Introduction to Leadership

Description

This course examines how to be a successful (that is, effective) leader. Based on D. Quinn Mills' book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School, this course asks the crucial questions about leadership in today's organizations: What is leadership and why is it important? What does effective leadership require? What is visionary leadership? What is the role of charisma? What is the difference between managing, administering, and leading?

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course participants will be able to:

• Define leadership and explain its importance
• Discuss some of the better-known leadership theories (Fiedler's contingency theory; Path-goal theory; Vroom-Yetton-Jago theory)
• Distinguish leadership from management and administration
• Explain the role of ethics in leadership
• Discuss the positives and negatives surrounding charismatic leadership
• Recognize the importance of training, learning, and role-playing in leadership
• Discuss the seven bases for leadership
• Explain why formal authority alone does not guarantee leadership
• Discuss the nine key qualities for leadership
• Identify the five central skills needed for effective leadership and explain ways to strengthen or develop those skills in a leader

Intended Audience

This course is targeted to individuals who meet or exceed the following professional demographics:  

• Entry-level public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.   

• Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.   

• Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.  

• Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.