The goal of this course is to help participants gain a better understanding of key leader­ship principles and help them to be effective in leadership roles in their organizations. This entails developing know­ledge and skills to recognize and manage key issues in motivation, influence, decision-making, interpersonal relations and team dynamics. 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, therefore this course will provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on their leader­­ship style, assess their leader­­ship devel­opment needs, and create a personal development plan.

In addition to the leadership fundamentals, the course will cover a range of issues related to global leader­­ship. At no time in history has the contact between individuals and organizations from different countries been greater. The increase in global competition 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 key strategic challenges. As a result, the dem­ands on executives operating in a global 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 different – and often conflicting – needs and demands 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 facing 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, organi­za­tional behavior, social psychology, cross-cultural management, behavioral ethics, forensic psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

The course is organized around four major themes:

-Fundamentals of leadership and leadership development: Leading people, teams and organizations; developing self and others (Sessions 1-4)

-21st century leadership: Emerging new trends and contemporary issues in leadership (Session 5)

-Global leadership: The international and cross-cultural dimensions of leadership (Sessions 6-7)

-(Ir)Responsible leadership: The bright side and the dark side of leadership (Sessions 8-9)

Important: Students who attended or are planning to attend the Becoming a Global Leader or Managing People, Teams and Organizations Across Cultures elective courses with Prof. Stahl are not eligible for this course.

By the end of the course participants will have learned:

Knowledge and Understanding

Cognitive and Subject Specific Skills

General Skills

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The course is organized around nine 4-hour classroom sessions. Each session addresses a particular leadership challenge (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 leadership 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, 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 apply some of the learnings.

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

-Participation (30%)

-Individual project: Cultural immersion experience or service learning project (30%)

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

-Group project: Presentation on one contemporary leadership concept, issue or trend (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.

normal distribution.