Leadership: Mobilizing People

COURSE OBJECTIVE

The term “leadership” often connotes images of powerful, dynamic individuals who direct corporate empires or shape the course of nations. However, we are also more directly confronted with leadership in our workaday world: in class, at our jobs, in our sports teams, during group assignments, and so forth. Leadership can take many forms. It can be shared, for example, and (organizational) change can be initiated bottom-up. Leadership, after all, is as much about the leader as it is about the people she or he is trying to mobilize.

After successfully completing this course, participants:

• can analyze and critically reflect on existing literature on leadership and related areas, and translate this knowledge to different settings.
• understand the theoretical and methodological domain of leadership research.
• Can structure and solve practical issues in the area of leadership and management by applying relevant theoretical and methodological concepts.
• Can reflect on their leadership in practice.

COURSE CONTENT 

Leadership is a subject that has long excited interest among scholars and practitioners alike. Whether it concerns a business corporation, an athletic team, or a team project in class, there seems to be a persistent assumption that the leader has a crucial role in the organization’s or team’s success. This leadership course, which combines and integrates leadership theories and research, will help you understand both historical and everyday examples of leadership. Leaders must be able to manage information, diagnose problems, negotiate with others, and make effective decisions, as well as coordinate and motivate the human and social capital of their organizational members. They are held accountable for the organizational outcomes, but increasingly also for 'their' organizational cultures. This course aims to prepare you to understand and meet these challenges by familiarizing you with leadership theories, and providing you with practical experiences through case studies and experiential activities.

TEACHING METHODS 

Lectures and tutorials

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT 

individual assessment
Group assessment