Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles

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.

In this short introductory course, you will discover a diagnostic-and-action process for exercising leadership that explores the following foundational principles and strategies:

• How to identify and unbundle complex challenges
• How to understand the role of formal and informal authority
• How to identify the key perspectives of stakeholders
• How to build and renew trust relationships
• How to approach conflict
• How to implement personal strategies for surviving and thriving amidst change

• Introduction: Get on the Balcony
• 1 Identify the Work to Be Done
• 2 Lead With, Beyond, and Without Authority
• 3.1 Take Action: Think Politically
• 3.2 Take Action: Build Trust
• 3.3 Take Action: Orchestrate Conflict
• 4 Anchor Yourself
• Conclusion: Staying Alive