MBAX9131 Leadership - 2021

This course aims to:

• provide an introduction to the topic of leadership;
• help you to build the confidence, knowledge, and skills to engage in effective leadership (including self-leadership) in a broad range of contexts;
• encourage you to be a lifelong student of leadership.

'Leadership' as a subject involves a plethora of concepts, theories, models, frameworks, and skill sets. Consequently, some other courses within the AGSM, such as Managing People and Organisations, address some dimensions of leadership. Such overlap is modest, unavoidable, and actually valuable, as future courses may provide reminders of fundamental concepts learned in this course.

Tips to help you navigate this course

Based on feedback from past students and the experience of our Class Facilitators, it is suggested that you are likely to benefit the most from this course if you do the following:

• At the start of the course, quickly develop an understanding of the overall course structure, the assessments, and the nature of the Individual Leadership Development Plan (ILDP) that will be prepared as part of Assessment 3. Ideally, you will start to think about what should be included in their ILDP from Week 1. The guidance provided in Unit 2 on leadership development principles and methods should be helpful in the process of progressively building your plan. Note that in order to excel at Assessment 3, you will need to do some preparation work well before the assessment deadline (e.g. to gather feedback from colleagues on leadership strengths and weaknesses).
• If academic writing is not yet a strength, make use of the AGSM Student Experience writing resources: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/agsm/students/managing-your-agsm-studies
• Clearly understand what is expected with respect to communication in the classroom (whether face-to-face, over video-conference, or online). See course documents for details.
• Schedule time to allow you to fully participate (e.g. read the course materials, reflect on this information, participate in class activities, and undertake assessments). Being able to manage one's time effectively is an important element of self-leadership and is a key to success in this course.
• Adopt a mindset of being an active and generous student who participates in all learning activities, and helps to create a supportive and rewarding learning environment for the whole class. High-performing students look to learn from, and help, other students (e.g. by sharing experiences and resources during discussions). Please embrace the philosophy that 'leaders grow leaders'.
• Adopt a mindset that sees qualitative feedback (e.g. comments by the Class Facilitator on assessments) as 'a gift' and opportunity for improvement. The ability to seek frequent feedback and positively respond to it is critical for leadership development (see Unit 2).
• Commit to building a practical ILDP that will be used after the course has finished. This will help you to maximise your 'return on investment' from the course.
• Look for opportunities to practise leadership during and after the course. This reflects that most leadership development growth occurs by practising new approaches (e.g. those communicated during the course), getting feedback from colleagues, seeking support (e.g. from a mentor) and reflecting (see Unit 2).
• Consider meeting several times during the course with an informal mentor to help understand and apply the course material. Doing this course provides a good reason to contact someone who you know and respect who excels at leadership. Such a mentor could also review your draft ILDP. Guidance on how to engage an informal mentor is provided in Unit 2.
• Keep on top of your weekly readings and complete quizzes to check your understanding. Avoid procrastination! 
• Although not assessed, you are encouraged to keep a learning journal that documents 1) what you've experienced/learned each week, 2) analysing why it matters, and 3) brainstorming how you might apply these insights to future experiences. A substantial body of research suggests that keeping a reflective journal can accelerate learning and improve wellbeing. 
• Consider creating a support network through the formation of optional study teams.
• When asking questions about assessments, it is best to do this in a forum where other students can benefit from the answers that are provided (e.g. via Moodle). Questions should also be asked well before the assessments are due to allow enough time for the Class Facilitator to reply.

Dr. Will Felps is the Facilitator-in-Chanrge but he may not facilitate your class. Your Facilitator's contact information can be found on your Moodle Class page.  

This course's overarching pedagogical principles include:

• Participants should be actively engaged in the learning process.
• Participants should be able to develop their leadership skills through the course. 
• Participants should feel included in a "learning community" (i.e., a group of people committed to helping each other learn). 
• Participants' diverse backgrounds and future goals should be recognised and leveraged for greater learning. 
• Participants should have a variety of learning outcomes, including: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evalutating, and creating (for more on these, see Bloom's Taxonomy).
• Participants should take responsibility for their own learning in order to get the most from the course.
• Participants deserve clear guidelines about how they will be evaluated. 
• Participants deserve meaningful and timely feedback. 
• Participants deserve for claims about effective leadership to be grounded in sound evidence.

Learning and teaching strategies for this course include using:

• self-assessment and reflection exercises;
• written information, videos, and podcasts to communicate key information (e.g. the course materials with associated readings and podcasts);
• facilitated discussion activities both online and face-to-face;
• assignments that encourage students to analyse a leadership case study, reflect on a real case study when they were at their best as a leader, and build an individual leadership develop plan;
• weekly multiple-choice quizzes to test knowledge of key concepts;
• teaching students how to manage their own leadership development process which may include getting additional support during the course (e.g. from local mentors);
• using relevant examples and case studies;
• discussion activities that help students to apply concepts and tools to the real world.

Unit 1: Introduction to Leadership. In this Unit, we explore some fundamental leadership concepts, such as a definition of leadership, a description of the difference between leadership and management, and clarification of the relationship between authority and leadership.

Unit 2: Principles and Methods of Leadership Development. Unit 2 explores several principles, concepts, and methods of leader and leadership development. We also learn how to apply this knowledge to build an Individual Leadership Development Plan (ILDP). This Unit is delivered early in the course to help you use this knowledge to progressively build your ILDP, which is required as part of the course assessment.

Unit 3: Self-leadership. In this Unit, we introduce the topic of self-leadership by defining what it is, explaining its importance, and exploring practical ways to engage in self-leadership. We emphasise the importance of building self-awareness, understanding one's nature, clarifying one's personal mission and values (i.e. what one stands for as a leader), behaving in accordance with one's values, and taking action so we can be at our best as leaders (e.g. playing leadership roles that suit our nature and leverage our strengths).

Unit 4: Ethical, Authentic, and Servant Leadership. Unit 4 introduces the concepts of ethical leadership, ethical thinking, authentic leadership, and servant leadership, and provides guidance on how these concepts can be applied to improve our ability to engage in more responsible leadership.

Unit 5: Power, Influence, Networking and Key Communication Skills. In this Unit, we introduce the topics of power, influence, social networking, and key communication skills for leaders. Specifically, we explore different types of power and ethical strategies to build power. We examine a 10-step process to design an influence strategy and several frameworks we can use to choose an appropriate set of influence tactics. We also look at the critical importance of social networking to leadership, the different types of networks leaders typically need, and strategies to become an exemplary networker. Finally, we explore some techniques to improve five important leadership communication skills that are often the focus of developmental activities - namely, active listening, giving feedback to colleagues, storytelling, building shared visions for initiatives, and conflict management.

Unit 6: Transformational Leadership. Unit 6 explores a popular, behaviour-based leadership theory known as transformational leadership. This form of leadership is relevant to many contexts (e.g. team leadership) and therefore represents a good 'default' style of leadership to develop. There is strong evidence to suggest that people who frequently use transformational leadership behaviours are associated with a broad range of positive outcomes in the workplace.

Unit 7: Team Leadership. In this Unit, we explore the nature of leadership within teams, with a focus on leadership by assigned team leaders. We begin by reviewing the nature of teams and the different forms of leadership that can occur within teams. We also examine the features of high performing and dysfunctional teams. We use a conceptual model of team leadership to understand what effective team leaders do, and canvass a number of guidelines leaders can use when leading teams. Finally, we review some additional leadership challenges and strategies for leading two types of cross-boundary teams: a) virtual teams and b) teams that consist of two or more groups of people who don't trust each other.

Unit 8: Innovation Leadership. Unit 8 focuses on a form of leadership that aims to promote creativity and innovation to meet organisational objectives. We begin by exploring key terms and concepts, and the factors that affect creativity and innovation at the individual, team, and organisational levels. We then use three conceptual frameworks to help understand the nature of innovation leadership and the strategies/behaviours that innovation leaders use. Finally, we address several strategies that leaders can apply to boost creativity and innovation.

Unit 9: Adaptive Leadership. In this Unit, we explore the adaptive leadership style that is suited to addressing complex challenges (also known as adaptive or wicked problems). We begin by clarifying several terms that are used in the adaptive leadership literature (e.g. complex problems and complex adaptive systems). We then examine the circumstances in which a leader would choose to use the adaptive leadership style. To improve our ability to use this style, we explore principles of adaptive leadership, key leadership behaviours, important competencies of adaptive leaders, and methods to grow as an effective adaptive leader.

Unit 10: Situational Leadership. In Unit 10, we consider the challenge of how to adapt one's leadership style to suit different situations, investigate some tools to do this more effectively, and explore some strategies to grow as a 'situational leader'. The central theme that runs through this Unit is that leadership is acutely sensitive to context, so we must develop the flexibility to adapt our leadership style as our circumstances change. We also address the topic of cross-cultural leadership and consider some valuable research findings and a conceptual model that can be used to adjust our leadership style when we are working with people from substantially different national cultures from our own.

AGSM courses are revised each time they run, with updated course outlines and assessment tasks developed. Changes relating to any industry developments will also be included. 

Additionally, the AGSM surveys students each time a course is offered. The data collected provides anonymous feedback from students on the quality of course content and materials, class facilitation, student support services and the program in general. This student feedback is considered during all course revisions.

This course was substantially redesigned and rewritten in 2019. It has evolved from an MBT and MBAX course titled 'Leadership in a Complex Environment' which ran from 2013 to 2018. The redesign was careful to incorporate student feedback. So far, feedback on the redesigned course has been overwhelmingly positive, and indicates that the redesign process has improved the quality of the course content.

During the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, some students indicated that they would like an offering that had some of the flexibility of our WEB Online Weekly offering and some of the synchronous interactivity of our Intensive offering. This feedback was taken into account in determining our current offerings. 

Over the years, we've made many alterations to the course in response to student feedback.  Prominent examples include:

• We've recently launched a Weekly Virtual class option (e.g., over Zoom). It is aimed at providing a "middle way" between the WEB Online Weekly offering and the Weekend Intensive offering. We're especially keen to learn more about how students experience this format. 

• Key materials (e.g., concepts, readings, videos, podcasts) have been updated.

• Introducing guidance on leadership development methods much earlier in the course schedule so students can use this guidance during the course to help with Assessment 3 (i.e. the preparation of an individual leadership development plan).

• Including a new Unit that focuses on the challenge associated with modifying one's leadership style to suit different situations (i.e. Unit 10).