Leadership Laboratory

In the Leadership Labs class we ask you to consider the question, "Why would someone follow YOU?" This is a course in which you consider what kind of leader you want to be, what kind of leader you are, and how to align your leadership behavior with your leadership goals. In this class you will have an opportunity to share in the leadership of your squad and, in doing so, to discover your strengths and challenges as a leader. You will receive feedback about your approach to leadership and have the opportunity to try out new skills and tools. Students will be placed into 5-6 person "squads" with the majority of class time spent in these squads. Your squad will engage in a Squad Culture Setting design and work on basic leadership challenges (e.g. individual and group dynamics and differences, assessing a team's progress). Working on the Squad Culture Setting design and on weekly Labs assignments will provide you the opportunity to solicit a great deal of feedback so you can achieve a deeper understanding of the impact of your behavior on others. The squads will design their culture, engage in role-play cases and group exercises designed to help you think more deeply about the dynamics in your workgroup and to allow you to practice and experiment with new ways of leading. In each Lab session, one squad member will be the Meeting Lead for the session. MBA1 squad members will rotate through the Meeting Lead position. Your squad will have a dedicated MBA2 Leadership Fellow who will also be present for these meetings in order to provide coaching to the meeting lead and to the squad as whole. A number of activities in the weekly Lab will focus on assessing and reflecting on how you and your squad are working together in the Labs. Finally, the quarter culminates with the Executive Challenge, an opportunity for you to further refine your leadership skills by engaging with alumni judges in role plays that test your ability to lead effectively. The alumni will provide you feedback and evaluate your performance.