The Ed.D. in Leadership program develops you as scholars, practitioners, and leaders. This guide will help you articulate your position through application (Part 1), analysis (Part 2), synthesis (Part 3), and evaluation (Part 4).

Application

Selecting main ideas and research findings that relate directly or indirectly to the topic you’re writing about. Scholars apply concepts and ideas to their organizations. Practitioners apply theory into practice. Leaders apply principles of leadership to develop their people.

[1] Provide the context of the article/book: When you are including a scholarly resource, it needs to be clear to the reader why you selected that particular resource. Cite your source.

[2] Identify the specific component: Identify the specific component within the article or book that resonated with you.

[3] Specify the application: Apply the component to your specific situation.

Example

Leaders at XYZ Organization are not ready to integrate situational leadership into the culture. [1] In a book discussing the effectiveness of leadership approaches, [2] Northouse (2013) suggested that the effectiveness of the situational leadership approach depended on the leader’s ability to know where their subordinates were on the developmental continuum. [3] When the leaders of XYZ Organization tried the situational approach, they realized that their leadership styles did not match the developmental levels of their teams. Their expectations were high when teams were not adequately developed to operate at this level, except for the team leads. Another approach to leadership might be more effective for XYZ Organization at this time.