Leadership In Organisations

1. This Broadening and Deepening Elective (BDE) course provides you with a critical, behavioural science-based understanding of leadership in organizations (i.e., beyond intuition or popular media), and helps you to prepare for more effective leadership in the future. The course is designed for advanced undergraduate students who are preparing to transit to the world of work and organizational life. Using seminars and workshops supplemented with assessments and a group assignment, you will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges of leadership in various organizational contexts based on scientific theory and research. You will be introduced to new frameworks and concepts of leadership and gain greater self-awareness of yourself as a leader - including your motivation to lead, personality, interpersonal and teamwork-related skills and orientations. You will gain experiential learning of team-building processes/skills. At the end of the course, you will be required to articulate your leadership V.O.I.C.E.S. (i.e., your leadership Vision, Opportunities, Identity, Competencies, Ethics & Styles) as part of preparing you for leadership in your future career and work/organizational life.

2. You should take this course if you are concerned with how work and organisations are changing rapidly with greater access to information, globalization and the digital age. In the 21st century, organisations are becoming flatter, work more virtual, and the pace of work is also getting quicker. Career attitudes are also changing - many workers feel less committed to permanent employment with one organization (and vice versa); and are prepared to switch between different organizations, jobs, and even consider self-employment or to be entrepreneurs depending on opportunities and circumstances. Amidst this complexity, people look ever more to leaders and leadership to provide direction, collective alignment of purpose, and motivation at work. These changes place new demands on leaders to influence people effectively to achieve the desired outcomes. This course will therefore help you appreciate both the enduring and 'new' challenges of leadership in the new workplace, as part of helping you to strategise for effective leadership in the future world of work and organisations.