Elective FE-722
Course Description:
Leadership is a core competency of any military officer and developing a deep understanding of leadership and building critical leadership skills is a life-long pursuit. Officers in the 21st century will be faced with expanding missions, life-threatening circumstances and difficult environments where they will be forced to solve both technical problems and lead adaptive change -- often without well-established organizational boundaries and in front of and among people with diverse backgrounds, agendas and personal biases. Understanding yourself as a leader, obtaining an accurate assessment of the non-hierarchical environment you are now required to operate in and understanding the motivations, goals and operating modes of those you are attempting to lead are keys to success as a leader. Applying the lessons examined in this course stretch from non-traditional leadership roles such as duty in a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan to leading an interagency task force in Washington, DC.
Moreover, as the demographics of the services changes it will become increasingly important for leaders to understand how to reach across generational, gender and ethnic orientations within their own service or joint organization to motivate the people they are charged to lead and to mentor them to their fullest potential while meeting the goals and objectives of the organization.
This course will build on and augment traditional notions about leadership and followership to expand and deepen the student’s understanding of leadership outside situations already encountered in their professional lives to-date. It will also seek to develop within each student a self-awareness of their own specific leadership narrative, their individual strengths and challenges and establish methods for understanding complex and difficult leadership challenges.