Date

Class Agenda

Lesson 1:

Feb. 10^th

Topic: Defining Leadership and the Self

Description: Our goals are to preview the themes of the class, discuss our theoretical framework and describe the course assignments and syllabus.

Reading:

·      This syllabus

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Complete info and assessment form

·      Bring questions about the syllabus to class

Lesson 2:

Feb. 17^th

Topic: The Elevating Nature of Leadership

Description: Given the nature of humans and advanced societies, what kind of competencies and practices does one need to have to be a leader? Is morality essential to leadership? How is knowing the self relevant to good leadership? In addition, we will discuss the theory of authentic leadership which will frame much of the class going forward.

Reading due:

1.     Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers ch.1 “Values and Leadership”

2.     Northouse, Leadership Theory, ch. 11 “Authentic Leadership”

3.     Listen to (part 1) Adam Grant’s podcast interview with Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/taken-for-granted-indra-nooyi-wants-us-to-reimagine/id1346314086?i=1000539774996

4.     Listen to (part 2) Adam Grant’s podcast interview with Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/taken-for-granted-indra-nooyi-says-its-time-for-leaders/id1346314086?i=1000540467431

Assignment due:

·      Pre-reflection assignment

Lesson 3: Feb. 24^th

Topic: Mastering the Context: Leading and following in an age of self-promotion, image, and globalization

Description: Applying the triad of leadership—leaders, followers and context—we will discuss the defining characteristics of human nature and culture that present challenges to authentic leadership in the 21^st century workplace and communities. Why is mastering, instead of surrendering, to our context important for effective leadership? We will look through the intersection of sociology and psychology for practical insights about how cultures and environments effect the human process of change.

Reading due:

1.     Bennis, On Becoming a Leader ch. 2 “Understanding the Basics”

2.     Thacker, The Art of Authenticity ch. 1 “The Digital Era of Freedom and Fear”

3.     Watch David Brooks TED Talk “The Lies Our Culture Tells Us About What Matters—and a better way to live”

4.     Eurich, Insight ch. 1 “The Meta-skill of the 21^st Century”

Assignment Due:

·      Take the Insight Self-awareness Quiz online at https://www.insight-book.com/Quiz and upload your results to NEO (emailed to you in a PDF) Note: This short quiz also requires you to send it to a friend that knows you well, so sure to make time for this. (Post your result on NEO)

·      Reading Quiz #1  (lessons 2 &3)

SELF-AWARENESS AND BUILDING TRUST

Lesson 4: March 3^rd

Topic: Becoming yourself: personality, self-monitoring and truth

Description: We will explore the role of personality in leading others, how personality is constructed and developed, and examine two major psychological constructs for personality. What do personality assessments reveal about us that could help us live more integrated lives? What is the role (and danger) of self-monitoring and charisma for building trust?

Reading due:

1.     Bennis, On Becoming a Leader ch. 3 “Knowing Yourself”

2.     Eurich, Insight ch. 2 “The Anatomy of Self-Awareness”

3.     Watch Tasha Eurich’s TED talk: “Increase your self-awareness with one simple fix”

4.     Thacker, The Art of Authenticity ch. 2 “Self-Awareness or is it Selves Awareness?”

Recommended: Judge and Bono (2000) “Five Factor Model of Personality and Transformational Leadership”

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Take the Big Five Personality Assessment: https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/IPIP-BFFM/ and bring your results to class.

Lesson 5:

March 10^th

Topic: Motivations, instincts and personal blindspots (Introduction to The Enneagram)

Description: In this session we will deal with the question, “Does personality really capture who we are deep down?” We will use an ancient system called the Enneagram (Any-a-gram) with its 9 types to discuss personality as a defense mechanism, going beneath the “surface” to core motivational and patterns of thought that drive our behaviors and habits. Students will take the Enneagram assessment to identify their dominant type and explore the ways in which it has shown up in his or her experience and could impact the way in which they build trust with others.

Reading:

1.     Riso & Hudson, The Wisdom of the Enneagram ch. 3 “Essence and Personality”

2.     Cron & Stabile, The Road Back to You ch. 2 “Finding Your Type”

3.     Eurich, Insight ch. 3 “Blindspots”

Assignments Due:

·      Take the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Inventory (PDF on NEO) and record your dominant type (number 1-9 or name) in discussion thread

·      Dominant type reflection on NEO with your dominant type listed prior to class

BALANCED PROCESSING AND COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING

Lesson 6: March 17^th

Topic: Balanced processing, openness and bias

Description: We will explore the second domain of authenticity called “balanced processing” in the literature, but we will think of it as the art of staying curious and checking your bias. Good leaders recognize their limitations and thus approach dilemmas in a more open way. One leader who was exemplary of this was Nelson Mandela. Through case studies and interactive activities we will explore the practice of authenticity and the role bias plays in making decisions in teams.

Reading:

1.     Thacker, The Art of Authenticity ch. 6 “Balanced Processing and Collaborative Decision Making”

2.     Brown, Dare to Lead “Introduction”

3.     Nicholson (2017) “Mandela’s Lessons in Self-Leadership” in Think London Business School

4.     Avolio & Reichard, “The Rise of Authentic Followership” from The Art of Followership by Riggio, Chaleff & Lipman-Blumen (eds)

Assignments/deadlines: none

Lesson 7: March 24^th

Topic: Self-deception and the dark side of leadership

Description: One can know leadership in deeper way by getting well acquainted with what it is not. We need to understand the “shadows” of inauthenticity and bad leadership to cast light on good leadership. We will examine Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall in cycling, leading a team, and running an organization. We will discuss the dark side of personality—the characteristics that sabotage teams, groups and communities.

Reading:

1.     Price, “Explaining Ethical Failures in Leadership” in Leadership & Organization Development Journal

2.     Watch: Lance Armstrong interview with Mike Tirico

3.     Paulhus & Williams (2002) “The Dark Triad of Personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and Psycopathy” in Journal of Research in Personality

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Self-Assessment Analysis & Action Plan due

March 28 -April 1

Midterm Break

RELATIONAL TRANSPARENCY AND CANDID COMMUNICATION

Lesson 8: April 7^th

Topic: Relational Transparency and psychological safety

Description: Authentic leaders are those that become more human to those within their sphere of influence and beyond. In particular, we will discuss the corrupting influence of power and privilege through the life of Vaclav Havel and his efforts of resistance. But for honest conversations to truly take place, leaders must reduce the interpersonal risk of disclosing personal views and information. How does one create the conditions in which people are more honest and transparent? How should followers pursue authenticity in relation to leaders?

Reading:

1.     Vaclav Havel “Sonning Prize Speech”: http://old.hrad.cz/president/Havel/speeches/1991/2805_uk.html

2.     Ignatieff (2015) “The Hero Europe Needed” in The Atlantic

3.     Thacker, The Art of Authenticity ch. 7 “Relational Transparency and Honest Conversations”

4.     Edmonson & Lei (2014) “Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct”

Assignment due:

·      Failed Leadership Paper

Lesson 9:

April 14^th

Topic: Emotions and Vulnerability in the Leadership Process

Description: We will discuss and critique Goleman and others’ work on emotional intelligence as a key competency for leaders. In particular, we will reflect on the role that the human vulnerabilities of shame and fear play in leadership. Have we confused vulnerability with weakness?

Reading:

1.     Brown, Dare to Lead section 2 “The Call to Courage”

2.     Listen to the Happiness Lab podcast episode “How to Identify Your Negative Emotions”

3.     Watch Adam Grant Interviews Daniel Coyle- “The three most important words a leader can say”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFk95hefF_Q

4.     Grant, A. “The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence” article in The Atlantic

Recommended: Sheldon, Dunning & Ames (2014) Emotionally Unskilled, Unaware, and Uninterested in Learning More: Reactions to Feedback About Deficits in Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99 (1).

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Reading Quiz #2 (lessons 6-8)

INTERNALIZED MORAL PERSPECTIVE AND LEADING CHANGE

Lesson 10: April 21^st

Topic: Integrity and Moral Development

Description: The fourth component of authentic leadership is the practice of behaving in concert with one’s deepest values. This also requires humility and more sophisticated levels or moral and cognitive reasoning. We will discuss the inherent morality of a leader’s stories through Kohlberg’s model of moral development and Gardner’s cognitive model of leadership. Our exemplary leader will be Eleanor Roosevelt, former U.S. first lady and humanitarian. We will discuss her example as a counter point to the dangers and ethics revealed in the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Reading:

1.     Thacker, The Art of Authenticity ch. 8 “Internalized Moral Perspective/An Active, Unique GPS System”

2.     Prince, (in Wren’s The Leader’s Companion) “Moral Development in Individuals”

3.     Watch Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwQCRUtzBsU

4.     Read about the Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment: https://www.prisonexp.org/

Lesson 11:

April 28^th

Topic: Self-compassion and personal growth

Description: Believe it or not, there is a solid and growing body of research on self-compassion and its benefits. This research has shown that the key to personal growth and well-being in not self-criticism as many assume, but in the practice of self-compassion. Why is that? We will explore the components of self-compassion and apply research-based principles of personal growth.

Reading:

1.     Warren, Smeets & Neff (2016) “Self-criticism and Self-compassion: Risk and Resilience”

2.     Watch Kristin Neff’s TED Talk on “The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self Compassion”

3.     Heath & Heath, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard ch. 7 “Grow Your People”

Assignments Due:

·      Reading Quiz #3 (lesson 9-11 readings)

Lesson 12:

May 5^th

Topic: Creating an Environment of Authenticity

Description: We will move from personal growth, the journey to self-expression as a leader, to the ultimate goal of creating environments that make authenticity and integrity more likely. Leadership, in the end, is not just about a destination but about the orchestration of a process in which people live thrive in all the aspects of their lives. The personal challenge is the challenge of equipping others, mentoring, and designing good cultures.

Reading:

1.     Bennis, On Becoming a Leader ch. 6 “Deploying Yourself: Strike Hard, Try Everything”

2.     Eurich, Insight ch. 9 “How Leaders Build Self-aware Teams and Organizations”

3.     Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers ch. 11 “The Personal Challenge”

Optional: Turn in Research Paper Rough Draft or Outline for feedback

Lesson 13: May 12^th

Topic: Final Presentations

Description: We will use the framework for authentic leadership and discussed how students can use it to continue to develop their capacity for self-aware leadership.

Reading: None

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Research Paper

·      Research Paper Presentation

Lesson 14 (Final Exam week):

May 19^th

Topic: Presentations/ Bringing it all together

Description: In addition to course evaluations, we will review student research  presentations and application of key concepts. This will be an opportunity to practice giving feedback to others in a way that produces a roadmap to confidence and improvement.

Assignment due:

·      Research Paper Presentation