ORGL 600 Foundations of Leadership

With Dr. Samantha Armstrong Ash

Description     My experience in this foundations course helped challenge my understandings of leadership in with a critical perspective lens. I started my graduate leadership journey with an ethical foundation for leadership as a praxis of learning, liberation, and transformation rather than continuing a cycle of oppression and violence. Additionally, as the first course in the program, I challenged myself to make a commitment to my own leadership growth and philosophy – a challenge to apply learnings by engaging inside the classroom as well as outside it.

As a virtual classroom, I started to analyze, reflect, and collect experiences of wisdom in terms of a virtual pedagogy of leadership. As leadership educators, we must embrace the inevitability of constructing communities and places of practice online instead of being limited to engaging in leadership pedagogy in person.  

Artifacts          Leadership Philosophy – In which I synthesize academic sources of leadership into my own practice by embracing my own theoretical basis into practice.

References

• Carey, M. (1999). Heraclitean fire: Journeying on the path of leadership. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

• Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. 

• Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge (5th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

• Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 

• Palmer, P. J. (2007). The courage to teach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

• Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world (3rd ed.). New York: Barrett-Koehler. 

ORGL 530 Servant Leadership

With Dr. Dave Houglum

Description     A return to foundations as I more intently studied the fundamental texts that created the Servant Leadership theory. My time in this course focused more intently upon the analytical side of the theory and being able to identify and reflect upon the pillars of servant leadership in observations and in my own life.

Artifacts          Reflections of a Servant-Leader in Training – In which I note the growth of my own leadership journey by finding the similarities between adaptive and servant leadership. 

References

• Eicher-Catt, D. (2005). The myth of servant-leadership: A feminist perspective. Women and Language, 28(1) 17-26. 

• Ferch, R. S., Spears, L. C., McFarland, M., & Carey, M. L. (2015). Conversations on servant-leadership: Insights on human courage and work. New York: Sunny Press.  

• Greenleaf, R. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press. 

• Greenleaf, R. K. (1998). The power of servant leadership. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler. 

• Hesse, H. (1988). (Hilda Rosner, Translator). The journey to the East. New York: Noonday Press.  

• Horsman, J. H. (n.d.). Foundations of the philosophy of servant-leadership. Chapters 1 – 3. 

• Sipe, J. W. & Frick, D. M. (2009). Seven pillars of servant leadership: Practicing the wisdom of leading by serving. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. 

• Thompson, M. C. (2000). The congruent life: Following the inward path to fulfilling work and inspired leadership. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass.  

ORGL 605 Imagine, Create, Lead

With Dr. Kristine Hoover, Dr. Adrian Popa, Dr. Kem Gambrell, and Professor Kevin Benson

Description     This 3-day in person intensive course was comprised of seminars around the theme of imaginative and creative leadership. Our seminars were focused on the topics of leadership and…
… Metanoia, in which we engaged in dialogue about hardiness and what it means to be resilient in an ever changing world.
… Constructive Development, in which we reflected on Robert Kegan’s theory of how adults develop and observe the world. I found this seminar to be greatly impressionable on my academic journey.
… Improvisation, in which we engaged in exercises the emphasize the power of positive imagination and trust when practicing leadership. Some concepts from this seminar were used as the “Leadership as a performance art” artifact.

Artifacts          Hourglass artifact – A physical artifact to act as a reminder for all of the lessons and experiences gained during the intensive.
Leadership as a performance art – A slide deck for a session aimed at undergraduate students to understand how leadership is an artform.

References

• Burkus, D. (2014). The myths of creativity: The truth about how innovative companies and people generate great ideas. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 

• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row. 

• Frankl, V. E. (1984). Man's search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. New York: Simon & Schuster. 

• Kegan, R. (2001). The evolving self: Problem and process in human development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 

ORGL 532 Leadership, Justice, and Forgiveness

With Dr. Shann Ray Ferch

Description     My experience with this course was an introspective, and independent journey for self-healing. I found first-hand the generative and liberating power that forgiveness can have on one’s life and found reading about other journeys, both from the literature and my classmates, to be equally powerful. This course marks an shift in my understanding of exactly what transformation means when it comes to creating a generative future rather than a reactionary, punitive, and retributive sense of order. 

Artifacts          Searching for forgiveness – In which I apply the course concepts of asking for and granting forgiveness to overcome a challenging personal time in my life.

References

• Fraser, S. (2006). My father's house: A memoir of incest and of healing. London: Virago. Harpercollins. 

• Ferch, S. R. (2012). Forgiveness and power in the age of atrocity: Servant leadership as a way of life. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books. 

• Frankl, V. E. (2000). Man's search for ultimate meaning. New York: Basic Books. 

• King, C. S. (1969). My life with Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 

• Ray, S. (2011). American masculine: Stories. Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press. 

• Tutu, D. (2000). No future without forgiveness. New York, N.Y: Doubleday. 

• Welch, J. (2014). Fools crow. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 

• Wiesel, E. (1960). Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang. 

• Wiesenthal, S., In Cargas, H. J., & In Fetterman, B. V. (1998). The sunflower: On the possibilities and limits of forgiveness. New York: Schocken Books. 

ORGL 520 Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

With Dr. Timothy Keator

Description     I found this elective course to be aptly timed at the end of my Organizational Leadership (ORGL) experience as it tied together many themes of servant-leadership and a critical perspective into a case for application. With a better understanding of violence, the application of the restorative and generative practices of servant-leadership become clear. 

Artifacts          Personal disposition towards non-violence – in which I consider the ways in which I engage, or have room to grow, in terms of using non-violent practices in the four violence frames: personal, relational, structural, and cultural.

References

• Adams, D. (1989). The Seville statement on violence. Disseminated by decision of the General Conference of UNESCO at its twenty-fifth session Paris, 16 November 1989: [S.l.]: UNESCO.

• Brand-Jacobsen, K. F. (2005). No fist is big enough to hide the sky: The power of nonviolence. The Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR). Retrieved on January 10th, 2010 from http://www.patrir.ro/doc/publications/nonvilence.pdf

• Cheldelin, S., Druckman, D., & Fast, L. (Eds.) (2008). Conflict: From analysis to intervention, 2nd ed. New York: Continuum.

• Danesh, H. B., & Danesh, R. (2002) Has conflict resolution grown up? Toward a developmental model of decision making and conflict resolution. The International Journal of Peace Studies, 7(1). Retrieved from http://www2.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol7_1/Danesh.html  

• Dorfman, A. (1991). Death and the maiden. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

• Ferch, S. (2004). Servant-leadership, forgiveness, and social justice. In L. Spears & M. Lawrence, Eds. Practicing servant leadership (pp. 225 – 240). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

• Galtung, J. (1996). Peace by peaceful means: Peace and conflict, development and civilization. Oslo: International Peace Research Institute; London; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (Ch.2-3, pp. 24-48).

• Gerzon, M. (2006). Moving beyond debate: Start a dialogue. HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved on January 6th, 2010 from  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5351.html 

• Kingsolver, B. (1989). Holding the line: Women in the great Arizona mine strike of 1983. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

• Kraybill, R. (2005). Skills for transformative group facilitation. Retrieved on January 6th, 2010 from http://www.mediate.com/articles/Kraybillr1.cfm 

• Kriesberg, L. (2007).  Negotiation in settling conflicts. In Constructive conflicts: From escalation to resolution 3rd ed., (pp. 262-293). Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.

• Lederach, J. P. (2003). The little book of conflict transformation. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.

• Lederach, J. P. (2005) The moral imagination: The art and soul of building peace. Oxford, MA: Oxford University Press.

ORGL 535 Listen, Discern, Decide

With Professor Larry Spears

Description     Listening is a core tenant of Servant Leadership and proved to be a good introduction to my servant leadership concentration. I challenged myself in practice and in theory to understand the benefits of a listening first disposition and what it means to holistically and authentically listen. Listening requires the use of the full body, embracing both parties in the restorative powers of silence as well as using an appreciative and generous interpretative stance for what is becoming. A key takeaway from this course includes the tremendous power that the ‘soft skills’ offer in terms of making generative decisions for the group. A listening first disposition does not entail mindlessly following the majority decision. Instead leadership requires a sensitive intuition of the group’s best interests for creating a better future for everyone. 

Artifacts          Reflections on Listening to Silence – In which I write about my experience of starting a daily practice of meditation for fifteen minutes. The paper includes a synthesis of course concepts as they relate to a listening first disposition.

References

• Burley-Allen, M. (1995). Listening: The forgotten skill—a self-teaching guide. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 

• Davis, P. & Spears, L. (2013). Fortuitous encounters: Wisdom stories for learning and growth. Mahwah: Paulist Press.  

• Frick, D. (2011). Greenleaf and servant-leader listening. Westfield: The Greenleaf Center. Essay (No ISBN). 

• Greenleaf, R. (1996). On becoming a servant leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

• Hesse, H. (2012). (W.K. Marriott, Translator). Siddhartha. Lexington: Simon and Brown.  

• Sardello. R. (2008). Silence: The mystery of wholeness. Benson, NC: Golden Stone Press. 

• Sparough, J. M., Manney, J., and Hipskind, T. (2010). What's your decision? How to make choices with confidence and clarity: An ignatian approach to decision making. Chicago: Loyola Press. 

ORGL 610 Communication and Leadership Ethics

With Dr. Larry Chouinard

Description     I found a crossroads between my undergraduate studies in philosophy and my graduate work with leadership in this course. By exploring the ethical considerations and moral imperatives of leadership, I found this course to be rigorous and necessary for any leader, leadership scholar, and other practitioners. My focus in this course was aimed at the ways in with dialogue can be effectively used to continue a praxis of liberation, especially when considering the ways that true dialogue is precluded when engaging in unequal and under coercive terms.

Artifacts          Auto-ethnographic Reflections of Dialogic Communication in the Workplace – In which I outline my values and moral principles and the ways in which these values enhance my actions as a moral agent in my workplace.

References

• Arnett, R. C., Fritz, J. M. H., & Bell, L. M. (2009). Communication ethics literacy: Dialogue and difference. Sage Publications.  

• Johnson, C. E. (2016). Organizational ethics: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. 

• Palmer, P. J. (2008). A hidden wholeness: The journey toward an undivided life: welcoming the soul and weaving community in a wounded world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

ORGL 537 Foresight and Strategy

With Dr. John H. Horsman

Description     This course included a four-day intensive in person session in addition to the normal eight-week online course. I challenged by foundations of servant-leadership in this capstone of the concentration and worked to develop Greenleaf’s idea of love as a discernment tool to engage with the emerging future. The workshop used the art of presencing to bring our own stuck states into a state of becoming. I found my time in this course to be immensely inspiring and rejuvenating as it inspired several leadership projects and ideas I employ today. 

Artifacts          Leadership project prototype – the prototype for my leadership project was originated in this course.

Tempus Impleri: A time to be filled - in which I co-created a group focused on meeting around generative dialogue and the prompt “what is dying in your system and what is yearning to be born” based on Otto Sharmer’s work.

References

• Briskin, A., Erickson, S., Ott, J. & Callanan, T. (2009). The power of collective wisdom: And the trap of collective folly. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler. 

• Horsman, J. H. (n.d.): Servant-leaders in Training: Foundations of the philosophy of servant-leadership, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4.

• Jaworski, J. & Flowers, B. L. (Ed.). (2012). Source. The inner path of knowledge creation. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler. 

• Scharmer, C. O. & Kaufer K. (2013). Leading from the emerging future: From ego-system to eco-system economies-applying Theory U to transforming business, society, and self. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler. 

ORGL 615 Organizational Theory and Behavior

With Dr. Dennis Arthur Conners

Description     Dr. Conner’s class was a return to form for me. Grounded in transformational leadership like the University of Minnesota’s leadership minor, I found the class structure which heavily employs small group dynamics and intentional emergence pedagogy to be reminiscent of my in-person leadership classes. Not only did I find many takeaways for developing virtual leadership education settings, I was also challenged to improve my rigor when it comes to viewing systems. Systems thinking was a topic I identified as needing improvement in ORGL 530 Servant Leadership, so I enjoyed the thorough analysis and practice in system thinking analysis.

Artifacts          Systems analysis paper – In which I deconstruct the system in which a company is attempting to rapidly grow in a competitive environment, showcasing the rigorous nature that systems loops analysis can bring to a real-world case study.

References

• Anderson, V., & Johnson, L. (1999). Systems thinking basics: From concepts to causal loops. Alton, Mass: Pegasus Communications. 

• Blanchard, K. (2010). Building Trust: The critical link to a high-involvement, high-energy workplace begins with a common language. Escondido, CA: The Ken Blanchard Companies. 

• Christensen, C. M. (2006). What is an organization's culture? Harvard Business School. Boston, MA. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu 

• Herzberg, F. (2002). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business School. Boston, MA. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu 

• O’Connor, N. (2010). EU Design’s rise in the apparel and fashion industry: Formalising management and incentive systems. The Asia Case Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu 

• Polzer, J. T. (2009). Leading teams. Harvard Business School. Boston, MA. Retrieved from https://hbsp.harvard.edu 

• Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency. 

• Vroom, H. V., Searle, J. G. (2003). Educating managers for decision making and leadership. Management Decision, 41(10), 968-978. http://doi.org/10.1108/00251740310509490 

ORGL 620 Leadership Seminar

With Dr. Barbara Kingsley

Description     In this course I reflect upon my leadership journey through the Organizational Leadership (ORGL) program.  

Artifacts          Leadership Philosophy - In which I synthesize academic sources of leadership into my own practice by embracing my own theoretical basis into practice.

Leadership Project - In which I expand the pedagogical foundation of the UMN Drum Major and Block Captain student leadership audition process.