Introductory description

This module will help students develop their personal strengths and values and manage their leadership skills.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Emotional intelligence.
Ideas from Transactional Analysis.
Insights Discovery personal profile.
Time management.
Behaving assertively.
Courageous conversations.
Approaches to leadership.
Managing tasks and people.
A systematic approach to achieving results in teams.
Delegation and motivation.
Influencing others.
Handling conflict.
Ethical issues in making business decisions.
Managing sustainable organisations and balancing environmental, social and economic objectives.
Addressing the needs of diverse stakeholders.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand a range of concepts and psychological frameworks that are relevant to self management and interpersonal relationships.
• Understand and appreciate different approaches to manage conflict and handle difficult conversations effectively.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of a number of philosophical approaches to ethics.
• Recognise the differences between an exclusively shareholder focus and a widerstakeholder perspective.
• Appreciate and understand the relevance of ideas such as corporate social responsibility, the triple bottom line (economic, environmental and social value), sustainability and globalisation.
• Understand how to make decisions which appropriately take into account ethical considerations, the needs of a variety of stakeholders (which might be in conflict), and the importance of environmental and social factors as well as economic factors.
• Understand and be able to develop strategies for obtaining agreement to ideas, decisions and actions.
• Understand and appreciate the responsibilities which operating in a global environment confers on business leaders.
• Critically appraise a variety of approaches to leadership and management.
• Reflect deeply upon and make sense of their own behaviour and its impact on other people.
• Critically analyse what is happening within a group of people.

Indicative reading list

KEY TEXTS
Goffee, R. and Jones, G. (2006), Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Goleman, D. (1996) Emotional Intelligence.London: Bloomsbury.
Thomson, B. (2014), Understanding Yourself and Others, London: Sheldon Press.
FURTHER READING
Adair, J. (2009) Effective Teambuilding. London: Pan Macmillan.
Adair, J. (2009) Effective Leadership. London: Pan Macmillan.
Covey, S. (1989) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.London: Simon & Schuster.
Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2015) Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
George, B. (2003) Authentic Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Goleman, D. (1998), What Makes a Leader? in Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, pp. 93 – 102
Heifetz, R., Linsky, M. and Grashow, A. (2009) Practice of Adapative Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Iszatt-White, M. and Saunders, C. (2014) Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Katzenbach, J. and Smith, D. (2003), The Wisdom of Teams. New York: Harper.
Kotter, J. (1990), What Leaders Really Do, Harvard Business Review, May - June 1990, pp.103-11.
Thomson, B. (2006), Growing People, Oxford: Chandos Publishing.
Stone, D., Patton, B. and Heen, S. (1999) Difficult Conversations. New York: Viking Penguin.

Subject specific skills

Identify clearly their personal approach to and style of leadership.
Identify what strategies to use when leading or managing different types of people.
Demonstrate their development of core leadership skills, including leading and manage individuals and teams successfully, working collaboratively in a team, giving and receiving constructive feedback, time management.
Display a range of communication skills that enable them to co-operate with others, behave assertively, influence and handle conflict, listen, question, play back and voice their thoughts.
Operate effectively in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex
and ambiguous) world.

Transferable skills

Oral communication skills.
Written communication skills.
Leadership skills.
Problem solving skills.