This course offers a comprehensive review of contemporary issues and perspectives on leadership, including multi-disciplinary and systems-oriented approaches as well as classic theory, moving to the examination of evolving contemporary beliefs.
The learning objectives are designed to give insights into leadership theory and how it applies in real- world contexts. Specifically, students will be able to:
- Develop and articulate a deep understanding of a significant societal challenge and propose an impactful leadership solution that incorporates diverse perspectives on leadership, community voice and assets along with multi-disciplinary and systems-oriented approaches
- Cultivate knowledge, skills and dispositions for informed community engagement that creates positive social and organizational change
- Improve leadership self-efficacy (individual's confidence in their ability to carry out various leadership behaviors, such as influencing others, developing strong partnerships, creating psychologically safe environments, inspiring a shared vision, leading by example, etc.) by working through real-life scenarios
- Demonstrate leadership skills in a hands-on, practical way that challenges personal beliefs and assumptions about what constitutes leadership
- Build teams and partnerships that are cohesive, effective, and high-performing and develop effective strategies to overcome team challenges
- Invest in the leadership growth and development of self and others by integrating coach-like leader behaviors inside and outside academic, professional and personal lives
- Develop cross-cultural mindsets that enable effective navigation across disciplinary and cultural boundaries, build cultural bridges, and assess the context and/or needs.
- Lencioni, Pat. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
- Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice, 9th edition
- Marquet, David L. Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
- Meyer, Erin. The Culture Map: Decoding How People Think, Lead, and Get Things Done Across Cultures
You are expected to demonstrate significant effort across all the categories shown below. (For example, you should not assume that you can skip class, miss major assignments, and not participate in class discussions and still pass. If you have questions about what it means to demonstrate significant effort across all categories, please make an appointment to see the instructor. If for any reason you are unable to attend class or complete a major assignment due to unforeseen circumstances, please communicate to your team and the teaching team as soon as possible and we will do our best to work with you.
Many of the assignments will be due at 11:59pm prior to the next class (Sundays and Tuesdays), apart from in-class assignments which should be posted by 11:59pm on the same day that they were completed in class (the Teaching Team will confirm these assignments during class sessions). We have setup this structure to provide consistency and ensure that you are well prepared for each class session discussion.
Grades are final. If you believe a grade you received is unfair, request a re-grade in writing via email to the instructor. The grading breakdown is shown below:
Category | Weight
Participation & Attendance 25%
Leadership Approaches and Practice 30%
Become a Coach-Like Leader 20%
Turn “Your” Ship Around. 25%
Your final grade will be assigned as a letter grade according to the following scale:
A 90-100%
B 80-89%
C 70-79%
D 60-69%
F 0-59%
Late or Missing Assignments (Late Passes)
All of us live complex lives, and sometimes circumstances get in the way of our best intentions. To allow for such situations, we have made two late assignment passes available to everyone. If you anticipate that you will not be able to meet a deadline, please let the teaching team know that you wish to use a late pass. This will grant you three extra days to complete the assignment without penalty. If you do not submit an assignment by the due date and did not request a late assignment pass, late penalties will apply as follows:
- Within 24 hours of original due date: 10% deduction off assignment grade
- Between 24-48 hours of original due date: 20% deduction off assignment grade
- After 48 hours of original due date: 30% deduction off assignment grade
If you are experiencing any hardship during the semester, please reach out to the teaching team as soon as possible. We will work with everyone, on a case-by-case basis, to identify feasible adjustments to assignment deadlines.
For assignments that require you to present to your peers—you will be expected to present on the day assigned to your group (unless you have an emergency or formal, pre-approved excused absence) and these presentations will not be accepted for partial credit after the due date.
Attendance: A pre-requisite to participating is showing up. Attendance is taken. You may miss up to 2 classes without penalty. Institute excused absences should be communicated at least 48 hours ahead of time, whenever possible, via email to your instructor and TA. Please proactively communicate with us if you are aware that you will be absent from class. We will do our best to work with you through all situations you may face during the semester. If you happen to miss a class, please review the follow-up class PPT in the weekly modules and makeup any missed work.
Tardiness: Since your contributions are integral to a rich learning experience, timeliness to class is expected. Please let the teaching team know if you will be late to class. If you are more than 15 minutes late to class or leave early, we will count as a ½ missed class. Excessive tardiness to class may impact your grade.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Social Sciences area
Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.
This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question:
- How do I understand human experiences and connections?
Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcome:
- Students will effectively analyze the complexity of human behavior, and how historical, economic, political, social or geographic relationships develop, persist or change.
Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies:
- Intercultural Competence
- Perspective-Taking
- Persuasion