SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

ALBERS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

MBA 510
LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND TEAM
DEVELOPMENT
Fall Quarter 2006

Professor: Greg Prussia

Office: Pigott 412
Phone: 296-2514 office or 296-2550 front desk
E-Mail/Web: [email protected]; http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/prussia
FAX: 296-2083
Office Hours: Anytime by Appointment

Teams and Leaders Facilitator: TBA

Phone:
E-Mail:

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course is designed to meet three main objectives:

To enable you to assess your strengths and weaknesses in terms of important leadership
and team-building skills including capitalizing on group diversity, providing useful
feedback, and using effective decision making in groups.

Once you have assessed your strengths and weaknesses, to provide you with resources
and opportunities to further develop your leadership and team-building skills.

To teach you about group development and teamwork by creating an environment

wherein you learn from your own and others' experiences in predominantly outside class
activities.

REQUIRED TEXT:

MBA 510 Fall, 2006 Readings (see syllabus end)

On Becoming a Leader (2003), Bennis, W. Published by Basic Books, New York.

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COURSE FOUNDATION

The modern manager is confronted simultaneously by a diverse work force, greater challenges
within the organization, and an increasingly chaotic business environment. Techniques for
managing that were effective in more stable systems are becoming less applicable, and a new
range of skills, appropriate to the new circumstances, is emerging. Instead of knowing a few new
facts or practices, the modern manager needs to become more responsive in working with others,
more creative in coping with challenges and finding solutions, and more adept at synthesizing
various inputs and taking future oriented actions.

The Leadership Skills and Team Development Seminar offers an opportunity to shift beyond the
work place and academic environments into a learning laboratory setting. This learning
opportunity does not take place in isolation, but is supported by strong background training in
leadership skills (goal setting, team building, effective communication, risk taking, problem
solving, and trust building). Participants also will be asked to experiment with and practice
various roles necessary to an effective high performing team.

Research has shown that the types of skills taught in this course are critical to personal and
organizational success. In this course we will approach skill building and team development
through a combination of traditional learning activities (readings, classroom experiences) and
less traditional activities, such as the outdoor learning laboratory.

Important Note:

For class meetings (especially the retreat weekend), please feel free to wear comfortable, loose
fitting clothing that may become muddy, wet and well worn. We will be outside rain or shine, so
you should have a number of clothing layers with you (e.g., T-shirt, long sleeved shirt,
sweatshirt, wind-breaker, long pants, perhaps long underwear bottoms, RAIN GEAR, etc. - dress
warmer than you think you should!).

“Highly effective teams are composed of groups of committed individuals who trust each
other; have a clear sense or purpose about their work; are effective communicators
within and outside the team; make sure everyone in the team is involved in decisions
affecting the group; and follow a process that helps them plan, make decisions, and
ensure the quality of their work”.

Wellins, Byham, & Wilson, Empowered Teams

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CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS:

Session 1: Tuesday, October 10 6:00 to 9:30

Course introduction/objectives/requirements/expectations/acquaintance activities

Assignment for Session 2:

Journal entries reflecting on Session #1. Read and synthesize the Course
Methodology, Trust/Commitment, and Team Processes/Relationships sections.

Formal “Needs Assessment” Writing Assignment due on Tuesday 10/24: Based on a

discussion with your "coaches", write a 2-4 page double-spaced typed paper describing
leadership and team/interpersonal interaction skills you want/need to develop. When
choosing your external class coach (ECC), determine a group with whom you interact
regularly (your work or, if you are not working, a social group) and choose a
representative from that group (e.g. your boss). You’ll also be asked to choose an
internal class coach (ICC). Your coaches can provide you with a “feedback check” on
your own perspectives and can help determine whether they are
relevant/realistic/appropriate. Indicate the names of both your coaches at the end of your
paper. You will find many ideas in the assigned readings to help you consider relevant
skills.

"The thing to remember when traveling is that the trail is the thing, not the end of the
trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for."

Louis L'Amour

Session 2: Tuesday, October 17 6:00 to 9:30

Team building techniques; Preparation for retreat weekend; Choose internal class
coaches (ICC)

Assignment for Session 3

Journal entries reflecting on Session #2. Read and synthesize Communication,

Emotional Intelligence, Decision Making, and Goal Setting sections. Complete
the MBTI instrument and bring it to the retreat. Bring journals to retreat (and a
plastic bag for your journals).

Session 3: Friday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. to Sunday, October 22 at 5:00 p.m.

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Meet at Camp Waskowitz ready to begin by 2:00 PROMPT!

Note: The weekend retreat begins promptly at 2:00 pm on Friday, so you should plan to
be there with ample spare time to get checked into your room and be ready to begin
working at 2:00. We will be working into the night on both Friday and Saturday nights
(typically until 10:00 or so unless the instructor poops out). The weekend will consist of
a mixture of indoor and outdoor experiential activities. We will work in the out of doors
regardless of the weather, so heed the repetitive recommendations to bring warm,
weather proof clothing -- clothing that will keep you warm and dry!

Assignment During Session #3: Observe your own and others' behaviors regarding
personality type, group/team processes, personal development and leadership,
communication and feedback, AND other leadership/team building issues salient to you.
Record these observations periodically during the weekend in your journal. Consider
what you believe are the "key learning points" for these areas, and also consider how you
might use or apply these behaviors in your work/personal life.

“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started from
And know the place for the first time”.
T.S. Eliot
(Little Giddino)

Session 4: Tuesday, October 24 6:00 to 9:30

Weekend debriefing and Key Learning Point Discussion

Assignment for Session 5

Journal entries reflecting on Session #4. Read and synthesize Leadership and
Service Learning sections.

Session 5: Tuesday, November 7 6:00 to 9:30 p.m.

Improvisation activities

Assignment for Session 6:

Journal entries reflecting on Session #5. Read and synthesize “On Becoming A
Leader.”

Formal “Action Plan” Writing Assignment due 11/28: For this assignment first think about
the leadership and team skills you indicated in the first written assignment. Also think
about relevant concepts/skills (key learning points) you think are important for you that
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you did not indicate in the first written assignment. Finally, think about your experience
in the service- learning project. Then meet with your coaches and discuss with them 1)
whether you developed desired/needed skills, 2) 3-4 goals for your future, and 3) how
they might specifically be applied – use the SMART outline here. Prepare a 5-10 page
typewritten paper focusing on these skills/goals you see as relevant to you and how,
SPECIFICALLY you will integrate/apply them in your work and personal life. Note
what role your coach played in this process. Also note what role you played in the
service-learning project, what you learned/took away from the SLP, and how that
influenced the goals you set. Be prepared to share your discussion/thoughts with other
class members.

“Loyalty becomes visible in at least two sets of behaviors. First, team members go out of
their way to ensure the success of their peers. Second, members give their colleagues the
benefit of the doubt when they have apparently failed to meet an obligation or fulfill a
commitment.”

Kinlaw, Developing Superior Work Teams

Session 6: Tuesday, November 28 6:00 to 9:30 p.m.

Service Learning Project Debrief; Closure Activity

"The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste, experience it to the utmost, to reach
out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience."

Elanor Roosevelt

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND EVALUATION:

Participants in MBA 510 will be evaluated using the following criteria:

1. Attendance and Participation (25% of grade) are essential in this course. Attendance means
prompt arrival at all scheduled sessions and activities. Participation means visible engagement in
your personal learning process as well as that of other students. Additionally, you should
actively contribute to group discussions about the readings and course experiences.

2. Formal writing assignments (25% of grade). These assignments are important tools to
maximize your learning and improve your writing skills. In answering these questions, you will
explore your reactions to group activities, class discussions and readings. You will also have a
chance to apply course material and experiences to other aspects of your life. Full credit papers
will demonstrate: 1) OUTSTANDING effort and thoughtfulness in completing the assignment;
2) an obvious understanding of the relevant course material (i.e., your papers should draw upon
AND MAKE SPECIFIC CONNECTION TO ASSIGNED READINGS, ideas experienced in
class, and class discussions); 3) exemplary grammar and no typographical errors.

3. Reflection Journal (25% of grade). This is an important tool for maximizing the learning value
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of experiential activities. It serves as a means for understanding, articulating, interpreting and
relating learning to other aspects of our lives (transference), and is most effective when done soon
after the experience. The journal should contain reflections on your experiences from: Class
meetings, the retreat, the service project, work, and other group encounters and activities.

Reflective journalizing is a highly personal activity and should draw from personal background,
perspectives, feelings, and interpretations. It is not a process of logging events and activities, but
one of reflecting on your personal experiences and reactions to those experiences. This process of
jotting down your feelings and observations about the process, not the task, will continue
throughout the quarter from the first class meeting to the last. Questions you should ask and address
as you journal on experiences include: What worked well and why? What (and whose) words and
gestures particularly fueled your energy and commitment to the group’s success? As metaphors for
other venues in your work or personal life, what did you see (are you seeing) in the class challenges
and class dynamics that are isomorphic to those other venues? How? What can you transfer from
the class experiences to those other venues?

When reflecting on your retreat experience you should strive to tie together what you have learned
in the readings and what you have observed in your own behavior and that of your classmates. The
focus should be on effective teaming, leadership, and other appropriate topics. You may include e-
mail messages to your class or to specific individuals in your class in that they provide feedback to
the class (or individuals) and/or that they share your own thoughts, observations and epiphanies
from your experiences together.

When reflecting on your service project experience, you should think about what you learned from
the project, how the group dynamic was the same or different from that observed in the rest of the
course, how you felt about the nature of the service, etc.

The journal may be neatly handwritten and is due on 11/28. You will be assessed on how well you
met expectations for “effort” and “diligence” in journalizing on your experiences in the course.

4. Readings Syntheses (25 % of grade). You should prepare brief written syntheses for all readings
in the course packet. This is not a busy-work task to test whether you’ve read the assignments. The
act of reflecting back on what you’re reading and reducing (or synthesizing) the readings to the
salient points being conveyed in each reading will substantially enhance your understanding and
retention of these points. It engages you actively in the learning process and thereby maximizes
your personal learning. The syntheses will give you a memory “handle” on what you’ve read and
will make the time you’ve spent with the readings packet much more meaningful and more
enduring. These syntheses need only be a paragraph or two long, depending on the item that you
are synthesizing. You should take five minutes immediately after reading each article in the packet
and quickly write down the essence, or synthesis, of the article. It is due on 11/28.
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5. Service Learning Project (part of attendance and participation). Each class will plan and
implement a group service project. This project should involve all students in the class. In
evaluating alternative projects, your group should consider whether the project promises to make
a significant contribution to the community (the university, the neighborhood, the environment,
etc.). Past student feedback suggests that interaction with community members, clear perception
of contribution to the community and results achieved, and being able to keep in contact with
group mates during the project activity yield an especially gratifying service experience. The
service project should involve at least 8-10 hours of work from each student, in addition to
planning and debriefing meetings. The following page provides some guidelines about selecting,
planning, and implementing your project:

- planning process: Try to meet before or after class to generate ideas for service projects. After
an initial face-to-face session, you can use the class e-mail list for further planning.

- idea generation: Generate no less than 5 and no more than 30 possible ideas.

- idea selection: In evaluating alternative projects, your group should consider whether the
project promises to make a significant contribution to the community (the university, the
neighborhood, the environment etc.).

- physical or mental?: Your project can involve grunt work or it can involve higher-level skills
present in the group. That is up to you.

- generating commitment: Before individual students commit to one or more ideas proposed by
the group, make sure that you consider this project worthy of your time, sweat, and intellectual
energy. If not, speak up and propose an alternative that you can commit to!

- teamwork: The service project should depend on teamwork. The service project is intended to
provide the class with another opportunity to work together as a team. Avoid projects that
require people to work in separate physical spaces or on unrelated activities.

- opportunity for interaction with or feedback from your clients: Past student feedback suggests
that interaction with community members and a clear perception of contribution to the
community yields an especially gratifying experience. If you do not interact with clients during
your project, please devise a way to receive feedback from them after the project.

- adequate planning: In a give class, you could have up to 300 person-hours of labor available.
Make sure that whatever project or organization you select is ready to absorb that supply or
labor. Otherwise people will be underutilized and under committed to the team's endeavor.

"The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and
convenience, but where one stands during challenges and controversy"

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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MBA 510 Fall, 2006 Readings. Most readings can be derived from
the “Business Source Complete” database unless otherwise
indicated (search instructions included below)
Course Methodology:
1. Test: Can you laugh at his advice? Fortune. July 6, 1998, V. 138, p. 203.

2. Open the door to outdoor learning. Works Management. Apr, 2000, V. 53, p. 16.

3. Outward bound for inward gains. Businessline. October 2002, p. 1. (on ABInform database)

4. Training executive style. Credit Union Magazine. July 2003, V. 69, p. 50.

5. Learning to lead: mention “outdoor education” and you are bound to raise a few eyebrows…
Risk Management. June, 2003, V. 50, p. 48. (on Business and Management Practices database).

Trust/Commitment:
6. Whom can you trust: It’s not so easy to tell. Fortune. June 12, 2000. V. 141, p. 331 (on
Research Library Complete database).

7. The decision to trust Harvard Business Review. September, 2006. V. 84, p. 55-62.

8. Building team trust. Consulting to Management C2M. December 2002, V. 13, p. 51.

Team Processes/Relationships:
9. Teambuilding in the construction industry. Transactions of AACE International. 2002, p. 13.

10. Deep relationships. Credit Union Management. July 2002, V. 25, p. 42.

11. Relationships count. Secured Lender. Jan/Feb 2004, V. 60, p. 50.

12. Building relationships, networks key to industry leaders’ success. Nation’s Restaurant News.
Feruary 20, 2006, V. 40, p. 24 (on Business and Management Practices).

13. Collaboration rules Harvard Business Review. July/August, 2005. V. 83, p. 96-104.

Communication:
14. Mastering the art of persuasion. National Public Accountant. June 2002, V. 47, p. 21.

15. Listen up, leaders: Let workers do the talking. HRMagazine, October 2003, V. 48, p. 14.

16. How to make your manager to employee communication count. Pay for performance report.
May 2004, V. 4, p. 6.

17. 7 tips for effective listening. Internal Auditor. August 2003, V. 60, p. 23.
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Emotional Intelligence:
18. What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review. January, 2004, V. 82, p. 82.

19. Building the emotional intelligence of groups. Harvard Business Review. March, 2001, V.
79, p. 80.

Decision Making:
20. What you don’t know about making decisions. Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2001, v. 79,
p. 108.

21. The seasoned ececutive’s decision making style. Harvard Business Review. Feb. 2006, V.
84, p. 110-121.

Goal Setting
22. Going for the goal. JCK. September 2003, V. 174, p. 82.

Leadership:
23. All in a day’s work. Harvard Business Review. December, 2001, V. 79, p. 55.

24. Can leadership be taught? Perspectives from management educators. Academy of

Management Learning & Education. Mar, 2003. V. 2, p. 54 (Search using title “Perspectives
from management educators”).

25. Leadership run amok Harvard Business Review. June 2006, V. 84, p. 72-82.

26. Level 5 leadership. Harvard Business Review. Jan 2001. V. 79, p. 66.

27. Recognize contributions. Executive Excellence. Nov 2003. V. 20, p. 4.

28. The agenda – Grassroots leadership. www.fastcompany.com/online/23/grassroots.html.

29. Follow these leaders. Fortune. December 12, 2005. V. 152, #12, p. 125 (Proquest-Multiple
Databases database).

30. Leading with heart. Credit Union Management. June, 2005. V. 28, p. 14.

Service Learning:
31. The business of lending a helping hand. Women in Business. Nov/Dec 2003. V. 55, p. 14.

32. A critique of service learning projects in management education. Journal of Business Ethics.
Jan 1996, V. 15, p. 133.

33. Creating the intersection between corporate values and community service. Public Relations
Strategist. Summer, 2004, V. 10, p. 30.
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Search instructions:
Go to www.seattleu.edu
Click on learning and teaching
Click on libraries
Click on Lemieux Library
Click on the drop-down menu in “Find articles on your topic in a database”
Choose “Databases by Title” in the drop-down menu
Click on “Business Source Complete”
Add “Academic Search Premier” when you choose databases
Click on continue and begin searching!