Department of Management

“Developing tomorrow’s leaders today”

Effective Leadership

MANA 5350 – 001

Fall Semester 2012

Class Days: Thursday

Time: 7:00 – 9:50 p.m.

Location: COBA 253

Instructor Name: Dr. Marcus Butts Office: COBA 212

Phone: 817-272-3855 E-mail:

(Better to contact me through e-mail than to leave a phone voice mail)

Office hours:T & R, 4-5 p.m.; or by appointment

COURSE MATERIALS

Text: Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. Resonant Leadership (2005). Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 10 DIGIT ISBN:1-59139-563-1

HBSP Cases & Readings: http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/14552059

BLACKBOARD

This class is up on Blackboard (http://www.elearn.uta.edu). Please check Blackboard often. There you will be able to access class material as well as your grades.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an advanced graduate course that explores the fundamental principles of effective leadership. There are many different aspects of leadership such as an individual’s personality, skills, experience, personal integrity, coaching others, and environmental considerations (to name just a few). Strength-based leadership means that an individual should seek to understand his/her own strengths (and challenges) and with this understanding, find his/her own, unique leadership approach. Part of this journey is an intense inward examination of one’s own strengths and challenges. Another part involves observing successful leaders and identifying what their strengths (and perhaps weaknesses) are and how they have used these strengths to become leaders. To this end, we will examine a number of relavant topics that reflect key issues to understanding effective leadership from both an inward-oriented perspective and an outward-oriented perspective.

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1.  Students will be able to identify their own strengths/challenges and, with this knowledge, begin to understand their own leadership approach.

2.  Students will be able to describe the strengths/challenges in others and to describe the effects that these have on others' leadership ability/effectiveness.

3.  Students will explore and understand the ethical issues that are at the core of effective leadership.

4.  Students will be able to explain the meaning of authentic leadership and how it can have an impact within organizations.

5.  Courage is an essential part of leadership. Students will be able to describe the role that courage plays in effective leadership and how to use this to achieve results.

6.  Students will be able to write and speak more clearly using communication skills, including reflective listening, critical feedback, and positive expression of emotion.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING POLICY GRADE ALLOCATION

Leader Interview Report 25% 25pts A = 90 to 100%

Group Presentation 20% 20pts B = 80 to 89%

PLAP 35% 35pts C = 70 to 79%

Assignments & Participation 20% 20pts D = 60 to 69%

TOTAL 100pts F = < 60%

LEADER INTERVIEW REPORT (25%)

One of the ways of learning about leadership is through the interview method. Each student is to select a leader of professional and/or personal interest, develop an interview protocol with a group of fellow students, individually schedule and conduct a 30-minute interview, and provide a written report of the interview. Students will develop an interview protocol in groups and all group members will use the basic interview questions developed by the group with minor modifications if desired. This is a stretch assignment, so reach for a star. Also, you are NOT to interview a family member. Your relationship to the interviewee must be specified in the report. Approximate length of the written report is 5-8 pages, including the separate list of prepared questions. The written report is due at beginning of class on November 1st. The written report should include:

  1. Title page
  2. Leader’s name and position…describe how you got the interview!
  3. Date and time of interview
  4. Location of interview to include name of organization and address
  5. Your name
  6. Narrative section of the report
  7. General background and leadership development

·  How did this person get to their current position?

·  How did this person develop their leadership?

  1. Leader’s leadership style

·  How would YOU describe this person’s style, personality, etc. based on what you’ve learned in the course?

  1. Leader’s leadership perspective

·  Describe the leader’s general philosophy of leadership based on what you’ve learned in this couse (e.g., born vs. taught, authentic, autocratic, etc.)

·  What does the leader consider to be the most important skills, attributes or characteristics for leadership?

  1. Personal observations

·  This section is your personal summary of the experience. Was it helpful, stressful, exciting? What were the most important insights you walked away with in respect to you own development?

·  How similar or different is this leaders from others interviewed by other group members?

  1. Separate list of prepared questions attached

Turning in your written questions and the interviewee’s response as a format for the paper is NOT appropriate. The objective of this assignment is not to show that you can record people’s responses. It is important for you to demonstrate in your writing that you can make an assessment of a person’s leadership style and how it fits in with the course topics and leadership theories. Thus, an in-depth analysis is required, and will be necessary to attain a high grade.

GROUP PRESENTATION (20%)

Students will be assigned to groups to develop a common interview protocol and all group members will use the same interview questions. Students will complete their individual write-ups of their respective interviews by October 4th and then discuss with the rest of the group to identify similarities and differences between all the leaders interviewed by the group. These similarities and differences are to be incorporated into a 25-30 minute group presentation (with PowerpPoint/Prezi) at the end of the semester.

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP ACTION PLAN – PLAP (35%)

You cannot realize your potential as a leader without knowing your strengths and areas for improvement. Thus, a significant portion of this course entails the completion of your personal leadership action plan (PLAP) in which you will assess your strengths and areas for improvement/development (from your and others’ perspective) and set goals for the future. You will complete a large number of assesments in the first part of the course and then add to them as we cover various topics throughout the semester. I will provide you with a detailed document that describes the PLAP. A typical PLAP should be approximately 7-10 pages in length.

ASSIGNMENTS & PARTICIPATION (20%)

Attendance in class is expected. On-time attendance is critical, and missing class will impact your final grade. Furthermore, because leadership development is an interactive process, required readings and self-assessments are important. All required assignments should be completed and prepared for discussion before class. Also, there will be several in-class and/or take-home assignmnts due each class period. Class participation and completion of assignments is essential in order to gain maximum benefit from this course. Your assignments and participation grade (20%) will be based on (a) your attendance, (b) preparation for class, (c) completion of assignments, and (d) quality of contributions to class discussion.

Because class discussion is so important for this course, each student will be responsible for completing class preparation (CP) write-ups for 4 classes (Due at the beginning of class), 2 of which must be classes where cases are assigned (see elegible classes below). CP write-ups consist of turning in a 2-4 page (double-spaced) typed document summarizing the assigned readings and assessments for the class and answering the CP questions for the assigned cases provided in the syllabus (when applicable). You should also keep in mind the information contained in A Student’s Guide to Case Analysis (see Blackboard) when preparing your CP write-ups for classes where cases are assigned. Because there is no “one best way” to analyze a case, this information will help you create your own process for case analyses.

Your 4 CP write-ups must be chosen from the classe below.

2 Write-ups from the following: 2 Write-ups from the following:

Leadership Theories Developing Others & Coaching

Personality & Behavioral Styles Leading Teams

Emotional Intelligence & Authenticity Leading Organizations

Ethical Leadership

Personal Change

Personal Hardship, Setbacks, & Mistakes

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

All students enrolled in this course are expected to adhere to the UT Arlington Honor Code:

“I pledge, on my honor, to uphold UT Arlington’s tradition of academic integrity, a tradition that values hard work and honest effort in the pursuit of academic excellence. I promise that I will submit only work that I personally create or contribute to group collaborations, and I will appropriately reference any work from other sources. I will follow the highest standards of integrity and uphold the spirit of the Honor Code.”

Instructors may employ the Honor Code as they see fit in their courses, including (but not limited to) having students acknowledge the honor code as part of an examination or requiring students to incorporate the honor code into any work submitted. Per UT System Regents’ Rule 50101, §2.2, suspected violations of university’s standards for academic integrity (including the Honor Code) will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. Violators will be disciplined in accordance with University policy, which may result in the student’s suspension or expulsion from the University.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of all federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). All instructors at UT Arlington are required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Any student requiring an accommodation for this course must provide the instructor with official documentation in the form of a letter certified by the staff in the Office for Students with Disabilities, University Hall 102. Only those students who have officially documented a need for an accommodation will have their request honored. Information regarding diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining disability-based academic accommodations can be found at www.uta.edu/disability or by calling the Office for Students with Disabilities at (817) 272-3364.

STUDENT FEEDBACK SURVEY

At the end of each term, students enrolled in classes categorized as lecture, seminar, or laboratory shall be directed to complete a Student Feedback Survey (SFS). Instructions on how to access the SFS for this course will be sent directly to each student through MavMail approximately 10 days before the end of the term. Each student’s feedback enters the SFS database anonymously and is aggregated with that of other students enrolled in the course. UT Arlington’s effort to solicit, gather, tabulate, and publish student feedback is required by state law; students are strongly urged to participate. For more information, visit http://www.uta.edu/sfs.

FINAL REVIEW WEEK

A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long sessions shall be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow students sufficient time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall be no scheduled activities such as required field trips or performances; and no instructor shall assign any themes, research problems or exercises of similar scope that have a completion date during or following this week unless specified in the class syllabus. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not give any examinations constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and laboratory examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final examination during Final Review Week. During this week, classes are held as scheduled. In addition, instructors are not required to limit content to topics that have been previously covered; they may introduce new concepts as appropriate.

DROP POLICY

Students may drop or swap (adding and dropping a class concurrently) classes through self-service in MyMav from the beginning of the registration period through the late registration period. After the late registration period, students must see their academic advisor to drop a class or withdraw. Undeclared students must see an advisor in the University Advising Center. Drops can continue through a point two-thirds of the way through the term or session. It is the student's responsibility to officially withdraw if they do not plan to attend after registering. Students will not be automatically dropped for non-attendance. Repayment of certain types of financial aid administered through the University may be required as the result of dropping classes or withdrawing. For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (http://wweb.uta.edu/ses/fao).

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

UT Arlington provides a variety of resources and programs designed to help students develop academic skills, deal with personal situations, and better understand concepts and information related to their courses. Resources include tutoring, major-based learning centers, developmental education, advising and mentoring, personal counseling, and federally funded programs. For individualized referrals, students may visit the reception desk at University College (Ransom Hall), call the Maverick Resource Hotline at 817-272-6107, send a message to , or view the information at www.uta.edu/resources.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION (UTA E-MAIL)

UT Arlington has adopted MavMail as its official means to communicate with students about important deadlines and events, as well as to transact university-related business regarding financial aid, tuition, grades, graduation, etc. All students are assigned a MavMail account and are responsible for checking the inbox regularly. There is no additional charge to students for using this account, which remains active even after graduation. Information about activating and using MavMail is available at http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/email/mavmail.php.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Marcus Butts (Ph.D., The University of Georgia) is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Texas at Arlington. He teaches courses in general management, HRM, organizational behavior, and research methods. His current research interests include high involvement work practices, individual and organizational work-family issues, organizational mentoring, careers, and research methods. Dr. Butts’ work has appeared in journals such as Personnel Psychology, Human Resource Management, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Research Methods.