Written Assignment 2 (No more than 1500 words)

Leadership

Choose an aspect of Leadership you have learned in this module – it could be from the readings or class discussion. Describe it; explain why you consider it useful and how you would apply the insight and knowledge learned in your work or life.

Leadership topics of choice:

Week 6: Framing the issue, Knowing our bias and Understanding Behavior
The leader must know how to frame the issue correctly. If we frame it wrongly, are unaware of our bias and do not know what we don’t know, then we will not be able to derive the solutions to make the right decision.
Readings:
• John Hammond, Ralph Keeney and Howard Raiffa, The Hidden Traps in Decision Making, Jan 2006 (originally 1998)

Week 7: Team Decision Making and Working across agencies
Often we don’t work alone. None of us is as smart as all of us. We need teams. How does a leader ensure the team makes good decisions?
The class will study and discuss the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis incidents.
Reading:

• David Garvin and Michael Roberto, What you don’t know about making decisions, HBR Sep 2001
Case:

• Homelessness in Harvard Square

Week 8: Communications, Motivating People and Team Building

A leader has to communicate his/her vision and motivate people. Communications is as important if not more than the substance itself.
The class will discuss how a leader communicates effectively and how to motivate people to get the best from them.
Readings:

• Warren Bennis, The Leader as Storyteller, HBR Jan-Feb 1996
• Anita Elberse, Ferguson’s Formula, HBR Oct 2013

Week 9: Crisis Management
A leader must know how to manage a crisis. He/she must be present; be able to engender confidence, demonstrate responsibility and accountability and thereby authority.

The class will look at the examples of NYC 9/11, SARS and the BP Oil Spill 2010.
Reading:
• Gill Corkindale, Five Leadershio Lessons from the BP Oil Spill, HBR June 28 2010
Case:
• Hong Kong Copes with SARS, 2003: The Amoy Gardens (2004)
Optional Readings:
• Tan Chorh Chuan, SARS in Singapore – Key Lessons from an Epidemic, Annals Academy of Medicine, May 2006 http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/35volno5200606/v35n5p345.pdf
• KU Menon, SARS Revisited: Managing “Outbreaks” With “Communications”, Annals Academy of Medicine, May 2006 http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/35volno5200606/v35n5p361.pdf

Category: Essays