The principal goal of this course is to build new abilities for more effectively influencing people, situations, and outcomes.
Students finish class (a) having completed a portfolio of work for building new abilities for exercising influence, (b) with an agenda for the development goals they will take up going forward, and (c) with a toolkit for managing their own learning and development in the future.
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Leadership concerns creating meaningful change. The work of this class concerns self-leadership, or the practice of creating meaningful change in yourself and your abilities.
We begin the course by clarifying the meaning of leadership and the core capabilities for exercising influence. Students then explore and practice a set of these abilities over the duration of the class.
Developing skill and finesse with new abilities requires time and dedication. To facilitate more focused skill development work, students are invited to focus on three abilities, one of which students themselves create. A sample of past student projects includes:
- Leaning in to disagreements rather than avoiding them
- Advocating more effectively for one’s point of view and needs
- Reworking interpersonal habits that derail interactions with others
- Building interpersonal practices to generate greater informal authority
- Establishing and maintaining boundaries necessary for productive work relationships
- More effectively using one’s voice in a variety of situations
Throughout the course, students also learn a set of tactics for developing new abilities. These tactics are a toolkit that can be used long after the class has ended. Some of the approaches covered in class include:
- Taking stock of your most pressing development needs
- Engaging thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to create development goals
- Focusing and narrowing development goals so that they are actionable
- Reworking ineffective patterns of behavior
- Dealing with your own resistance to making desired change
- Initiating and sustaining action over time to make progress
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It is important to note this class requires a more personal form of engagement than many classes.
The class requires students to take themselves as an object of study as they apply concepts and practices to their own conduct. The class consists of activities, assignments, and interactions that involve analyzing your core drivers, better understanding what others need from you, learning to work with your own thoughts and emotions, generating meaningful goals for yourself, on-going effort to make desired changes, and supporting your fellow classmates as they engage in the same kind of work. The personal nature of the work we do in this class relies on a willingness to try difficult things, to be vulnerable, and to take responsibility for your own development.
Format
The format of the class will include in-class discussion, experiential exercises, and short lectures. One of the most important parts of class are the assignments in between classes which involve experimenting with new behaviors in ways that may feel unfamiliar and/or challenging. Both are considered essential parts of the class experience.
