OLPD1303: Leadership in the Organizational Context

Life - like leadership - is full of paradoxes. We are all individuals. At the same time, we are all part of families, communities, institutions, structures, and systems. To understand and practice effective leadership, we must make sense of our lives - including our unique identities and experiences - within these broader organizational and societal contexts. We must think critically about how power flows through society, and how it shapes agency, opportunities and wellbeing for individuals and communities. And we must think creatively and critically about how leadership can help promote equity, justice, and human flourishing.In this course, we focus on organizations as a core context for leadership. Organizations are everywhere - some formal, some informal. For example, we are all part of an educational organization: the University of Minnesota. We all interact with governmental organizations at national, state, and local levels. We may belong to community, religious, or cultural organizations. We might work - now or in the future - for a corporation, a nonprofit, or a cooperative. We may belong to an advocacy organization that works for social change.To study leadership within these various types of organizations, we must also turn inward to examine our own identities, social locations, and experiences. We draw on concepts and theories - from the fields of leadership development, organizational studies, sociology, and psychology - to analyze our lived experiences within broader contexts, and better understand the behaviors of individuals and groups within organizations.This course will require active engagement with course materials, your classmates, and class projects. Our class sessions will include group activities, student-driven discussions, and the occasional mini-lecture. We will explore case studies and individual narratives as touchstones for applying theory to real world contexts. Over the semester, you will complete both individual and group assignments, including reflective writing and class facilitation. Ultimately, this course is a "learning lab" where we have the chance to practice being how we would like the world to be.Old: Students examine own views of leadership, differences between

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