Leadership in Times of Disruption

This is a seven-week course designed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to effectively lead and manage teams, especially during times of great change. The course concepts will be broadly applicable to all disciplines and sectors, and will showcase examples from the nonprofit/social impact sectors, as well as practices popularized by Big Tech companies and other startups as they've rapidly grown and disrupted industries in the last decades. The first premise of the course is that successful leadership and management involve the deft application of frameworks, research, and best practices, but also deep self-awareness of one’s own strengths, weaknesses, biases, and emotional triggers. The second premise of this course is that “leadership” and “management” are two distinct practices. Both are important for teams to succeed, but should not be confused with each other. This course will be interactive and will involve the creation of a hypothetical social enterprise, nonprofit, or new program within an existing organization, which we will use to teach concepts first-hand. As a class, we will co-create several projects for this hypothetical organization, including a draft strategic plan, annual goals, and job descriptions. The goal is for students to see the transformation of “good enough” deliverables into spectacular ones, building a base of knowledge and experience to take into the next stage of their careers.