The goal of this course is to help participants gain a better understanding of the founda­tions of leader­ship and help them to be effective in leadership roles in their organizations. This entails developing knowledge and skills to analyze key issues in motivation, influence, decision-making, interpersonal relations, and team processes. Analysis of real-life cases will demons­trate that effective leadership involves four critical processes: establishing direction, aligning people, setting and main­taining values, and growth of self and others. These leader­ship tasks require self-awareness and self-manage­ment skills, therefore this course will provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on their leadership style and personality, assess their devel­opment needs, and create a personal development plan.

In addition to the fundamentals of leadership, the course will cover a range of issues related to global leadership. At no time in human history has the contact between individuals and organizations from different countries been greater. The increase in global competition and the corresponding erosion of national boundaries has spurred an unprecedented surge in cross-border alliances, mergers, and acquisitions. Executives travel around broader regions while their jobs remain headquartered in one place. Global virtual teams are created to address important strategic challenges. As a result, the dem­ands on executives operating in a global and multi-cultural environment have increased exponentially.

Another focus of this course is on how to lead with foresight and integrity in today’s highly dynamic and volatile world. Today’s executives face unprecedented levels of complexity and have to make decisions that have huge social, economic and environmental implications. In so doing, they find themselves torn between the divergent and often conflicting needs and expectations of a diverse set of stakeholders. Leading in such a context is fraught with ethical dilemmas and “integrity landmines”, and another goal of this course is to provide participants with strategies to navigate those tensions.

Thus, this course is designed to help participants develop a deeper understanding of the challenges that confront global managers today and to prepare them for leadership roles in their organizations. To achieve these goals, we will approach the subject of leadership from a variety of different angles and draw on insights from diverse disciplines, including global strategy, cross-cultural management, organi­za­tional behavior, social psychology, behavioral ethics and cognitive neuroscience.

Knowledge and Understanding

Cognitive and Subject Specific Skills

General Skills

The course is structured around ten 4-hour classroom sessions. Each session addresses a particular leadership challenge facing global execu­tives (e.g., leading a diverse team) or illustrating a particular leadership principle (e.g., influencing without using authority). Participants will be provided with a set of management concepts, analytical frame­works, and practical tools that will help them develop their capa­city to influence and manage people and groups effectively. Our modus operandi will be dialog, and the teaching approach varied, with a mix of lecture input, group discussion, case analysis, experiential exercises, videos, and assessments. Effective leadership requires self-awareness, so self-diagnostic tools will also be made available. Some classes will follow a learning group or L-Group format involving an input by the instructor, leading to a short period of roundtable discussion. In addition, a one day cultural immersion experience or service learning project will provide participants with an opportunity to spend time in an unfamiliar environment and apply some of the learnings.

The course grade will be computed as a weighted average of three elements:

a) Participation (40%)

b) Individual project: Cultural immersion experience or service learning project (40%)

c) Reflection paper: “My Leadership Story” (20%)

While evaluation is a necessary feature of this and any other course, it is not expected that participants will populate both tails of a normal distribution.

Please note:

• There are 2 sections of this course, limited to 30 participants each. Students, who attended or are planning to attend the Becoming a Global Leader and/or the Managing People, Teams and Organization Across Cultures elective courses with Prof. Stahl, are not eligible for this course.
• There are 3 mandatory sessions that participants must attend (no exceptions!): session 1 (course introduction), session 2 and session 5!

Günter Stahl

Institute for International Business, Building D1, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Wien

Phone: +43-1-31336-4434

guenter.stahl@wu.ac.at

Office hours by appointment