Organizational leadership

Organizational Leadership

The field of leadership studies is deep and varied, but the purpose of this course is to help you learn more about the types of leadership skills that are appropriate in organizational settings, such as businesses or non-profits. Most of these skills can be applied in almost any setting where leading people is required, and we seek to apply a specific focus on practical applications to today's organizations, in both the public and private sector.

The Foundation: Your Core Principles

Leadership begins with the act of assuming responsibility for a given outcome. This assumption of responsibility requires a vulnerability that is made less threatening when there is a true congruence between your core principles or values (to perhaps include the values of your organization) and what you say or do as a leader. No one is a good enough actor to fake it all the time, and over time, those whom you lead will be able to detect areas of insincerity or inauthentic behavior. For that reason, it is important to lay the foundation for your leadership style by identifying the main beliefs that drive you as a leader and which you seek to embody. Examples might include and emphasis on any of these core principles:
 * Leading by example
 * Servant leadership
 * Mindset: Beginning with a growth, not fixed mindset
 * Culture: the importance of culture in an organization and the recognition that it can be molded and shaped -- with or without the leader's input!

A Note on Soft vs. Hard Skills

The approach we will take in this course involves separating the "soft" or inter- and intrapersonal, skills from the "hard," or technical, skills required for leading teams within an organization. For the purposes of this course, we will avoid the sometimes negative connotations to be inferred from the dichotomy of "soft vs. hard skills" and refer to them instead as "personal skills," to include both inter- and intrapersonal aspects, and "technical skills," with the understanding that since our work as leaders involves understanding the organizational technology, broadly considered, required to effectively manage personnel and resources.

Personal Skills

As this course is being developed, we'll continue to add to this list, but the most relevant personal skills include:
 * Building trust
 * Influence, here understood as the ability to apply social influence to achieve organizational objectives
 * Emotional intelligence
 * Time management
 * Personal organization
 * Negotiation
 * Conflict resolution

Technical Skills

As this course is being developed, we'll continue to add to this list, but the most relevant technical skills involved in our work leading people within organizations include:
 * Recruiting
 * Hiring
 * Interviewing
 * Building a shared purpose
 * Aligning team and organizational goals
 * Clearly defining roles
 * Organizing and planning the work to be done
 * Establishing specific responsibilities
 * Managing performance through feedback, mentoring, and coaching
 * Delegation
 * Motivation
 * Succession planning and team development
 * Team member exiting procedures