What is leadership? Is it a set of innate characteristics, or a set of skills anyone can learn? What does both very good and very bad leadership look like, and how has that changed over time? How do you define a good leader, and how can the effectiveness of different styles of leadership change based on context?  This course engages participants in considering the real-world dilemmas of leaders working in policy making and bringing about social change. The course analyzes different theories about what makes a good leader and how identity and institutions shape the options available to them. Case studies are used to examine the impact leaders have on policy (public, social, scientific, educational), government, and change in a global world. Through this course, participants will enhance their critical understanding of the dilemmas that are encountered by leaders, their ability to evaluate case studies as learning tools, and their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Participants are asked to wrestle with the problem as if it were their own and bring their experience and classroom learning and elsewhere to bear on the questions.

The course includes a two-day outdoor leadership experience at an Appalachian Mountain Club lodge in the White Mountains. Through the combination of traditional classroom and outdoor learning, this course will provide participants with a unique opportunity to learn about and reflect on leadership in vastly different environments, and to explore their own understanding of good leadership and themselves as leaders and as contributors to their communities.  

Learning Outcomes

Participants who complete this course will:

• Have an enhanced appreciation of the dilemmas leaders of change encounter and the lessons they have learned from their experiences.
• Be able to analyze cases about political leadership and public policy making.
• Be able to think critically about problems real leaders face.
• Have a better understanding of their own beliefs about leadership and their own leadership style.

Prerequisites

None