Objectives

Students will learn about leadership and about developing their leadership potential. A substantial portion of the variation in organizational (and subordinate) outcomes can be attributed to leadership. As such, this course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of leadership as a phenomenon and its impact on the organizational behavior of individuals. Students will learn to think critically about leadership, the boundary conditions of leadership theories, and how to better influence others. The class will focus both on theoretical knowledge and on practice.

Contents

The class will discuss the following topics (theory sessions):

• Introduction to leadership
• Decision-making and its importance in leadership development
• Motivation
• Charisma
• Full-range leadership theory
• Traits and leadership
• Gender and Leadership
• Leadership development in organizations
• Personal leadership development
• Ethics and leadership
• Power and corruption

The practical sessions will be oriented towards the developement and the application of concrete tools that can be used to improve one's leadership:

• Concrete tools a practical instructions that can be followed to improve one's leadership
• Specific tools will be presented and developed during class, based on empirical evidence
• Use of tools will be practiced during class and exercises.

References

Day, D. V., & Antonakis, J. (Eds.). (2012). The Nature of Leadership (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Articles (available for download on the course website in Moodle).

Pre-requisites

None.

Evaluation

First attempt

Exam:

Written 2h00 hours

Documentation:

Allowed

Calculator:

Allowed

Evaluation:

1. Coursework and participation

• Practical Exercises and group exercises -- 70% towards final mark

2. Final exam

• Final exam (open book, take-home exam)--30% towards final mark.

Retake

Exam:

Written 2h00 hours

Documentation:

Allowed

Calculator:

Allowed

Evaluation:

Students who fail the course will resit the final exam, which will count towards 30% of the final resit mark. The rest of the 70% will be the participation mark, for which students can be evaluated again on the basis of a new assignment.