This course will address historical and cultural perspectives of leadership, the development of leadership models over the last 50 years, and the impact of globalization on the theory and practice of leading across cultures. The theoretical and practical issues of leadership in business and non- profit organizations will provide the framework for the readings and discussion. The concept of ‘adaptive leadership’ is introduced as a method for responding to internal and external challenges. Student internship experiences will be integrated regularly into class-work. Students will collaborate in small teams to create group projects that will serve as a workshop for the course content.
Learning outcomes:
Students who complete this course will be able to understand the evolution of the theoretical dimensions of leadership and the key concepts of holistic leadership. As ‘global leadership’ will be a theme running through all their sessions, they will develop a good understanding of how culture impacts leadership in new cultural environments. As a practical course, they will have strengthened communication skills essential for motivating others. They will have a deepened awareness and understanding of their own leadership point-of-view.
Method of presentation:
This course is run as a seminar with active discussion of readings, integration of internship experiences, assessment tools, DVD’s, case studies, simulations, and role-plays with video feedback.
Required work and form of assessment:
Active participation in seminar (15%), Mid-term paper on common readings (25%), Group collaboration on initiating, planning, and developing a team project (10%), Project Assessment: based on students’ learning and reflections on their successes and failures during the process (50%)
content:
Week 1: Welcome to Leadership
This introductory session will provide a welcome and overview of the course objectives, content and process. The discussion will include: expectations, understanding case-in-point approach, and understanding one’s personal values and how they influence and create a personal ‘leadership point-of-view’. Attention will also be directed towards the opportunities for using the internship as a learning laboratory for leadership studies as an environment in which to observe and analyse effective and less effective leadership behaviour. Time will also be allocated for generating ideas for small group projects. Various leadership models will be introduced and how historical and cultural roots have shaped these models will be discussed. Discussion will be centred around the demands on leaders in a globalized world. Leadership will be examined from various perspectives: holistic leadership, ethical leadership, authentic leadership, and adaptive leadership. A leadership simulation and debrief will provide insight into leadership behaviours in a demanding situation.
Week 2: Building Trust
A fundamental component of holistic leadership is self-awareness: what makes a person who and what he/she is? Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator as a theoretical underpinning, students will gain an awareness of their personal communication, decision-making and leadership preferences, how they use them and how they may be perceived by others. They will be given exercises to observe and analyse different preferences and behaviours in their internship workplaces. A leadership mindset fosters the personal and professional growth of talent, focusing on outcomes and on the follower’s desires and needs. In order to do this, leaders need to know how to listen. Developing an ability to be ‘other focused’ and fully present when listening and speaking to the other person is essential for credible leadership.
Week 3: Global Leadership Competencies
This session will examine the research on competencies needed to lead in a global environment. Discussions and exercises will deepen students’ understanding of global leadership competencies such as cognitive complexity, managing diversity, openness, influencing with integrity, and aligning behaviour and actions across cultures. Students will practice specific skills of influencing with integrity and ‘asserting with respect’ as classroom activities.
Week 4: Leading Across Cultures: Global Context of Leadership
This session will build on the models introduced in Session one, developing the theme of culture’s influence on leadership attitudes, styles and behaviours. How is leadership expressed in different cultures and different societies? What is the expectation of a leader in different cultural environments? Does successful leadership in one environment mean success in another? An online cultural learning tool, Argonautonline, will be used to provide students with feedback on their own cultural values, behaviours and work-styles. A leadership case study with DVD will be the core content of this session. Students will be involved in role-play, exercises and case analysis, experiencing what this ‘real leader’ is confronting daily on his international leadership assignments in Bulgaria and India.
Week 5: Building Trust in Multicultural Teams
Today’s global teams are heterogeneous, diverse, and more than likely, dispersed geographically. Effective leaders see diversity as a source of strength and creativity. The focus of session five will be on the theory and practice of using diversity to build trust and high performance in teams. Student learning will be enriched with analysis of a DVD on multi-cultural teambuilding as well as observations from their internship experiences.
Week 6: Guest Lecturer
Week 7: Leadership Mindset
Vision -- creating a vision that inspires others -- is a leadership priority.
The DVD ‘What is Right with the World’ is one man’s inspiration. Students will review this ‘inspiring vision’ and reflect on it individually and in their small project teams. They will use session seven to give further shape to their project, reporting back on their progress at the end of class.
Week 8: Our Leadership Experience in London
Students will have completed their project, part of which will be a 10-minute video (to be approved by professors), and present to other students and faculty. Following the Q&A, students will return to their project teams for a debrief and farewell.
Required readings:
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. “The Theory Behind the Practice” in Heifetz et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. 2009. Pp. 13-40.
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. “Inspire People” in Heifetz et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. 2009. Pp. 263-274.
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. “Engage courageously” in Heifetz et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. 2009. Pp. 247-262.
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. “Orchestrate Conflict” in Heifetz et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. 2009. Pp. 149-164.
Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. “See Yourself as System, Identify Your Loyalties” in Heifetz et al. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston:Harvard Business School Publishing.2009. Pp.181-194 “In Search of Global Leaders,” Harvard Business Review. February, 2003. Pp 38-45.
Hirsh, S.K., & Kummerow, J.M., Introduction to Type in Organizations, 3rd edition. Palo Alto: CPP, Inc. 1998. Pp 1-25.
Kolb, D. “Communication Skills for Leaders.” Boulder: Incite Learning publications. 2009. Pp1-8.
Kolb, D. “Leadership Skills: Handling Resistance and Conflict.” Boulder: Incite Learning publications. 2009. Pp 1-8.
McKergow, M., & Clarke, J. “Introducing Solutions Focus Working” in McKergow et al. Solutions Focus Working. Cheltenham: SolutionsBooks. 2007. Pp. 1-11.
Schneider, S. C., & Barsoux, J-L., “The International Manager” in Schneider et al. Managing Across Cultures, 2nd edition. London: FT Prentice Hall.2003. Pp. 185-209.
Schneider, S. C., & Barsoux, J-L., “The Multicultural Team” in Schneider et al. Managing Across Cultures, 2nd edition. London: FT Prentice Hall.2003. Pp. 216-242
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. “The One Best Way of Organizing Does not Exist, The Meaning of Culture ” in Trompenaars et al. Riding the Waves of Culture. New York: McGraw Hill. 1998. Pp. 13-28
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. “Towards International and Transnational Management” in Trompenaars et al. Riding the Waves of Culture. New York: McGraw Hill. 1998. Pp 182-194.
Additional case studies, articles, and relevant online references and material will be assigned on a weekly basis.
Recommended readings:
Daloz Parks, Sharon. Leadership Can be Taught. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
De Janasz, S. C., Dowd, K. O., & Schnieder, B. Z. Interpersonal Skills in Organizations, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw Hill. 2002. Pp. 200-211
Trompenaars, Fons and Charles Hampden-Turner. Managing People Across Cultures. Mankato: Capstone, 2004.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Caroline Beery & Maria Jicheva have a London-based intercultural consulting and training company specializing in cross-cultural competency development, multi-cultural team development, and executive coaching. Caroline is an American who has lived and worked in the US, Japan and the UK. Maria, a Bulgarian, has lived and worked in Bulgaria, Finland, Russia and the UK. Both have travelled and worked extensively in different countries. They have co-taught Managing and Leading in a Global Environment for the last nine years. For further information on Caroline and Maria, please see their biographical sketches on the Coghill & Beery website at www.coghillbeery.com.
This course will address historical and cultural perspectives of leadership, the development of leadership models over the last 50 years, and the impact of globalization on the theory and practice of leading across cultures. The theoretical and practical issues of leadership in business and non- profit organizations will provide the framework for the readings and discussion. The concept of ‘adaptive leadership’ is introduced as a method for responding to internal and external challenges. Student internship experiences will be integrated regularly into class-work. Students will collaborate in small teams to create group projects that will serve as a workshop for the course content.
Students who complete this course will be able to understand the evolution of the theoretical dimensions of leadership and the key concepts of holistic leadership. As ‘global leadership’ will be a theme running through all their sessions, they will develop a good understanding of how culture impacts leadership in new cultural environments. As a practical course, they will have strengthened communication skills essential for motivating others. They will have a deepened awareness and understanding of their own leadership point-of-view.
This course is run as a seminar with active discussion of readings, integration of internship experiences, assessment tools, DVD’s, case studies, simulations, and role-plays with video feedback.
Active participation in seminar (15%), Mid-term paper on common readings (25%), Group collaboration on initiating, planning, and developing a team project (10%), Project Assessment: based on students’ learning and reflections on their successes and failures during the process (50%)
Week 1: Welcome to Leadership
This introductory session will provide a welcome and overview of the course objectives, content and process. The discussion will include: expectations, understanding case-in-point approach, and understanding one’s personal values and how they influence and create a personal ‘leadership point-of-view’. Attention will also be directed towards the opportunities for using the internship as a learning laboratory for leadership studies as an environment in which to observe and analyse effective and less effective leadership behaviour. Time will also be allocated for generating ideas for small group projects. Various leadership models will be introduced and how historical and cultural roots have shaped these models will be discussed. Discussion will be centred around the demands on leaders in a globalized world. Leadership will be examined from various perspectives: holistic leadership, ethical leadership, authentic leadership, and adaptive leadership. A leadership simulation and debrief will provide insight into leadership behaviours in a demanding situation.
Week 2: Building Trust
A fundamental component of holistic leadership is self-awareness: what makes a person who and what he/she is? Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator as a theoretical underpinning, students will gain an awareness of their personal communication, decision-making and leadership preferences, how they use them and how they may be perceived by others. They will be given exercises to observe and analyse different preferences and behaviours in their internship workplaces. A leadership mindset fosters the personal and professional growth of talent, focusing on outcomes and on the follower’s desires and needs. In order to do this, leaders need to know how to listen. Developing an ability to be ‘other focused’ and fully present when listening and speaking to the other person is essential for credible leadership.
Week 3: Global Leadership Competencies
This session will examine the research on competencies needed to lead in a global environment. Discussions and exercises will deepen students’ understanding of global leadership competencies such as cognitive complexity, managing diversity, openness, influencing with integrity, and aligning behaviour and actions across cultures. Students will practice specific skills of influencing with integrity and ‘asserting with respect’ as classroom activities.
Week 4: Leading Across Cultures: Global Context of Leadership
This session will build on the models introduced in Session one, developing the theme of culture’s influence on leadership attitudes, styles and behaviours. How is leadership expressed in different cultures and different societies? What is the expectation of a leader in different cultural environments? Does successful leadership in one environment mean success in another? An online cultural learning tool, Argonautonline, will be used to provide students with feedback on their own cultural values, behaviours and work-styles. A leadership case study with DVD will be the core content of this session. Students will be involved in role-play, exercises and case analysis, experiencing what this ‘real leader’ is confronting daily on his international leadership assignments in Bulgaria and India.
Week 5: Building Trust in Multicultural Teams
Today’s global teams are heterogeneous, diverse, and more than likely, dispersed geographically. Effective leaders see diversity as a source of strength and creativity. The focus of session five will be on the theory and practice of using diversity to build trust and high performance in teams. Student learning will be enriched with analysis of a DVD on multi-cultural teambuilding as well as observations from their internship experiences.
Week 6: Guest Lecturer
Week 7: Leadership Mindset
Vision -- creating a vision that inspires others -- is a leadership priority.
The DVD ‘What is Right with the World’ is one man’s inspiration. Students will review this ‘inspiring vision’ and reflect on it individually and in their small project teams. They will use session seven to give further shape to their project, reporting back on their progress at the end of class.
Week 8: Our Leadership Experience in London
Students will have completed their project, part of which will be a 10-minute video (to be approved by professors), and present to other students and faculty. Following the Q&A, students will return to their project teams for a debrief and farewell.
Caroline Beery & Maria Jicheva have a London-based intercultural consulting and training company specializing in cross-cultural competency development, multi-cultural team development, and executive coaching. Caroline is an American who has lived and worked in the US, Japan and the UK. Maria, a Bulgarian, has lived and worked in Bulgaria, Finland, Russia and the UK. Both have travelled and worked extensively in different countries. They have co-taught Managing and Leading in a Global Environment for the last nine years. For further information on Caroline and Maria, please see their biographical sketches on the Coghill & Beery website at www.coghillbeery.com.