Competencies

ORGL 510 – Renaissance Leadership for the 21st Century

This study abroad course, in Florence, Italy, predominantly examined Italian Renaissance leadership attempting to discover application in contemporary organizations. The goal was to infuse, within emerging leaders, a Renaissance thinking model to develop new perspectives and strategies to bring health, creativity and energy to their own organizations. Examining the creative processes of artists—painters, architects, musicians, and writers – provided the impetus to apply the same dynamics of creative thinking to the practical work of leaders in today’s organizations.

ORGL 522 – Leadership and Community

Gleaned in this course is an appreciation for and an understanding of the leadership processes of empowerment, collaboration, and dialogue in the context of creating and transforming community. Understanding individual and group development, structures of collaboration and dialogue, and leadership, which is oriented toward process rather than product, captures the focus of the course. Students yielded, as participant observers, in the monastic community at St. Andrew’s Abbey to find opportunity for learning by immersion. The result of the exploration, practice and expanded understanding of the role and purpose of the leader’s involvement and commitment to building and sustaining meaningful and purposeful community provided meaning and purpose of human life and activity. Melding experiential findings with literature on building community provided opportunity for integrated proposals for enhancing individual’s communities.

ORGL 530 – Servant-Leadership

This course is an examination of the foundation, principles and practice of servant-leadership.

Servant-leadership is explored with an emphasis on reviewing the original writings, and on

conceptualizing and articulating the philosophy through a clarification of what it is, and why

Servant-leadership is relevant. Human development theories are used as theoretical frameworks

for identifying criteria to assess servant-leaders and servant-organizations, and for understanding how they develop and function. Applied experience is integrated and shared with participants providing broadening of personal philosophy and a gleaning of gained insights. Consequently, key assumptions of servant-leadership, historical development of the philosophy, moral relevance of the leadership style, and personal application in real work environs provide a demonstrated conceptual understanding of the servant-leader.

ORGL 535 – Listen Discern Decide

The goal was for participants to appreciate a more in-depth concept of Servant-leadership by learning approaches and practices of listening and discernment as a way of enhancing decision-making capacity. The course begins with a focus on interior and exterior listening. Listening and awareness techniques are then integrated with the principles and practices of discernment. The course progresses from a focus on the individual, to group, to listening and discerning and decision making in organizations and communities. Through the readings, exercises and dialog a profoundly relational, creative, holistic and integrative disposition towards servant-leadership is developed. A listening-first, seeking clarity before influence disposition is proffered encouraging building of trust, confidence, and dependability in the servant-leader.

ORGL 537 - Foresight & Strategy

In this course students will integrate more of the servant-leader characteristics, and further develop the disposition of a servant-leader. The course explores the art, science and methods leaders use to acknowledge, stimulate, and further develop their capacity of foresight. Students engage macro-system perspectives applying strategy and stewardship as they consider introducing vision into the reality of complex organizational and community systems.

ORGL 610/COML 597 - Communication and Leadership Ethics

Ethical dilemmas are presented as an inquiry into personal, organizational, and social values present in ethical dilemmas. Skills are honed in ethical communication and decision-making, in the recognition of how to act for the common good as leaders who can acknowledge and consider multiple ethical perspectives. Ethics are explored at the intersection of leadership and communication from both personal and organizational perspectives. Personal ethical development and decision-making are a focus of the personal character of the leader, informing their ability to make decisions and take actions that can be considered to be good and right. Complexity of moral dilemmas and how they might be engaged through critical analysis and application of ethical principles provides practicality to the subject matter.

ORGL 600 – Foundations of Leadership

Foundations: that upon which a structure is built. In leadership, it is the internal skills such as perception, insight into causes of problems among individuals within group contexts, and understanding the dynamics necessary for long-term solutions to problems. These concepts form the foundations upon which the course is developed. Awareness of barriers, to organizational decision making, become real for the leader-in – training through engagement of self-exploratory questions about types and requirements of leaders. The approach of Ignatius of Loyola underscores the developmental process achieved by students while discovering what it means to be an individual working with other individuals toward some common purpose. Motivations and the motivations of others, the need for collaboration in working with others, and embracing all perspectives find integration through the course work.

ORGL 605 - Imagine. Create. Lead.

A 3 day on campus course exploring opportunities to establish long-term relationships for program success. Through the theme of “seeing and seeing again,” students are challenged to apply and expand their creative and imaginative capacity while exploring Ignatian imagination and perspectives from the liberal arts (art, history, literature, music, and so on). We were exposed to different techniques for developing and enhancing our own creativity and imagination in the context of leadership practice.

ORGL 615 Organizational Theory & Behavior

Organizations are necessary but complex. Gleaned in this course is a deeper understanding regarding these complexities of organizations. It is designed to provide an exposure to theories of organization, important organizational issues and processes, and a variety of strategies and tactics useful to successful organizational leaders and followers alike. Growth in understanding of how to plan, establish, and maintain an organizational structure and the importance of organizational strategy are stressed. Explored are the nuances of working with varied demographic backgrounds, influence strategies, dynamics of designing and leading effective teams, understanding and re-invigorating or changing organizational culture, and systems dynamics.