SYLLABUS
Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles
Mobilize people to tackle tough problems and build the capacity to thrive through the dangers of change
Ronald Heifetz, M.D.
Founder, Center for Public Leadership; King Hussein Bin Talal Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
About This Course
The crises of our time generate enormous adaptive challenges for our families, organizations, communities, and societies. The need for leadership that can mobilize people to meet these challenges and improve life is critical.
In this introductory course, you will explore strategies for leading in a changing world where adaptive pressures will continue to challenge all of us. You will discover new ways to approach complex organizational systems and take thoughtful action on the work we all face ahead. Most importantly, you will reflect on how to move forward on the leadership challenges you care about most.
The course is divided into four parts. In the introduction, you will explore definitions of leadership and apply a process for how to study it. In Sections 1 and 2, you will implement diagnostic methods to better understand work and authority. In Section 3, you will consider strategies for taking action. Lastly, in Section 4 and the conclusion, you will reflect on your personal strategies for surviving and thriving in a world of change.
What You'll Learn
- Introduction: Get on the Balcony
- 1 Identify the Work to Be Done
- How to identify and unbundle complex challenges
- 2 Lead With, Beyond, and Without Authority
- How to understand the role of formal and informal authority
- 3.1 Take Action: Think Politically
- How to identify the key perspectives of stakeholders
- 3.2 Take Action: Build Trust
- How to build and renew trust relationships
- 3.3 Take Action: Orchestrate Conflict
- How to approach conflict
- 4 Anchor Yourself
- How to implement personal strategies for surviving and thriving amidst change
- Conclusion: Staying Alive
When Are Things Due?
The course is self-paced, and there are no required assignment deadlines. The edX platform provides suggested assignment deadlines based on your enrollment, but they can be reset.
Learners hoping to earn a verified certificate must earn a passing grade by the official course end date.
The edX Dates tab merely provides a suggestion for progressing through the self-paced course. If you are a Verified Track learner, you have until the end of the course run to complete the materials with a 60% average to earn a certificate. The Dates tab will automatically adjust its suggestions, but you are truly fee to find a pace that works for you. Faster or slower.
See the Important Course Dates view for more information.
Audit learners will lose access to the course after a certain number of weeks. The length of time varies by course, and is noted on the course signup page at edX.org. This time is counted from when you enroll or from when the course begins, whichever is later. Verified learners retain course access indefinitely.
What Are the Assignments and Grading?
The passing grade for the course is 60%.
The course has four main assignment types.
| Type | Description | Required/Optional | Grading Method | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where Are You Now? | Survey and short-form free response question | Required | Automatically graded | 10% |
| Reflection and Concept Checks | Short-form free response and true/false questions | Required | Automatically graded | 40% |
| Discussion | Short-form free response posted to the discussion boards | Optional | Not graded | 0% |
| Use Yourself as a Case | Long-form free response | Required | Manually self-graded with a rubric | 50% |
Use Yourself as a Case - Access
Access to Use Yourself as a Case assignments is limited to learners who have upgraded to the verified certificate track. However, access to the first Use Yourself as a Case assignment (Establish the Context) has been provided to all learners as a sample.
Locked content is marked with a lock icon, as shown to the right. Click the image to see a full-sized version. If you are using screen reader software, you will hear "Content available only to verified-track learners."
When you see this icon, it indicates there are one or more graded assignments on this page. Verified learners will be able to see and complete these assignments, which will count toward their certificate of completion.
If you have questions, please use the Contact Us link here or at the bottom of the page.
Use Yourself as a Case - Selecting a Personal Leadership Challenge
In order to complete the Use Yourself as a Case assignments, you must select a personal leadership challenge to analyze. It is strongly recommended that you use the same case throughout the course, as each of the five assignments examines a different aspect/stage of the process.
These assignments are designed to be private reflections; however, there are opportunities for OPTIONAL feedback after each assignment.
If you choose to share, remember to avoid identifiable information, such as real names and dates.
Verified Certificate
EdX offers an optional fee-based verified certificate to those who have passed the course. If you achieve a passing grade in this course, you are eligible to receive a verified certificate.
Your certificate will indicate you have successfully completed the course, but will not include a specific grade or course hours.
You can upgrade to the certificate track from within the course.
Support
Questions about the course should be submitted via the course discussion boards using the "+General" category. Be sure to mark your post as a question. Please help your peers by answering questions in the forums.
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