Faculty
Professor Pino G. Audia
Objectives
Effective leadership requires acquiring knowledge about how effective organizations function as well as knowledge about oneself. While the MBA curricula of top business schools offer countless opportunities to acquire knowledge about organizations, there are relatively fewer courses dedicated to acquiring and learning how to use knowledge about oneself. Yet, knowledge about oneself is critical to leadership effectiveness because it enables effective leaders to choose the settings in which they can capitalize on their strengths and it helps them to identify areas of their leadership profile that require improvement. This course focuses on knowledge about oneself. We will use 360-degree feedback from former co-workers collected before the course begins to identify each student’s unique strengths and opportunities to improve as a leader. The theoretical framework underlying the 360-degree feedback highlights the relationship between leadership styles and the demands on leaders in different work settings. The central premise is that whether certain behaviors constitute effective leadership depends on the demands of the work setting in which the person operates. In other words, what is required to be an effective leader in a Wall Street firm likely differs from what it takes to be a leader in a consumer goods company or a start-up.
Using this theoretical framework, we will assess how student’s unique leadership profiles match the demands of their jobs, focusing on both the jobs they held prior to joining Tuck and their likely jobs after they leave Tuck. Based on a gap analysis, we will identify development needs and actions for improvement. To create an environment conducive to learning and personal growth, we will devote the second half of each class in which feedback is returned to small group discussions of the meaning of your findings. In addition, students will discuss cases and will take part in structured role-play exercises that identify effective behavioral approaches to leading others. This mini course will be taught on November 6 (9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm; sessions 1 and 2) and November 13 (10am-1pm and 2pm-5:30pm; sessions 3 and 4) with sessions in the morning and in the afternoon. For additional details see session plan below.
Requirements
Leadership Self Analysis and Action Plan (LSAAP) – 80%
Objective: To evaluate yourself as a leader in terms of your strengths and opportunities for improvement, and to develop a detailed strategy for meeting your career goals.
Due Date: November 20, 2009 at noon. Please email the document to Annette Lyman.
Requirements: This assignment requires that you integrate aspects of the course (assessment feedback, readings, cases, videos, exercises, and lectures) and identify how they specifically apply to you. The paper should be a maximum of 8 pages in length (double spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins – Please conform to these specifications and the deadline or I will need to deduct points from your paper). Additional details about the content of this assignment will be covered in class.
Class Participation – 20%
Class participation evaluations are based on your contributions to class discussions and case analyses, and your active participation in group exercises. I evaluate your participation based on the extent to which you contribute comments that are insightful, relevant, and progressive (e.g., comments that move the discussion along, rather than restate what has already been said). As you know better than most (!), you and your classmates get maximum benefit from high quality comments as opposed to high quantity. In fact, high quantity/low quality comments are detrimental in a group this large and will, for that reason, be downgraded.
Of course, your classmates and I expect you to be prepared for and attend each class session.
Materials
A General Statement About Attendance
We (your instructor and classmates) expect you to attend, be prepared for, and arrive on time for each class session. Absences from class will result in grade penalties and may also result in withholding assessment feedback. The reason for this strict attendance policy is that much of the learning in this class occurs in class. Further, many of the activities in class are group based so that being late to class or failing to show up hurts your classmates.
Grading
Leadership Self-Analysis and Action Plan 80%
Class Participation 20%
Schedule
Friday 11/06
McClelland & Burnham, Power is the Great Motivator
Group discussion of assessment feedback
Exercise
How do values affect behavior
Are there values that make it more likely for individuals to be effective leaders?
Change Pro User Manual (in the course folder)
Friday 11/06
Simulation
How do individuals for whom such values are less salient bridge the gap?
Friday 11/13
Collins & Porras. Building A Visionary Company
Spreier, Fontaine, & Malloy, Leadership Run Amok: The Destructive Potential of Overachievers.
"Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley" HBR case (in course folder).
Exercise
Group discussion of assessment feedback
What is a leadership style?
Which styles are most effective and when?
Which leadership styles do you tend to use?
Friday 11/13
Craig Parks (A)
Drucker, Managing Oneself.
Case discussion
Group discussion of LDPs
First steps toward developing your Leadership Development Plan (LDP)
