Denis Collins's Syllabus

Leadership Lessons from the Movies

Professor Denis Collins; 315 Mandeville Hall; 203-576-4870; email: deniscollins@snet.net

Office Hours: Monday 9:00-10:30, Tuesday 2:00-3:30.

Student Honor Code: As a UB student I take personal responsibility for emulating the highest values and ethical norms: my work is my own and reflective of my best efforts and abilities.

"A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders. A true king is not the one with the most subjects, but one who leads the most to royalty. A true teacher is not the one with the most knowledge, but one who causes the most others to have knowledge. And a true God is not One with the most servants, but One who serves the most, thereby making Gods of all others."

Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: Book 1, 114-115.

Course Description: In this course we will watch a variety of movies to examine the dynamics of leadership. Organizations and work units rise and fall based on leadership. Leaders must influence other people to accomplish organizational goals in a way that often entails self-sacrifice and living for the sake of others. According to survey results, approximately 10% of leaders are "born" leaders, 5% became leaders as a result of responding to a crisis, and 85% were influenced by another leader (which could include a movie character!). Anyone can be a leader.

Students will observe good and bad leadership role models dramatized in movies and discuss how to apply these lessons while managing people in business, nonprofits, or government service. Management topics dramatized in movies include ethics, group problem solving, crisis management, cultural diversity, environmental complexity, conflict resolution, charisma, empowerment, communication, goal-setting, and participatory vs. authoritarian management techniques, among others. The knowledge available in movies will be supplemented with readings, personal reflection, and a leadership project.

Course Objectives: By the end of this course students should have a better understanding of what it takes to become a highly effective and ethical leader. In addition, students will obtain leadership experience and reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses. You can accomplish these objectives through careful attention to assignments, regular attendance, and active participation in class discussions.

Required Course Books:

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell; Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1998. ISBN 0-7852-7431-6. [Available in UB Bookstore]

The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino; Bantam Books, New York, 1985 (originally published in 1968, and many times thereafter). ISBN 0-553-27757-x. [Not in UB Bookstore, but available for $7 from Amazon.com or other bookstores.]

Attendance 10% (100 points)

Verbal Class Participation 10% (100 points)

Film Response Essays 20% (200 points)

Quizzes 24% (240 points)

Community Service (Homeless) 6% (60 points)

Leadership Project Report 30% (300 points)

Potential Extra Credit 5% (50 points)

Total Points: 1,050

A: 950-1000 B+: 870-899 C+: 770-799 D+: 670-699

A-: 900-949 B: 840-869 C: 740-769 D: 640-669

B-: 800-839 C-: 700-739 D-: 600-639

Attendance: Attendance at each class session is expected. You are responsible for material discussed in your absence. Together the students and instructor will be creating a learning organization. We are all responsible for the learning that takes place in this "organization." Thus, attendance is very important. Beginning the second week of class, 4 attendance points will be assigned to each class (26 class sessions for a total of 104 points). Attendance will be determined by (a) submitting a response essay/quiz, (b) signing an attendance sheet, or (c) submitting a note stating you were in class. Do not assume I know you attended a particular class. It is up to you to inform me.

LEADERS MUST LEARN HOW TO BE ON TIME FOR MEETINGS. In the United States, it is extremely disrespectful to other people (particularly the manager/teacher) to be late for a meeting. Thus, the classroom door will be closed 5 minutes after the class starts and nobody will be permitted to enter (forfeiting 4 attendance points and class knowledge). Each night consists of two class sessions, so the door will be reopened for ten minutes beginning at 7:00 for the second class session.

Verbal Class Participation: This course requires a great deal of verbal (speaking out) participation by everyone. Students are expected to come prepared to class, raise issues and make comments. Although this may seem difficult at first, the ability to engage in productive dialogues with others is a critical part of being an effective manager. Verbal participation is worth 100 points. Each student is graded at the end of the semester using the following scale:

100 points: Always spoke out in every class

75 points: Usually spoke out in class

50 points: Sometimes spoke out in class

25 points: Rarely spoke out in class

0 points: Never spoke out in class

Film Response Essays: For each movie and book discussion, write-up on your own three issues you found interesting. For instance, which leader was most effective and why? What mistakes did the leaders make and how could they have done a better job? Etc. Each write-up is worth 10 points (for a total of 100 points). The eight movie essays will be collected at the beginning of the next class. The two Leadership book essays will be collected at the end of class so you may refer to them during class discussions. Do not compose these during the class session.

Learning Teams: We will form "learning teams" where you teach each other what you learned from the movie or reading. Research on the brain suggests that people learn much more by teaching others what they have learned than by being lectured at by a professor. [Retention Rates per learning method: Lecture-5%; Reading-10%; Audio Visual-20%; Discussion-50%; Practice-by-Doing-75%; Teach Others or Immediate Use of Learning-90% (Gordon Dryden, The Learning Revolution).]

Quizzes: There will be a short quiz after each movie to determine how well you paid attention. Each quiz will consist of 10 questions worth 3 points each, for a total of 30 points (8 quizzes for a total of 240 points). You must attend class to take the quiz.

Community Service (Homeless) Experience: Many companies are engaged in community service activities. Some companies expect their best managers to have a high public service profile in the community. Other companies design community service projects as a training experience for future managers, where managers demonstrate their abilities by motivating volunteers. In either case, community service enhances a company’s reputation.

Edina Oestreicher’s office has a list of one-time volunteer activities that includes serving food one night at a homeless shelter. Perform two hours of service where you have direct contact with an organization’s "clients" (i.e., homeless people, low-income people, disabled people, etc.). Then write a two-page essay answering the following questions: (1) what were your prejudices about the clients prior to the service activity, (2) what did you do and observe, (3) what surprised you about the clients during your experience, and (4) what are your new prejudices about the clients? This essay is worth 60 points.

Leadership Project Report: This paper provides an opportunity to integrate information gained from watching movies, readings and discussions by addressing a specific issue aimed at enhancing the management of UB. As noted earlier, leaders must influence other people to accomplish organizational goals in a way that often entails self-sacrifice and living for the sake of others.

For this project, you must take a leadership role by influencing two people not in the class to improve something at the University of Bridgeport. Develop a list of ideas for what needs to be done by thinking about your own experience at UB, speaking with other students, or walking around campus or the dorms. Choose one item from your list and, along with two people not in the class, do something about it. Before taking action, speak with me (the professor) and the UB administrator responsible for the area and find out why the problem exists or how others have attempted to manage it.

Most of your time working on this project should be associated with preparation issues. Leaders take days, weeks or months to develop a course of action that will be carried out in an hour. This is similar to generals preparing for a military battle or cooks preparing a meal. I expect students to make a substantial effort in planning how best to achieve their chosen goals. The actual action you take with your two volunteers should last only one or two hours.

The final outcome of this field experience should be a thoughtful, in-depth paper summarizing your efforts to lead others. The paper should be a maximum five pages, single-spaced with one inch margins and 12 point font size, stapled without any folder, binders or covers. The report is worth 300 points. The overall format of the report is as follows: