Leadership is not about personality, authority, position, influence, or power as such. Leadership is an art, a craft, a practice, to which everyone is called sometime or other, in widely different situations. Leadership can be practiced with varying degrees of authority, from any position, at varying scales of influence, and with varying access to different sources of power. The kind of leadership that we will learn and practice in this course has to do with diagnosing and addressing the toughest problems experienced by organizations, institutions, and societies. This kind of leadership demands political skill: the skill to discern the overt and covert concerns and interests, agendas, and alliances within the organizations, institutions, and societies we serve, and to give each their due while not failing to pursue the common good. We will learn a language, learn and practice a set of tools and frameworks, and workshop our fresh insights and skills. (This course will draw heavily on both the writing and the pedagogy of Ronald Heifetz and Dean Williams.)
This is a thirteen-week online course, starting in the week of January 7 and finishing in the week of April 7. There will be no assignments due during ICS’s reading week, February 18 to 22. For participants doing the course or credit all outstanding work will be due by no later than May 24.
ICSDH 132504 W19
Dr. Gideon Strauss
Hybrid (Online/In-Person)
(MWS, MA, PhD)
Syllabus
