Instructor: Karen Pikula
Dates: February 21 - April 17, 2011
Online Course Frequently Asked Questions
ALL OVER THE WORLD in corporations and government agencies, there are millions of executives who imagine their place on the organization chart has given them a body of followers. And of course it hasn't. It has given them subordinates. Whether the subordinates become followers depends on whether the executives act like leaders.
-John Gardner
In The Art of Leadership I students will self define leadership and the role it plays in their life. They will learn the elements of caring leadership, how to identify the satisfactions and frustrations of leadership, and what people want in a leader. They will learn to look at leadership through the lens of both trait and behavior theories. This class focuses on distinguishing qualities of leaders and the characteristics of followers as they are relevant to leadership. The Art of Leadership I will be followed by The Art of Leadership II.
- Students will evaluate their leadership qualities; they will investigate how they interact with others by evaluating their interpersonal trust levels.
- Students will discover how situational influences affect the leadership process and how different leadership situations require different kinds of intelligence. They will personalize this by completing a Multiple Intelligence exercise that will tell them the types of intelligences they possess, in which situations they are likely to lead, where their natural leadership strengths lie, and what their leadership style is.
- The character of a leader has an influence on the behavior of followers. Leadership principles, values, and ethics play a huge role in leadership interactions. Students will learn about the levels and stages of moral development, the importance of ethics, work morale, human relations and in a work environment. They will rationalize their solutions to hypothetical moral dilemmas, explore differing definitions of good, and investigate how a leader's behaviors influence employee conduct and organizational reputation.
- Students will complete a personal value orientation exercise to help them understand and measure their own positive values. By completing an evaluation of the organization they are involved with, students will discover how their origination measures up against current organizational moral and financial standards.
- Students will study the leader's role in creating high - morale and high- performance work environments. They will investigate motivation in the workplace, and the challenges and rewards of leading in situations of high diversity.
- To demonstrate how the personal and social nature of leadership, emotional intelligence, and social tolerance, applies to leadership effectiveness, students will evaluate a leader of their choice, or themselves, on leadership behaviors. Students will also complete a Morale Survey to determine their personal level of morale, and how one task of leadership is managing morale.
- In learning about developing others, students will look at the art of listening, and the art of persuasion and how each of these affects human relationships and career development.
- In studying human behavior and investigating why people do what they do, students will evaluate themselves on 15 characteristics of self actualization, complete a Motivation in the Workplace evaluation, and Personal Emotional Intelligence Evaluation. To personalize the concept of styles of conflict, students will complete an exercise to determine how they behave in conflict situations.
- This course also looks at the leader in the role of a teacher. It focuses on developing others, the employee - employer relationship, what employers want in an employee, and how to keep and attract good people.
- Students learn about helping people through change, burnout prevention, and about their roles as leaders in dealing with these issues. Students will look at rules that can be used in implementing change, the roles that individuals play in change, and the importance of attitudes. Students will complete a self evaluation on burn out, and also complete a questionnaire that features the five characteristics of a hardy personality, to help them determine their level of stress resistance.
- What students take away from this course will be determined by their commitment to learning about themselves, and their willingness to become a supportive participant in their learning environment. The content will provide valuable assessment tools for students to use for personal and organizational evaluation. The classroom community will provide instructor and peer input, discussion, and guidance.
LEADERSHIP IS SERVICE, not selfishness. The leader grows more and lasts longer by placing the well-being of all above the well-being of self. Through service to others, the leader becomes strong.
-Lao-tzu
The Art of Leadership I is a pre-requisite course to The Art of Leadership II.
References
Manning, G. & Curtis, K. (2009). The Art of Leadership. New York. NY. McGraw-Hill Irwin.