Harvard-01-Introduction-Psychology of Leadership-Tal Ben Shahar [eTati].mp4

[Music] hi good morning hi everyone welcome to psychology 15:08 the psychology of leadership I'll have to be checking once in a while you know I'm teaching another class 15:04 positive psych so I may get confused once in a while while I'm lecturing you'll have to just put your hand up and and tell me that I'm off I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday who's his name is Charles Jacobs he's one of the leaders of the anti-slavery group in the United States and in the world he's been doing a lot of work we'll talk about him we'll have one of his colleagues come in as a guest lecture has been doing a lot of work to abolish slavery in places like Sudan Mauritania other places sex slavery throughout the world and he asked me so what are you teaching this semester and I said I'm teaching two classes one positive psychology and the other one on leadership and he says oh so you're teaching one class on happiness and one on unhappiness and you know I thought about it since he said that and it's not exactly right but there is something to it you know leadership is is it calling it has to come from here it's not always pleasurable it's not always easy it's very often about going against the grain very often it's doing things that we wouldn't normally do getting out of our comfort zone this is what we're going to do in this class you see because this is not just a class on leadership it is a class in leadership yes you're going to read research latest research on the topic you're going to be introduced to empirical work we're going to draw on different stories great leaders from history but not just that primarily the focus of this class will be on helping us and by us I mean the students and the teaching staff become better leaders develop as leaders this is a classroom leadership development today you'll get a sense of what it's about how we're going to do it throughout the semester obviously we'll we have a whole agenda before I go into the into the material to give you a sense what this class is about so you can decide whether it is or is not for you a couple of announcements this class and psychology 1504 will not be taught again next year I'm gonna leave it may be taught in two years but I'm not sure I'm not sure I'll be back so I can't promise I should know later on in the semester the second thing the class 15:08 counts for for ech concentration as well as for gap concentration as as a related field I guess but you can find out more about it from from your department since we are going to be talking a lot about political leaders we're also going to talk about leaders in in sports athletics we're gonna talk about leaders in education we're going to talk about parenting the most difficult arguably leadership position of all believe me I know we're going to talk about psychology after all this is a class in psychology we're going to talk about research everything applied a part your life in the future is apparent applied to your life as a leader in an organization not for profit for profit political leader leader of a department or wherever leadership matters in his opening speech when he assumed the role of leadership at Harvard University Larry Summers said in this new century nothing will matter more than the education of future leaders and the development of new ideas what does that mean what does that mean does it mean that we need to know about what's going on in Sudan or has been going on there for the last 25 years does it mean that we need to understand the human genome does it mean that we need to understand the nature of justice or how the economy works the answer is yes this is part of leadership but it is only part of leadership knowing is not enough reflection is not enough we also need action so while I know what's going on in Sudan do I know how to mobilize a group to stand in front of the UN building or embassies or write op-eds about it with a group of friends or if I know about the genome and its structure can I mobilize a team of scientists and find solution to parkinson or AIDS or if I know how the economy works and the nature of justice do I just keep it to myself or do I spread my word often going against the grain paying the price of leadership because leadership exact a price what choices do I make the choices that I make define me ultimately as a leader a good leader or a bad leader an effective leader or an ineffective leader good and effective are not the same we'll talk about the distinction when we talk about the morality of leadership ethics in leadership this class is for people who want to make a difference it's for people who want to make a difference in the world but first and foremost in their lives because we can't really be effective leaders mobilize others if we don't first and foremost develop ourselves Confucius one of the greatest leadership scholars said this 2500 years ago the ancients who wish to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom first order well their own states wishing to order well their own their states they first regulated their families wishing to regulate their families they first cultivated their a person personal development is leadership development leadership scholars the leading leadership scholars know this Jim Cruz's leadership development is character development he is the author of the bestseller the leadership challenge Ellen van Belser from the center for creative leadership we believe that developing the capacity is needed for effective leadership such as self-awareness thematic thinking and creativity is synonymous with what is often labeled personal development we're going to talk about systems thinking in this class what I think is their language of leadership those of you who took 15:02 I touched on it then we're going to talk about creativity and the conditions we need to put in place for ourselves to be more creative and for our organization we're certainly going to raise levels of awareness through meeting in groups in sections and in response papers Warren Bennis is one of my mentors the process of becoming a leader is much the same as the process of becoming an integrated human being for the leader as for any integrated person life itself is the career and by life he means everything that we do whether it's being in a classroom at Harvard whether it's doing extracurriculars in the afternoon whether it's volunteering whether it's in the workplace in order to get a lot out of this class you need to do the work know the teaching staff of this class can only do so much in other words it doesn't mean having a lot of reading because this class doesn't have a lot of reading you know it sits on the what's on the website is not everything that you need to read you need to be less than that because because I want you to invest more time in your leadership development and that means putting a lot of time thinking about the response papers it means putting a lot of time meeting with your friends from the class and discussing these ideas now there's no way for us to monitor how much you put into your response papers now they're graded pass/fail if you handed in your pass I'm not going to grade you on levels of self-awareness but it's up to you to put in the work the more you put in the more you'll get out a lot of research shows that people who develop most as leaders have two characteristics one we have a strong desire to succeed they want to get better to better themselves in two which is related to the first they're always asking questions they're always curious always want to develop whether it's as leaders as parents as friends students who are the subjects in this class some of the subjects are these larger in life rush Mauryan figures people like Washington Jefferson Lincoln Teddy Roosevelt it's people who are larger in life like Rosa Parks an obscure follower who transformed herself and through that society Martin Luther King the eloquent brilliant humble leader who changed the world and San Suki who is leading the movement for democracy in Burma today fighting against oppression of the government the great communicator who brought out the resolve of the American people in the free world and defeated the evil empire we're going to talk about James Piermont Morgan the great American capitalist who basically defined what American business is about imperfect but certainly much more confidence in the markets in America than any other place in the world much more integrity much more honesty compared to any other place in the world JP Morgan we're going to talk about him we're going to talk about Steve Mariotti founder of nifty national foundation for training intrapreneurs Steve Marriott he takes people in an allegedly hopeless predicament on the streets brings them into the classroom and transforms them into enterpreneurs into self-reliant and responsible leaders I'm going to talk about Wendy Kopp founder and president of Teach for America who's shaping the face of the future anyone here going for Teach for America next year she's going to be here as one of our guest lectures later in the semester but it's not just these people that we're gonna study we're also going to be studying the quiet leaders leaders who are not in the limelight leaders were not well known but leaders who make all the difference we're going to talk about the soldier whose face is obscured by the mud fighting for liberty we're going to talk about the teacher who far away from the limelight is once again shaping the face of the future when I say quiet leadership I don't necessarily mean lower decibel levels or lower volume coach Delaney Smith the basketball coach who's anything but quiet but she's doing her work phenomenal work away from the line lights making a difference to many girls on the basketball court and outside displaying courage being a role model to many people we're also going to talk a lot about the millions and billions of quiet leaders the parents as I said earlier arguably the most difficult leadership position out there in the picture of two parents Patricia O'Brien and Joba derecho with their daughter Gabriella there are the co masters off courier house anyone here from career oh alright we're going to talk about Joe Baraka a fair amount this this year he's one of the most important riders our leader on leadership let me read you something he wrote in a Harvard Business Review article called quiet leadership the quiet approach to leadership is easy to misunderstand and mock it doesn't inspire or thrill it focuses on small things careful moves controlled and measured efforts it doesn't provide storylines for uplifting TV shows in contrast to heroic leadership quiet leadership doesn't show us the heights that the human spirit can reach what then to do the imperfect and glamorous everyday efforts of quiet leaders amount to almost everything the vast majority of difficult human problems are not solved by the dramatic efforts of people at the top but by consistent striving of people working far from the limelight this class will focus when there are more in figures and the great leaders why because we have a lot more information on them by definition they are in the limelight but not only it's also going to focus on and be relevant to the department head to the platoon commander to the teachers to the parents to each and every one of us another great leader albert schweitzer spent a lot of time in central africa helping poor people overcome disease had this to say about leadership of all the will toward the ideal in mankind only a small part can manifest itself in public action all the rest of this force must be content with small and obscure deeds the sum of these however is a thousand times stronger than the acts of those who receive wide public recognition the letter compared to the former are like a foam on the waves of a deep ocean the deep ocean is about the quiet leaders who make the big difference another leader George Eliot also known as original named Mary Ann Evans my favorite author in her book middle March writes about Dorothea Dorothea who is a quiet leader who ostensibly doesn't make a difference in other people's life he's a good person though helps individual by individual here is the last phrase of this book Middlemarch her full nature like that river of which cyrus broke the strength spent itself in channels which had no great name on earth but the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistorical and the things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs whether we were resting unvisited tombs whether we have a pyramid built on top of us or a mountain in our honor we can make a difference with the little things with everything that we do in making a difference it's not just for others because to lead is to be immersed fully in this world it is to live fully so that 40 years 50 years 7 years from now or tomorrow we can look back at what we did and be proud of it as I said earlier this is not just a class on leadership it is a class in leadership what does this mean what are we going to do one of the things that we're going to do we're going to use it use a technique that has been shown to be effective in cultivating authentic leadership telling stories stories about our own lives by the end of the semester you'll have semi autobiography of yourself as it relates to leadership as it relates to your crucibles as it relates to the things you did well to your strengths as it relates to your greatest moments your peak experiences in an article that you'll be reading for this week Shamir and alum say the following the life story approach to authentic leader development suggests that self-knowledge self-concept clarity and the internalization of the leaders role into the self-concept are achieved through the construction of stories in this regard it is different from most leadership development programs which tend to focus on the acquisition of concepts skills and behaviors either in courses and workshops or through on-the-job experiences mentoring and coaching we are going to do skill development we are going to do all these things but one of the pillars of the class will be telling stories another pillar of this class will be action learning you see leadership is a skill you can't learn a skill in a classroom you can't become a better basketball player in a classroom you can't become a better violin player by just reading the notes you have to practice no difference with leadership Richard Hackman arguably the leading organizational behaviorist in the world teachers here says skills cannot be mastered by reading books listening to lectures or doing case analysis instead skill training involves or observation of positive models ie of people whose behavior illustrates highly competent execution of that which is being taught coupled with repeated practice and feedback this is what this class is about we're going to observe positive role models not only positive we're also going to observe negative role models we have a guest lecture who's going to talk about bad leadership Barbara professor Barbara Kellerman from the Kennedy School but the focus is going to be a what can we learn from them and then again apply to our lives that's how we develop skills gibber hootie-hoo works at linkage Consulting one of the leading consulting companies says action learning has emerged as the hottest approach in the leadership field the fastest and most lasting learning is produced when people are engaged in finding real solutions to real problems the model that we're going to that is going to guide us again the second pillar after the stories is the following model combining action and reflection and we're going to talk about that at launch we have a whole class dedicated to it those between 1504 I think I talked about it there it's about combining the activity with thinking about its action followed by action is not enough reflection followed by reflection is not enough either some of the best leadership programs are programs like outward bound or fought how many how many been through fought here right ok quite a few again the leadership program while you're acting and you're reflecting this is an effective model for leadership development Michael you seem who is a professor at at Wharton Business School taught leadership for many years and then realized that he needed to take his students or his executive trainees out to the field so what he has now is a yearly crime at the Himalayas with a really challenged and then every night at camp they reflect on what happened today how they were as leaders how their worst followers team players and so on combining the action the climb in the reflection so we're all going to the Himalayas with the $8 that I have for each student so we can't do that what I did in my other classes seminar some of you were in it last year we actually had a leadership project where this was the action part and then in class through response papers were reflecting it so it's something I've thought about for this class let's have a leadership project and then it suddenly hit me and what came to mind was something I read way back I wrote my college essay on this book in Zen in the art of college maintenance is then in the art of motorcycle maintenance and Robert empiric right there sometimes truth knocks on our door and we opened the door and we say to it go away I'm looking for the truth and I felt that way because I have the action part I didn't need to have an extra exercise here you see because an action part has to be two things first it has to be personally meaningful in order to effect change so because we must be motivated to act and second it has to be challenging it has to get us out of our comfort zone I said wait a minute I know what answers these two criteria our lives for most people making our lives better is meaningful personally meaningful I have yet to meet a person who hasn't encountered challenges in his or her life so it answers these two criteria and what I thought of this class of what 1508 can do it can be the reflective so you can look at it if you will as a meta class the class it will help you reflect on your experience here at Harvard which is the dominant - one of the dominant parts of your life at this point things that you have gone through in the past in high school or things that you will go through in the future a meta class reflection on the action that we carry out every day one of the things that they've leader in the researchers founded in leadership development is that we don't have a lack of a leadership experiences there are many of them out there day in and day out the problem is that most people don't take advantage of these experiences and again we tell it go away we're looking for the truth about leadership development or whatever it is these experiences are right here in front of us the question is do we engage in them and hopefully this class will also teach you a skill that you can take with your way beyond this class your working world your challenges that you will face as a leader at work as a parent or wherever Oh any questions because before I move on to introduce the teaching staff we're gonna make this class possible any questions I'll leave some more time at the end for questions yes okay the midterm and the final both in this class and in 1504 are going to be in class so it's not going to be a take-home unlike last year I'm sorry about that but for variety of reasons I decided that it will contribute more to the learning experience if it's not again you may disagree but this is the decision so both in class thisis riders can Rock can take it after they hand in their thesis other questions all right let me introduce the teaching staff and start with the one and only shawn Achor [Applause] hey my name is shawn Achor you might know me from such classes as when humor positive psychology and human sexuality we're really excited about this class we passed out over 420 syllabi this morning which is amazing this cost it could be phenomenal it's one the best two classes at Harvard can't remember what the other one was but if you come back tomorrow 11:30 you might find out I came here as an undergrad I study English from religion and went to Divinity School study Christian and Buddhist ethics and now I'm spending time working in a psych lab writing a novel and applying to business school yeah do you want to come up next can all the TFS come up we'll go one by one yeah why don't you all come up to this so they put a name to a face a couple of extra things do I have the microphone I have a few things but they're all boring one of them is Exynos after this class so all the people are gonna be coming in on this side so just make sure that everyone exits on this side so out of one of these two doors at the end of it the other thing is we're gonna be starting sectioning the following week as soon as study cards are in or as soon as everyone's enrolled in the class will start the sectioning processes most of the sections will be on Monday and Tuesday's then we have them both in the afternoons and the evenings for the athletes that have practice in the afternoon so we have a lot of flexibility and some amazing TFS in here they are good morning it's so great to see all of you here I hope you had a great break my name is Jessica Glazer I'm going to be chatting for this class and I'm gonna be the head TF for positive psychology so I hope to see all of you tomorrow at 11:30 it's gonna be a great semester and I look forward to working with all of you hi I'm Jen ryebeck I I'm definitely the right class although the sex class sounds kind of interesting um I've been an organizational consultant for the past eight ten years doing coaching consulting sufficient training in companies a muscle parents which I agree is the hardest leadership job there is and I learn every day and I'm just thrilled me great great semester Thanks hi I'm George Harris recent graduate of the business school worked in consulting found an adventure summer camp for teenagers worked in competitive intelligence and led product development teams and Here I am hi welcome everyone my name is Pat Boone and Eze I graduated here here I know for um in psychology from leopard house and have worked closely with Tom for four years I think once you take one of his classes you just don't look back you take them off right now I worked in conflict management in Boston and I'll be doing change management consulting next year I spent the last year in Korea and have had a great experience with taos classes so I highly recommend you take this one good morning I'm Chuck Huston many of you know me as a TF from social psych I'm also a concentration advisor in the psychology department and so I'll be hopefully seeing a lot of study cards this week but prior to coming to Harvard where I'm a graduate student in the extension school I did spend 24 years as a business leader in a distribution business that I owned and I'm also a dad and I have a son named Chuck as well so I've got a little experience in leadership and I hope to share it with all of you great so this is the team will do sectioning next week and as you can see a lot of experience here and a lot of passion thank you let's let's quickly go over the syllabus just just briefly again I think it's self-explanatory just just to highlight a few things we have quite a few guest lectures that one of them on February 13th dr. Danielle Kennedy who's going to talk to us about leadership executive coaching since one of the things that you're going to do in this class is be a coach and a coach II so we're going to spend some time on that we have guest lecture from the young presidents organization big Simon who is one of the heads of YPO we'll talk about leaders off leaders shawn Achor that will be giving a couple of lectures also in positive psych and one on the ethics of power and the other one on charisma certainly the right person to teach that we're going to talk barbara Kellerman on bad leadership Wendy Kopp talking about Teach for America then we'll have one of the leaders from the anti-slavery movement jesse sage who is I think barely 30 years old graduated less than 30s class of 97 graduated from here and has done amazing things around the world fighting fighting slavery and then on May 1st we have Seth Klarman who is one of the world's leading investment bankers and also a great leader I've gotten to know him through a lot of nonprofit work that he does so he's going to talk about business and leadership in general every one of these lectures is phenomenal as I said earlier in terms of the midterm and final if it were up to me I wouldn't give an exam I wouldn't have grades but there has to be some semi objective way of differentiating and I also think it's it has some benefits in that it gets you to look over the material as a whole you can take the class pass/fail certainly no problem that I just don't know how how it works on in terms of your concentration you'll have to find out from psychic or government respectively as I said earlier there's not a lot of a lot of reading in this in this class the reading list is comprehensive it also includes recommended reading I'm going to choose each week you're going to get a long email for me talking about a few things one what what the reading is except for the first two weeks the first two weeks what's on the reading list is what you read but after that each week I'll select a few pieces and the rest will be recommended I'll also give you in directions for your coaching group each student is going to be part of a coaching group three to four people we're going to meet once a week starting hopefully the second possibly the third week and you'll meet wherever you want you can meet over over a meal for about 90 minutes and coach each other and be coached by each other developing leadership skills as you coach and as you're being coached and again we're going to talk much more about this in the third week of the class there are no books for this class so everything is online let me summarize Warren Bennis as I said earlier one of the leading leadership scholars ask this question where have all the leaders gone now paraphrasing where of all the flowers gone recognizing that there is a dearth of leadership in two days in today's culture where are they John Gardner asked the same question what are the Jefferson's and Lincoln's of today the answer I'm convinced is that they're among us out there in the setting with which we're all familiar or the unawakened leaders feeling an overpowering call to lead and hardly aware of the potential within what I hope that this class will do is inspire you to be a leader to go against the grain if necessary because the world needs leaders Abigail Adams wrote to Jefferson in 1790 these are the times in which a genius would wish to live great necessities call forth great leaders there are great necessities today with a wide spread of terrorism the wide spread of fundamentalism of aids poverty but not only of the negative stuff also widespread freedom unprecedented levels of freedom technology that can be put to great use medical advancements that can be put to great use but one thing it's all complex very complex and it's up to the leader to mobilize the people to work on certain issues to help spread and cultivate the great things whether in medicine technology wealth creation or freedom and it is up to you to do it now I want to end this class on a little bit of a personal note this class is inspired by leader my mentor my supervisor my dear friend Phil stone who passed away two days ago there hasn't been a leader in my life who's influenced me more and I'm dedicating this class and positive psychology to him I hope to see you end up in in the classes thank you [Applause] you

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Keywords: 01, February, 1, Introduction, Psychology, of, Leadership, Tal, Ben, Shahar, eTati

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Length: 38min 54sec (2334 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 31 2012