead handle them. In Atwater and Yammarino's terms, Devon is an overrater on coaching. His journal confirmed the pattern: on a busy Saturday, he took over five situations that dock leads could have handled with guidance.
Every time Devon stepped in to fix a problem, he solved the problem and took away the dock lead's chance to lead.
What Devon Learned From the Journal
The two-week journal added detail the survey could not. Devon noticed that he took over most often when a customer was upset or a line was forming, the moments when a lead most needs to practice. He also noticed that he rarely explained his reasoning after stepping in, so leads learned what he did but not why. On the one day he deliberately stayed back and let a lead handle a docking problem, the lead solved it more slowly but asked afterward for advice, the kind of conversation Devon wants more of.
Linking Gaps to the Organization
Devon's habit reflects how dock leads are prepared. They are promoted because they were good workers, given a radio and a key ring and expected to lead. In DeRue and Ashford's terms, they are placed in leadership roles but rarely get to claim leadership, because a manager takes over whenever it matters. New seasonal workers then see dock leads as senior coworkers rather than leaders. Exit interviews from last season mention confusion about who was in charge and feeling unsupported on busy weekends.
The Capstone Problem
The problem is that Harbor Point's dock leads are not prepared or empowered to lead, contributing to early seasonal turnover and to safety incidents. Last season's figures are 44 percent seasonal turnover before Labor Day and 11 fuel dock incidents.
Feasibility
The project fits within Devon's authority, since he supervises the dock leads and sets their training. It requires a modest budget for training time and a lead differential, which needs the owners' approval, and access to payroll and incident records, which the general manager has agreed to share.
Why It Matters
Early departures leave docks short-staffed during the busiest weeks, raise hiring and training costs and strain remaining staff. Fuel dock incidents risk injuries, environmental fines and the company's reputation on a lake where boaters talk.
Project Goals
The capstone will design a dock lead development program for the coming season with three goals: reduce seasonal turnover before Labor Day from 44 to 30 percent; reduce fuel dock incidents from 11 to 5 or fewer; and raise dock leads' ratings of support from Devon from 2.6 to 4.0.
Scope and Approach
The project will cover the nine dock leads and the crews they supervise at all three marinas. Later weeks will analyze the problem with leadership research, plan stakeholder engagement and communication, design implementation and evaluate results.
Devon's Development Goals
Devon will practice coaching rather than fixing, spend at least two hours per weekend day on the docks with leads and ask for feedback from leads monthly.
Conclusion
Research shows that leaders develop through experience, feedback and relationships, that self-awareness appears in agreement between self-ratings and others' ratings and that leader identity forms when people can claim and be granted leadership. Devon's self-assessment reveals a coaching gap that mirrors Harbor Point's failure to prepare its dock leads. The capstone project will address both.
References
Atwater, L. E., & Yammarino, F. J. (1992). Does self-other agreement on leadership perceptions moderate the validity of leadership and performance predictions? Personnel Psychology, 45(1), 141-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1992.tb00848.x
Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.004
DeRue, D. S., & Ashford, S. J. (2010). Who will lead and who will follow? A social process of leadership identity construction in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 35(4), 627-647. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.35.4.zok627
What the LDR 310 Week 1 instructions ask
LDR 310 normally opens with two tasks: an honest review of the writer's own leadership and a proposal for a capstone that tackles a genuine workplace problem. Expect to reflect on strengths and development needs, often using an assessment tool or feedback from others, and to describe an organization, a leadership problem, its significance, goals for the project and an initial plan. A strong paper grounds the self-assessment in evidence, such as feedback or results, rather than self-description alone, connects development needs to the proposed project, defines the problem with data and sets measurable goals. Cite scholarly sources in APA format and keep the scope achievable within the course.
How this LDR 310 Week 1 example is built
Devon Marsh, assistant operations manager at Harbor Point Marinas, rated himself a strong communicator and coach, but feedback from dock leads told a different story: they described him as decisive and fair but rarely available and quick to take over when problems arose. The paper begins with research on how leaders develop through experience, feedback and relationships, on what happens when self-ratings diverge from others' ratings and on how people come to see themselves, and to be seen, as leaders. The self-assessment combines a 360-degree survey, season results and reflection. The capstone proposal addresses a problem that grew from the same pattern: dock leads promoted without preparation, high seasonal turnover and fuel dock incidents.
LDR 310 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Capstone proposals are graded on self-awareness, problem definition and feasibility. High marks require a self-assessment based on evidence, such as feedback from others and results, with honest attention to gaps between how the student sees themself and how others see them. The proposal should define a real problem with data, explain why it matters to the organization, connect it to leadership principles from the program and set specific goals and a realistic scope. Graders look for a clear link between the student's development needs and the project. Instructors notice when the proposal admits risks, such as limited access to data. A preliminary timeline, an outline of stakeholders and accurate APA references round out the proposal.
LDR 310 Week 1 help: mistakes to avoid
Self-assessments often read as a list of strengths with one safe weakness, such as caring too much. Use feedback from others, and be specific about what you will work on. Another common problem is proposing a project that is too large, such as transforming company culture, for the course's few weeks. Narrow it to something you can influence and measure. Some students describe the problem without data; gather turnover, incident or survey figures. Others choose a project unrelated to their development needs, which misses the point of a leadership capstone. Link the two. Ask for feedback early enough to use it. Finally, check that you have access to the people and information the project requires.
Related LDR 310 sample papers
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- LDR 310 Week 4: Implementation Plan
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LDR 310 Week 1 questions, answered
What does LDR 310 Week 1 usually cover?
It usually covers a leadership self-assessment and a proposal for an applied capstone project that addresses a real organizational problem using leadership principles from the program.
Where can I find a free LDR 310 Week 1 sample paper?
The Week 1 self-assessment and capstone proposal set at a composite Lake of the Ozarks marina company is posted above in full.
Why use feedback from others in a leadership self-assessment?
Research shows that leaders whose self-ratings match others' ratings tend to perform better, and that overraters often have blind spots that feedback can reveal.
What makes a good capstone project problem?
A real, important problem the student can influence, measure and address within the course, connected to leadership principles and to the student's own development goals.
How do people come to see themselves as leaders?
Research suggests leader identity develops through social interaction, as people claim leadership roles and others grant or affirm those claims over time.
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