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Master in Management

Course Syllabus

Organizational Leadership & Communication

MM 516

Cynthia Scherr
552-0340
Cynthia@scherrconsults.com

Overview:

Welcome to MM 516, Organizational Leadership. This course focuses on the concept of leadership and applying it to your own life and leadership roles. It is intended to be a practical course that will provide you with a framework for developing yourself and others as leaders. I intend to draw upon the collective experience of the class as well as the texts and articles I have asked you to read.

Objectives:

  1. To consider a range of leadership theories and practices to broaden our thinking about the importance of leadership and our potential for creating positive change.
  2. To gain personal insight into our own skills and challenges as leaders.
  3. To create a behavior-specific plan for development as a leader.

Text:

Peter G. Northouse, Leadership Theory and Practice, Fourth Edition, Sage Publications, 2007.

Articles:

Harvard Business Review Articles which can be downloaded at hbr.org:

Collins, Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, BR #R0507M

Drucker, Managing Oneself, HBR #R0501K

Goffie and Jones, Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? HBR #R00506

McCullough, Timeless Leadership HBR #0803B

Additional articles to be determined.

Resources:

  • Power Point Presentation Guidelines (required reading)
  • MBTI Handouts
  • Grading Criteria
  • Bibliography

Assignments:

There are four assignments for this class; some you need to begin as soon as you read this syllabus!

A. Background and Introduction—due September 28

B. Leadership Observation Notebook—start now; due October 29

C. Group Presentation—due October 11

D. Leadership Development Plan, due on November 17

Assignment A: Background and Introduction—due Monday, September 28 (before class starts!)

Please submit to me by email Cynthia@scherrconsults.com

  1. Full name and name you like to be called
  2. Profile—name,  employment position, organization you work for
  3. Do you work with a team?   If not, who are the important constituents with which you work?
  4. How many direct reports do you have?
  5. Private, government or nonprofit sector?
  6. List and describe briefly your most important leadership experiences (1-2 sentences each).  
  7. Optional:  Inspiring quotes about leadership.

Assignment B: Leadership Observation Notebook—due on Wednesday, October 29

We learn about ourselves by observing others.

Heroditus

There are examples of effective (and ineffective) leadership all around us. By honing your observation skills and noticing what leaders are doing that works well—or doesn’t—we shape our own concepts of how we want to lead.

Find a composition notebook, journal, or laptop if you carry it with you, and take notes on leadership examples that you see around you. You may find examples in your supervisor, a city council member, a colleague, a community leader, a candidate for office—anyone who is in a leadership role of any size. In this year of a Presidential election, there are examples daily, even hourly, on the internet, TV and newspapers. Start noticing. 

Please make at least 10 entries between October 1 and October 29.  Entries should follow this format:

 

 Date Name of Leader, Role Notes on behavior-specific leadership traits or process and the effectiveness of either; what you take away from this observation
Examples: 9/25/08 Anne Lamott, writer Leadership behavior:  Provides thought leadership; writes and shares her opinions; recommends specific actions that those who agree with her can take—encourages the faint of heart, effective for those who seek out her work, easily missed by those who do not.Take away:  Sharing my beliefs and philosophy with careful thought and humor is an effective way of persuading others to act if they are already within my sphere of influence.
9/25/08 Hugo Diaz, student Leadership behavior:  Asked if we could move the furniture around in class so that the configuration would be more conducive to conversation; took the lead in speaking up about class norms.Take away:  Even small acts of leadership can make a difference in group experience.

 

Assignment C: Group Project, either Level V Leadership OR The Leadership Challenge—to be presented on October 11

We will decide on teams in the first class meeting. It would be helpful if you work with people from your own organization if possible.You may know leaders in common for the first assignment and for the second, you may be working on similar projects. If you are facing a particular leadership challenge at the moment, I recommend that you work on the second project. Contact me if you have questions about this format.

Level 5 Leader Presentation

The purpose of this assignment is to have several common examples in mind that we can refer to throughout the course. Prepare a 15 minute presentation on a Level 5 leader who you know, outline why you think they fit the criteria for Level 5 leadership, describe his or her personal attributes, their leadership style (or styles), examples of their accomplishments, the impact of this leader’s actions on others, and anything else you think would inform the discussion tying this leader to Level 5 attributes. Please use people who are still living as examples and preferably ones you know or are personally familiar with. While Gandhi and Martin Luther King certainly fit the description, try to think of leaders who are closer to home.They can be from any field, any age, or any organization. They do not have to be famous or prominent, but they should fit the definition of a Level 5 leader. Read and follow the Presentation Guidelines posted on Blackboard.

Leadership Challenge Presentation

Prepare a 15 minute presentation on a leadership challenge that you are facing right now. If everyone in your group is not working on the same challenge, then choose a representative from within the group and the other two people can serve as coach to help the person with the challenge think through his or her leadership role. Read and follow the Presentation Guidelines posted on Blackboard.

Presentations should include the following information:

  • type of project
  • purpose and goals of the project
  • nature of leadership challenge
  • alignment of your values with the project and with the organization (if applicable)
  • how you can apply insights from the MBTI
  • likely reasons for success
  • potential roadblocks
  • communication plan
  • how you as leader will have to stretch
  • potential learning elements for you and your team (at work)

Assignment D: Leadership Development Plan—due on Monday, November 17

The final assignment for this class is a comprehensive leadership development plan due November 17, approximately 2.5 weeks after the end of class. We will begin discussion about elements of this plan during the class, but the majority of the work will be done independently. You may want to refer to the outline below and take notes on it as you do the reading for the class.

Drawing from a number of sources, prepare an 8-10 page paper, double-spaced, that identifies your strengths as a leader, your opportunities for improvement, and the behavior-specific steps you intend to take to make desired changes. Development plans should include elements of the following:

Introduction (1-2 pages)

  • Why developing your own leadership skills is important to you
  • Your personal values, vision and mission
  • Issues/problems you want to address
  • Measures of success

Current assessment of yourself as a leader (2-3 pages)

  • Insights from your MBTI
  • Your strengths and weaknesses as a leader
  • Challenges and opportunities for improvement
  • Feedback you have had from the class, work, other arenas

Leadership Development Plan (5-7 pages)

  • Objectives of the plan
  • What inspires you about your plan/why you are willing to change
  • Behavior-specific actions you plan to take
  • Timeline
  • Anticipated resistance from self and others
  • How you will monitor and evaluate results
  • Sources for learning
  • Methods for self-renewal

I expect that every leadership development plan will look very different. Your leadership development plan should be authentic, realistic, behavior-specific, time-bound and relevant to your current and/or future leadership situation. It should be concrete and practical—something that you will refer to on a regular basis, not an idealistic or philosophical treatise on leadership. It should tie directly to the type of change you are working to effect as a leader.

It is difficult to actually do anything you don’t care about. Make sure your plan relates to some aspect of leadership you’re excited about. Be honest. Include information about your motivation or rationale for including some of the elements in the plan and your commitment level to making personal changes. As the Goffee and Jones article suggests, how will you be yourself—more—with skill?

The plan will be graded on:

  1. How specific you are about what you will do and why
  2. How well and comprehensively you address the items in the outline above
  3. The clarity of your thought, writing, depth and breadth of your ideas, creativity and perceptiveness

I have posted the feedback form on Blackboard so that you will know what to expect from me. Before turning in your paper, please use spell check and have someone proofread your paper.

Evaluation:

20% Class Participation and Assignment A

20% Assignment C: Group Project

10% Assignment B: Leadership Journal

50% Assignment D: Leadership Development Plan

Class participation is essential.There will be some lecture during the class, but most of it will involve group discussion and exercises to help focus our own leadership development. Because this is a graduate-level course, you and your colleagues will have much to offer each other. I am also a learner in this class and a lifelong student of leadership. I expect a high level of thoughtfulness and participation from everyone.

Other Notes:

  1. Late papers are strongly discouraged. I have allocated a specific window during which I can grade papers and have very little flexibility in my schedule. While I recognize that things do happen such that students may need an extension occasionally, my policy will be: a) you must clear the late date with me in advance of when it is due and you must have a good reason for requesting the extension; b) a few days is the maximum extension; c) you will receive minimal feedback on a late paper, with few comments other than a grade.  
  2. You may not use a paper you prepare in this class for other courses; nor may you use a paper used in other courses for this class.
  3. Please be on time to each session. Late entrants disrupt the class and any discussion that has begun.
  4. I will be happy to answer any questions you have or engage in a discussion with you before, during or after the class. My email address and phone number are in the course syllabus. Email is usually the best way to contact me. I look forward to working with all of you.
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