Georgia Institute of Technology

Division of Student Affairs
Enriching the Educational Experience (E³)

INFORMATION ABOUT

Spring 2008 Syllabus

Foundations of Leadership
Public Policy 4803 (Spring 2008)

Phillip M. Thompson, J.D., LL.M., Ph.D.
Director, LEAD Program (www.leadership.gatech.edu), SA; Director, Leadership Certificate, Public Policy
My office: 217, not 217A, Smithgall Student Services Building (Flag Building)
Contact: e-mail: phillip.thompson@vpss.gatech.edu (404) 385-2291
Class: TuTh 1:30-2:55; Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 p.m. MWF and upon request
Class Location: D.M. Smith 11
Office Hours: Upon request. Just contact my assistant Mary Brunson at mary.brunson@vpss.gatech.edu and she will set up a meeting.

COURSE METHODOLOGY

This course has a number of interlocking elements. It assumes that leadership requires a theoretical framework from which to better understand and then analyze leadership practices. For example, the study of organizational and ethical leadership principles will assist in your capstone project of evaluating a leadership failure in the Hurricane Katrina or similar crisis. In addition, improving your leadership skills such as self-assessment, communication, and teamwork will aid you in the actual work of your capstone team.

II. COURSE OBJECTIVES

To Learn About Leadership
Leadership is the art of persuading, guiding, and mentoring people in an ethical and effective manner towards a common ethical goal or objective.

In order to learn about leadership, the course will develop your knowledge of:
• Organizational leadership/Crisis leadership/Global leadership/Ethical leadership
• How to guide, motivate, and work with diverse persons in a common vision
• Ethics and critical thinking
• Interdisciplinary approaches
• Key leadership skills such as communication, creativity, teamwork, and assessment
• Service and leadership
• Applying leadership principles to a problem and developing a leadership solution

III. COURSE PROJECTS

PROJECTS WITHOUT GRADES

Failure to complete any of these projects will result in 10 points off your final grade.

A) Leadership Development Worksheet and Meeting (Must be Completed)
Students will complete the Leadership Development Worksheet and return it the second week of class. My goal for the worksheet and one on one meeting is to assess and assist your leadership development. I will meet with each student for a ½ hour meeting at my office to discuss your leadership development plans. This meeting must take place between 1/15/08 and 2/14/08 Please set a meeting with me by contacting Mary Brunson, my administrative assistant at mary.brunson@vpss.gatech.edu.

B) Library Presentation Rehearsal Studio Review (Must be Completed)
Each team will set up a 1 hour meeting with your TA in the GT Library Presentation Rehearsal Studio to be taped and advised by your TA on how to improve your public speaking. This will be done the last two weeks before your final oral presentation. Each person on the team will work on a 3-4 minute section of their final presentation. Plan early as getting an hour in the library at that time of year can be difficult. The TA will tape you several times and make suggestions for improvement each time. The TA will then e-mail the tape to you with some suggestions on your public speaking.

Class Projects for Grades

A) Leadership Theory and Organizational Leadership Exam (20%)

Part I Paper (10%)

You will turn in by e-mail by exam time a team paper of 2-3 page double spaced that outlines how your team:
1) has engaged or will engage in team building;
-how you arrived at team name and motto
-other team building activities
2) has determined team rules that
-include ways to manage planning/time commitments;
-will discuss issues, allow free flow of discussion, and arrive at decisions;
-plans to manage conflicts-what is your process- must include a fair venting of the differences, ownership of your role in the problem, recognizing the positions of others and plan for resolution; and
3) other team rules you have decided are important.

Part II (90%) The in-class exam will have multiple choice, true/false, short answers, and a short essay that will cover Part I-III of the syllabus.
B) Global and Ethics Exam (20% of grade)

At the end of part V, there will be an ethics examination on PART IV-V. It will consist of two parts:

• 20% of this portion of the exam will be based on 4-5 in class quizzes on Global leadership and Ethical leadership. You can drop the lowest in class quiz grade.
• 80% of this portion of the exam will be based on applying the readings and class discussions to a case on an in class examination.

C) Teamwork Skills Assessment (10% of grade)

The TA assigned to your team will assess each of you on how you demonstrated key leadership qualities such as:

• Effective participation
• Active listening
• Openness to constructive criticism
• Creativity and composure in responding to challenges or differences
• Capacity to work collaboratively with others
• Ability to communicate effectively-listen to everyone, make requests, not interrupt others, and communicate to everyone in the group
• Managing commitments-attend meetings, on time with work
• Managing breakdowns/conflict
• Recognizing and encouraging the efforts of others

TIP: A key aspect here is less where you start, but how you respond to instruction and how much you advance during the course of the class. On February 28th, your TA will provide you with an assessment and some recommendations for areas of improvement and then at the end of class, you will receive a final assessment.

Role of TA: Your TA's primary assignment is to assess and assist in the development of your teamwork skills. They are also assigned the task of handling the Team Intervention Procedure. He or she is not there to write or assess your paper. Any comments the TA makes about any class assignment does not in any way bind Dr. Thompson in his assessment of said assignment. Dr. Thompson is solely responsible for the assessment of your assignments. If you have a question about your paper or Capstone, contact Dr. Thompson.

360 Team Evaluation
I will ask all team members to do an evaluation of their team and team members at the end of the class. This type of 360 Evaluation will provide additional feedback to the TA assessment. It will only be used to raise or lower your TA Teamwork grade by 0-3 points.

C) Leadership Summation Exercise (10% of grade)

The summation exercise should include the following:
1) On the sheet, "Leadership Lab" (5% of grade), please record:
• Three leadership insights from the class.
• Three leadership insights from an external leadership event on your "Leadership Lab" page. You can attend a leadership lecture, conference, retreat, or workshop. I will give you a list of approved activities. If you wish to do an activity not provided by me, you must get my approval.

Events that can be attended will include not be limited to:

Georgia Tech Leadership Conference
Date: Saturday, March 29th, 2008
Time: 8:30am - 2:45pm
Location: Klaus Advanced Computing Building
http://gtlc.gatech.edu/

Black Leadership Conference
Date: February 22-23
Location: The Student Center
http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/aasu/blc/contact

2) Write a 5-6 page double-spaced leadership obituary (5% of grade). Assume that you have lived a full life and achieved the definition of leadership provided to you-Leadership is the art of persuading, guiding, and mentoring people in an ethical and effective manner towards a common ethical goal or objective.

On this paper write about the following:

• What you achieved in your life and why it was important to you as a leader?
• What was your vision for your life, i.e. what motivated you in terms of ultimate ideals?
• How did your life reflect some of the key insights you learned in the class?

The two leadership notebook activities (Leadership Lab and Leadership Obituary) must be e-mailed to me in Word by Friday, May 2 at 5:00p.m.

E) Team Capstone Project (40% of grade)

Students will be divided into teams of 4-5 each with a TA. The central task of each team will be to do the following:
Select an issue. In selecting a leadership failure in the Hurricane Katrina or another acceptable crisis, your research topic needs to be sufficiently narrow so that you can complete the capstone within the semester. I can suggest some topics, but your team is free, with my approval, to select your own topic. You cannot do a topic selected by previous teams.
Prepare and execute a research plan. What research avenues will you pursue to discover the required information? Your research should include major journals, newspapers, books, internet (be careful here), experts on and off campus, governmental reports, etc. Do not forget to integrate any relevant materials from the class into your analysis.

Prepare a research paper (2/3 of Capstone grade. 15-17 pages double spaced, typed. E-mail me in Word a copy of your paper) Your research paper should include the following parts:

• Issue: State briefly the issue selected and why it is an important one to study.
• Research Plan (one paragraph) : How did you analyze this problem and what resources were used in this work. Note any methodologies such as using statistical analysis, etc. Did you verify claims with more than one source? Why do you think the sources you used were reliable?
• Innovation (one paragraph): How did you go beyond the basic requirements of the project to show creativity, out of the box thinking in any aspect of your project including but not limited to areas like your team processes, research, substantive proposal, or presentation. You can earn 1-2 extra points on your paper for showing a high level of creativity.
• History and Response to the Leadership Problem: Indicate what was done to address this issue prior to the crisis and during the crisis. Why was there a leadership failure during or after the hurricane related to this issue? What were the sources of the problem? What organizational and ethical problems influenced the leadership problem? (Think here about how this problem reflects what you have learned from Northouse, leadership framing, and Augustine on crisis leadership) What ethical issues were present during this period? Apply the moral reasoning method, obligations, values, and consequences to this problem.
• Proposed solution(s): What are the potential leadership solution(s) to the crisis? Justify your answer with a plan or plans that address the problems stated in the early part of your paper. Address all potential organizational or ethical issues resulting from your proposal. Creativity must be balanced against feasibility in your proposal.

TIP: Be sure that both your analysis and solution account for all of the relevant political, economic, technical, scientific, cultural, social, administrative, and other relevant dimensions of the problem. Also, be sure that you include an organizational and ethical analysis that draws from the class. Select specific and reliable sources to justify your solution and make sure that the solution flows logically from the research. Finally, I want a leadership analysis and leadership solutions.

Grading of the Capstone Paper (2/3 of Capstone Grade). The capstone paper will be judged graded according to three parts:

Research (1/4): The keys here are the quality (breadth and depth) of your research materials. Was your research plan a comprehensive one that used quality resources to arrive at a conclusion? Did you stretch yourself beyond obvious sources to locate, for example, experts on and off campus?

Substantive Analysis (1/2): On your written proposal and your presentation, you will be judged according to the coherence of your presentation. Did you thoroughly cover each required aspect? Does the conclusion follow logically from the problem recognition and analysis? Did you make unsupported statements? How well did you include a component of organizational and ethical analysis? Did you bring in lessons learned and insights from the class into your analysis-the written dimension-Northouse, Deal and Bolman, Augustine, or one of the lectures?

Form (1/4): On your written proposal and oral presentation, how well organized are you? How well did you transition from one section to another? Do you reference and connect the parts? Do the parts follow logically to make a coherent presentation? How is your grammar and syntax? Remember the requirements for a large group oral presentation. You must cite sources on your paper (name, title of work and page, and provide a bibliography).
Grading of Your Capstone Oral Presentation

Class Presentation (1/3 of capstone grade with 1/3 team grade, 2/3 your grade). Your team class presentation should be 25-30 minutes long with participation (a speaking role) by each member of the team. In preparing for your presentation, remember that your oral presentation will be judged in part according to the key points for a large group presentation including but not limited to:

Substantive Organization-Problem recognition, problem analysis and problem resolution
Audience- Types of evidence- scientific/research, anecdotal, metrics, language, references, dress, use of media-powerpoint, etc.

Audience Response Recognition-Body language and behavior

Message presentation-Style/pace/voice/eye contact/movement, presence or lack of
distractors,etc.

Team Intervention. I will provide you with a Team Intervention handout. Review this sheet carefully. If your team is having a lot of difficulty on any aspect of the Capstone that is endangering your project, you can request an intervention from your TA. Please do not wait until the last second to request an intervention. There is no harm and no grade loss in requesting an intervention. In fact, your request may demonstrate your maturity in handling a difficult issue.

IV. Grading

Your grade will consist of the following:

Leadership/Teamwork/Organizational Exam 20%
Global and Ethical Leadership Exam 20%
Leadership Summation Exercise (Lab and Obituary) 10%
Teamwork Assessment 10%
Capstone (Research, Analysis, Paper/Oral Presentation) 40%

The final grade is given for any course is a symbol of the degree of the mastery of the course. It is based on the sum of the evidence of how well or poorly the student demonstrates an understanding and retention of material presented and does not always indicate their level of intelligence or potential. Letter grades are to be interpreted as follows:

A Excellence. An A indicates truly outstanding scholarship, skills development, and an unusual degree of intellectual and personal initiative as well as creativity.

B Denotes truly superior and well above average attainment. This grade denotes a high level of understanding of the course materials and their application.

C A basic grade that indicates average or satisfactory work in the class. It indicates an understanding of the essential knowledge of the course.

D Deficient work but meets the minimum acceptable level of course work.

F Indicates a poor knowledge of the materials and often a failure to turn in major assignments in this class.

V. Academic Misconduct

In this class, you must fully comply with the requirements of the Academic Honor Code. If you have any questions about academic misconduct or the Academic Honor Code, please review www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu/integrity/policies/honor_code.php. Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to the following:

• Unauthorized possession-exs: cheat sheets, looking at someone else's test during exam
• Unauthorized collaboration-ex: giving answers on a test.
• Plagiarism-ex: copying from a web site, book or journal without a citation.
• False claims of performance-ex: turning in someone's work as your own
• Unearned academic credit-ex: changing test grade in a grade book
• Deliberate falsification.
• Forgery-ex: forging a transcript

VI. Disability Issues

If you have any physical or learning disabilities that require special assistance, you need to get documentation from the Access Disabled Assistance Program for Tech Students (ADAPT). ADAPT can be contacted at (404) 894-2564 or 210 Smithgall Student Services Building. I will be happy to work with you and accommodate as appropriate your learning needs upon receiving your documentation.

VII. Office Hours and Instructor Communication

If my posted office hours are not convenient, I will make every attempt to meet with you at another time. All objections or questions concerning grades or any issue of the late turning in of papers, homework, or exams must be raised in an office conference.

VIII. Attendance and Late Work

• Attendance at each class is highly advisable since there will be regular in class activities and lectures that you need to respond to in your Leadership Activities, etc.
• Dr. Thompson's Prime Directive: YOU MUST READ THE MATERIALS AND BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS THEM IN CLASS!
• Turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers, laptops, or any other electronic device during class.
• You can miss four classes with no negative consequences related to merely missing a class. For every class beyond four, you will automatically lose one point off your final grade for each additional day missed. With your tenth missed class, you will earn an automatic F in the class.
• There are no automatic exceptions to these rules except for a signed and verified documented medical excuse. If work is not turned in during the class to which it is assigned, it is late. All late work is reduced by 5 points for each day that it is late.

IX. Class Materials

You can pick up the Northouse book and the DISC test at the Engineer's Bookstore.

Book
Peter Northouse, Leadership Theory and Practice 4th Edition (Sage Publications, 2007).

Supplemental Materials
Augustine, Norman R. "Managing the Crisis You Tried to Prevent" Harvard Business Review Nov/Dec95, Vol. 73 Issue 6, p147-158 (Go to GT library website, under Search and Find, click E-journals, click letter H and look up and click Harvard Business Review, click on EBSCO Host Business Source Complete, click on 1995, then click on volume 73, issue 6, then click on Norman Augustine's article and print.

DISC Assessment Test (In Bookstore)