"People are our most important asset" — for many years this assertion has figured prominently in corporate Annual Reports, senior managers’ speeches, and consultant recommendations. But in reality, only a small fraction of firms have behaved accordingly. In the far greater number of firms, employees are still treated as disposable "variable cost" items. I believe that the pressure of competition in an increasingly globally integrated, technologically sophisticated, and knowledge-intensive economy is gradually turning this homily into an imperative. However, the countervailing pressures are strong, especially those rooted in short-term financial imperatives, vested economic and power interests, and the persistence of ideologies. The key to all successful firms is Leadership.

We will begin with a session that provides an introduction and overview of the course. The remainder of the course is divided into the following sections:

Diagnosis of your personal leadership style

MBTI Instrument

LPI Instrument

Johari Window Instrument

Strategic Implications of effective leadership

Abraham Lincoln

Martin Luther King

John F. Kennedy

Jack Welch

Implications of recent theoretical and research developments in leadership

Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman

Situational Leadership – Hersey and Blanchard

Develop skills and competencies to improve your leadership effectiveness

Research Project – Analysis of leadership skills in your organization. This is where the theory becomes reality.

Class participation and self-analysis instruments are a key part of the course. To ensure an exposure to the broad range of leadership situations, we will be using materials from the Kouses and Posner textbook as well as materials which will be handed out in class.

The primary subject matter in this course is not a set of facts or analytic techniques that you can learn by reading and/or doing pencil-and-paper exercises by yourself. What you learn in this course comes primarily in the form of deeper intuition, finer instincts, and better judgment with respect to an important class of relatively ambiguous issues. As a result, the heart of the learning process is our class discussions and your research project, rather than my lectures or the textbook. Moreover, the amount of learning you accomplish in this course is a direct function of your personal contribution to these discussions: you can’t learn to play the piano by watching others play.

We will all endeavor to create a supportive learning environment. My goal is make the class a "learning community," where we can all learn from each other. This requires active participation and respect for each other’s contributions.

You will be asked to prepare and present your Personal Best Case. Directions for this project

can be found on page 330 in the Kouses and Posner textbook. Please prepare a written paper following the outline in the book and turn it in on Saturday January 6^th. As this will serve as the basis for our discussion on Saturday, no late papers will be accepted. The papers should be no longer than 3 pages in length.

Each student will be required to prepare a vision presentation describing your leadership vision for your company or organization. You will present the vision as if you were the highest-ranking officer in the organization. It will be graded based on your ability to: inspire, create passion, evoke elation, show intensity, challenge your listener, and deliver a preferred future vision. Think Martin Luther King! The speech should last no longer than 5 to 7 minutes and will be videotaped.

You must select and purchase one of the four books listed below to read and be prepared to "teach" the important content of the book you selected to 3 of your fellow students who have not read your book. You should prepare a one-page summary of the most important elements of the leadership principles the author has proposed from the book and an analysis of why you would agree or disagree with his treatise. These books can usually be purchased from any major bookstore (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, etc.). These books take about 2 hours to read. The assignment is due Saturday, January 13^th. You will be graded confidentially by your fellow students.

Machiavelli, The Prince, Bantam Classics, ISBN 0553212788

The Art of War for Executives, Donald G. Krause, Perigee Books, ISBN 0399519025

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey, Fireside, ISBN 0671708635

Leadership is an Art, Max Depree, Dell Trade Paperback, ISBN 0440503248

(Select one from the list above-As each book must be represented equally, a sign-up sheet will be completed on the first night of class)

Your professional success depends critically on your skill in articulating and defending your ideas and engaging in a productive dialogue with your colleagues. You should consider our classroom as a laboratory in which you can test and improve these skills. If your classmates do not challenge your conclusions, rest assured that I will! I believe that through open and frank debate and discussion, we can uncover a framework for you to use to approach real problems you will face in the future.

Some of the criteria that I will use to assess class participation include:

• Involvement: Is the student following the discussion attentively? Is the student actively contributing ideas? Is the student respectful of others in how he or she formulates his or her contributions?

• Listening: Is the student a good listener? Are the points made relevant to the flow of the discussion? Are they linked to the comments made by others?

• Adding value: Do the comments show evidence of insightful analysis of the case data? Do they make use of relevant practical experience? Are they formulated in a succinct, effective manner? Do comments clarify and highlight the important aspects of earlier ideas and lead to a clearer statement of the relevant concepts and issues?

• Risk-taking: Is there a willingness to test new ideas, or are all the comments safe? (For example, repetition of case facts without analyses and conclusions or simply generic statements that would be true in almost any setting would be considered "safe" and not very useful.) Do comments raise "difficult" questions that challenge us to think more deeply?

Note: EVERYONE in the class is expected to participate in every class. Doing the readings and attending class are not enough. Since during class I may call on students at any time, it would be advisable to be prepared.

You need to identify up to ten (10) individuals – employees, peers, bosses – current and/or former with whom you fell comfortable asking to complete an Observer form concerning your leadership skills. (Note: Your mother may not be the best person to ask to complete a form!) An Observer form was sent to you by Dr. Mainiero and should be copied and handed out in advance. Please ask your raters to be as honest as possible and assure them that their scores and comments will be kept completely confidential. ALL OBSERVER FORMS SHOULD BE FAXED TO ME DIRECTLY FROM THE RATER. My fax number is (914) 696-2965. The deadline for completing the forms and sending them in is January 8 by 4:30 PM at the latest.

Each student will prepare an 10-12 page double spaced (12 point Arial type) research paper entitled, "A Personal Leadership Assessment of (Your Name)"

The paper should be in two parts. First, write a thorough leadership analysis of your current company. If you are currently not employed, you may select a company where you have worked in the past 5 years. Second, write about what you have learned about your own leadership style and what you plan to do make adjustments and improvements. You should follow the format described below:

Introduction. Give a 3 or 4 paragraph description of the company. Most of this material can be taken from a recent annual report or 10K filing. What is the company’s mission? Who are the major competitors? What has the financial picture looked like during the past 3 years?

Describe the leadership styles of the senior management at your location. You will need to use your judgment here. What have been the major initiatives requiring strong leadership in the past 3-5 years? What action do you see requiring leadership that failed or could have been improved? Do you feel motivated by your management’s leadership? Why or why not?

Interview a minimum of 3 senior managers at the company and 2 employees at your peer level. Ask all employees you interview the same set of questions. Examples of questions you might ask are: (To senior executives) How would you describe your leadership style? What new initiatives have you been concentrating on within the past 3 years? How do you measure the success of these initiatives? Who do you think best exemplifies an outstanding leader and why? (To your peers) How would you describe the leadership style of the senior managers you interviewed? How effective do you think they have been driving change throughout the organization? What do you think our organization needs more of to be more competitive?

Using what we learned in class from the discussions, intruments, and readings, do a complete analysis of your leadership style and effectiveness. What have you learned about yourself? What areas do you need to work on to be a more effective leader? When you finish your MBA degree, what do you aspire to become? How do you plan to get there? This is the most important part of the paper. It should be about 5-7 pages long.

Conclusion: What recommendations would you make to your organization and to yourself in improve your leadership effectiveness?

All papers will be due to me electronically by January 17, 2001 by 4:00 PM. No late papers will be accepted. Since this is a condensed course, you will need to begin your research for your paper immediately.

You will need to pay $18.00 to purchase the Kouses and Posner Leadership Challenge workbook associated with the course. This will be requested the first or second night of class.

If you have a staff, please copy the LPI – Observer Form included in the package Dr. Mainiero sent to you for up to 10 raters. Please choose raters that can evaluate your style in action from a variety of perspectives (your direct reports, your boss, lateral peers, etc.)

If you do not have a staff, please copy the LPI-IC Observer Form also included in the package Dr. Mainiero sent to you. This form is for those of you who are individual contributors and do not have a staff reporting to you at the present time. Please choose up to 10 raters who are familiar with the activities you perform in your job on a regular basis (peers, your boss, vendors, previous employers, etc.)

If you are a full-time MBA student and are not currently employed, you may utilize peers in the MBA program who may have worked with you on projects as raters. Please choose up to 10 raters.

The grade you earn will be based on the following:

Individual class participation and effort 20%

Personal Vision Presentation 15%

Personal Best Case 15%

Book Review 10% (Confidential Grades submitted to me via email)

Research Project 40%

Attendance is mandatory. Since we have so few class sessions, your participation in every session is very important. If you know your schedule will force you to miss a session, it would be advisable not to take the course at this time. It will be lowered by as much as one full letter grade.

January intersession classes are often problematic due to snow cancellations. If there is snow and/or ice forecast greater than 4 inches, class will be canceled. If more than one nighttime class is missed, we may need to utilize Friday, January 12 as a makeup date. If a Saturday session is canceled, we will meet on Sunday of that same week at the same time. To clarify our weather situation on problematic days, we will use a phone tree in class to inform teammates in the events of a cancellation.