The goal of this course is to help participants gain a better understanding of the foundations of leader-ship and help them to be more effective in leadership roles in their organizations. This entails developing knowledge and skills to analyze key issues in motivation, influence, decision-making, interpersonal relations, team processes, and organizational change. Written and video cases, experiential exercises and real-life examples from the instructors’ extensive experience as a top-level executive (Dr. Waltl) and management educator and consultant (Prof. Stahl) will demonstrate that effective leadership involves four critical processes: establishing direction, aligning people behind it, setting and maintaining values, and growth of self and others. These leadership tasks require self-awareness and self-management skills, therefore this course will also provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on their development as a future leader (hence, the course title “Becoming a Global Leader”). Participants will have an opportunity to analyze their strengths and limitations as a leader; reflect on their personal development needs and on how to improve their effectiveness as future leaders; design a customized strategy for increasing expertise in their weak areas; and create a personal development plan.

In addition to covering the fundamentals of leadership, another focus of this course is on how to lead with foresight and integrity in a global, highly dynamic and turbulent environment. Today’s executives face unprecedented levels of complexity and have to make decisions that have great social, economic and environmental implications. They are expected to improve human well-being and social equity and effectively address societal issues like climate change, human-rights protection, and diversity and inclusion. They have to navigate their organizations through periods of radical change, turbulence and crisis, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic. 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 and 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 and management, organizational behavior, human resource management, corporate governance, behavioral ethics, and social psychology. Throughout the course, Dr. Waltl will share personal experiences and insights from his 30-year career with Shell, where he held various senior executive positions in Europe, North America and Asia. Prof. Stahl will provide insights and ideas based on cutting-edge research and his years in consulting and management education; and equip participants with a set of management concepts, analytical frameworks and practical tools that can help them deal more effectively with key leadership challenges.

Participants are expected to attend all of the sessions.

Plan A

The course is structured around five 5-hour classroom sessions. Each session is a module addressing a particular leadership or leadership development challenge. Our modus operandi will be dialog, and the teaching approach varied, with a mix of lecture input, group discussion, case analysis, experiential exercises, and videos. Effective leadership requires self-awareness, therefor self-diagnostic tools will also be made available.

a) Participation

Given the interactive format, active participation in class discussions is required. This includes evidence of thorough preparation of course materials, particularly case studies and pre-class assignments. Participants are expected to attend all of the sessions. Classroom performance will be evaluated based on atten­d­ance, prepared­ness, and quality of contributions (please note the word ‘quality’).

b) Pre-Course Assignment: Essay “What Does Leadership Mean to You?”

After you have read the required cases and articles and watched the preparatory video lectures, take some time to contemplate the questions below.

• Think of the best leader you have ever worked with or for. Who comes to mind? Describe this leader, his or her style, and what made this person an effective leader.
• What qualities (values, personal philosophies, etc.) and skills are most important in your own leadership? In other words: What type of leader are you? And what type of leader (or potential future leader) do you want to be?

In reflecting on the above questions keep in mind that ‘leadership’ is something anyone can demonstrate in their life and work, you do not need to be in a formal leadership role to have a go at answering these questions. Summarize your thoughts and ideas in a 1-2 page essay and upload it on CANVAS by November, 19th 2023.

c) In-Class Group Assignment

An in-class assignment will provide you with an opportunity to apply the course concepts to a real-world problem. The group assignment will require you to analyze a complex organizational problem, using the theoretical models, frameworks and tools provided in this course. A case study selected by the instructors will be handed out at the beginning of Session 4, along with the instructions. You will be asked to organize yourselves into small groups to conduct an analysis of the case and to come up with a set of recommendations to the top management of a large global corporation on how to address the organizational, cultural, and people management challenges facing the company.

The deliverable will be a Powerpoint presentation, to be submitted through the CANVAS system at the end of the session. One group will be randomly selected (unless one of the groups volunteers) to share their key findings, insights and conclusions in class, leading to classroom discussion of the underlying issues, approaches to the problem, and recommendations and solutions. Note that the quality of the classroom presentation and ensuing discussion will not affect the group’s grade. Submitted presen­tations will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: application of course concepts; arguments given to support conclusions; quality of insights; feasibility of recommendations.

Please name your file in the following manner when you submit the presentation (one for each group) through CANVAS: Group Assignment_ [name of group]

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