Business 8509

Leadership within Social Enterprises

(2 credit-hours)

Course Information and Schedule for Winter 2023

Tuesdays, 12:30pm – 4:00pm
January 10th – February 14th 2021

Instructor:
Dr. Alyson Byrne
alyson.byrne@mun.ca
Office: BN 2020
Tel: 864-4705
* Best method of contact is via e-mail

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Overarching Objective
The course will focus on the leadership mindset and skills needed for effectiveness in a social
enterprise context. Students will be encouraged to reflect on and develop their personal
leadership development based on current theoretical frameworks. The application of skill
development both within the classroom setting and beyond will be encouraged through
experiential learning and applied assignments.

The goal of this course is that you will leave with a better understanding of how your past
influences the type of leader you are today, how to lead under some of the most challenging of
circumstances, and what steps you need to take to become the leader you want to be in the future.
You will examine your own leadership in light of social enterprise, viewing leadership as
dispositional to your everyday rather than positional in a future role.

To facilitate discussion, students must read the assigned material and complete any in-class and
web-based exercises before coming to class. Students should also bring the text and any other
required readings with them to class. It is critical for you to be prepared for the in-class portion
of the course, and to participate in discussions as well.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
1. Explain the transcendent leadership model – self, others, organization, and society.
2. Recognize the fundamental nature of leadership character and why it matters.
3. Recognize the challenges and importance associated with being an authentic leader and
knowing your leadership values.
4. Appreciate and reflect on who you are now as a leader, through a character and
authenticity lens.
5. Understand how your values and character can assist your leadership during uncertain
and challenging times.
6. Reflect on how your past shapes your leadership today and consider the leader you wish
to be in the future.

Course Materials
1. Leadership Character Insight Assessment:
https://www.sigmatesting.com/aspx/ststart.aspx?Module=SELF&ST=YKZQMRH
* The student price for this assessment is $25 – please ensure that you use this link as it will
provide the student pricing model and not the regular cost (which is $55). If you get a price point
higher than $25, please contact me before purchasing the assessment.

2. Rokeach Values Survey (On D2L)

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 Readings
See the course reading list at the end of this document. You will be able to access all of the
readings through the Course Reserves in D2L.

Course Format
This course meets once a week for a period of 6 weeks. Reading assignments for each class are
listed at the end of this document. To get the most out of this course, you should complete the
assigned readings before a given topic is covered in class.

Course Schedule
Date Class Topic Readings*/Exercises/Evaluation
January 10th 1 Leadership of 1. Crossan & Mazutis (2008)
the self - past Prepare the “setting the stage” exercise before class
January 17th 2 Leadership of 1. Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005)
the self - past Prepare the “discover your leadership life story” exercise before
class
Submit your final project rationale – Due January 20th at 10pm
January 24th 3 Leadership of 1. George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, 2007.
the self – 2. Goffee & Jones, 2005
present Complete the Rokeach Values Survey (D2L)
o Guest speaker: Constanza Safatle
January 31st 4 Leadership of 1. Byrne, Crossan, & Seijts, 2018.
self - present 2. Crossan, Furlong, & Austin, 2022.
3. Crossan, Seijts, & Gandz, 2015. Chapters 1 & 2
Complete the LCIA before class and bring your results to class
Submit your “what is your character” reflection – Due February
3rd at 5pm
Class shortened (only 1.5 hours) to accommodate presentations)
February 7th 5 Leadership of 1. Galford & Fazio Maruca, 2006. Chapter 1
the self - 2. Christenson, 2010.
future o Guest speaker: Rebecca Dutton
February 6 Capstone Upload presentations February 14th by 10am – 12 min max with 3
14th min Q&A
Class takes place from 10:30 – 4pm. Lunch will be served!
Submit Final Project Document – February 17th by midnight
* Full citations of the readings are provided below.

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Course Evaluation
The final grade for the course will be based on the following components:

1. Final Project Rationale 15% - due January 20th at 10pm

As the crucible moment final project is the primary deliverable in the class, I want to ensure that
you give yourself enough time to engage with this project and that you are attempting something
that truly puts you out of your comfort zone. In particular, I would like for you to design your
own “crucible moment.” This concept will be discussed in greater detail in class, but a crucible
moment is when people experience situations where they have to see the world in a new way.
Often this involves being confronted with a “shock” to your cognitive thinking – causing you to
re-evaluate how you see the world.

As a basis for your final project, you need to come up with a “crucible moment” experience for
yourself that you can commit to doing over the course of the class. Be realistic, such that this
moment must be feasible and do-able in a relatively short timeframe (i.e. you may be afraid of
heights and think climbing Mount Everest is a good “crucible moment” however, it is not
realistic). After self-reflection, you must come up with an experience that you are realistically
able to complete that is out of your comfort zone, will cause you to think about yourself and the
world in a new way.

For the deliverable part of the course, I want you to provide me with a brief (maximum 3 double-
spaced pages) rationale what you would like to engage in for your crucible moment. I reserve the
right to suggest changes to the final project if the proposal is deemed to lack rigour or not meet
the standard of a ‘crucible moment.’

2. Leader Character Reflection 15% - due February 3rd at 5pm

The objective of this exercise is to reflect thoughtfully on your results from the Leader Character
Insight Assessment (LCIA). You must complete the online LCIA survey – see the link on page 2
of the course syllabus. It should take approximately 20-30 minutes, and then you will receive a
personalized leader character report. Please answer each question as honestly as possible – there
are no right or wrong answers, and the more truthful you are, the more valuable the report and
your subsequent reflections will be. As a note, there will be two parts to the results in the report –
your results along with a comparison of results to others who have taken the assessment. Focus
on your results and try to ignore the comparison of results to others (as tempting as it may be to
look at them!) – I don’t find those particularly informative and think the value of the assessment
is in comparing your individual results across the dimensions.

Upon receipt of the report, take some time to reflect upon it. As described above, you might find
it helpful to journal about the results, or to discuss the results with a trusted confidant. Some of
the results may be challenging to digest, but they are important to understanding who you are
and how you would like to lead.

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We will also discuss these reports and leader character in the class. During that time, you will
have an opportunity to reflect upon your results with your classmates. I encourage you to use that
time to discuss the aspects of your character that you agreed with, the ones that you disagreed
with or found challenging, and the ones you feel will be most challenging for you to develop.
This will be an important part of your critical reflection.

After critical reflection, both individually and in class, you should write about your reflections
and the key insights that you have taken away after completing and reflecting upon this
assessment. There is no preferred format for this assignment – write freely as to what makes
sense to you. Just make sure that you are being honest with yourself and that you are reflecting
upon the results, and what these results might mean for you personally and for how you lead.
While I will not be radically strict on length, the average reflection will be at least 2-3 pages
double-spaced but normally no longer than 10 pages.

3. Final project 70% - 20% presentation (last day of classes) and 50% project document
(due February 17th by midnight)
This assignment will be based on the lessons learned in this course about who you were, who
you are now, and who you will be in the future as well as how you want to lead yourself, and
how you wish to lead others. In this project, you will reflect on the lessons learned throughout
the course, through the creation of a leader development plan and an overarching leadership
philosophy.

In this assignment, you should use the crucible moment that you experienced as the critical
foundation for your assignment. As such, I want a detailed analysis of how that experience
changed you. Do you see yourself more clearly after this experience? How does this connect to
your past? To your present? Do the insights you gleaned from this experience influence your
future as a leader? What has this experience told you about your character – do you see yourself
more accurately now? Are there things you would like to change? Building upon these
reflections, you should consider how you want to lead. How will you strengthen your leadership
to truly become the leader you wish to be in the future and for your organizational environment?
What actions do you need to take to become the person you wish to be? As this assignment is all
about reflective practice, I suggest you seek out additional resources online to help you reflect
upon your experiences and communicate your ideas

The final presentation part of the project will be focused on your crucible experience. The final
presentation will be presented a few days before the written part of the project is due. As such,
you may not have fully developed your ideas around how this crucible experience informs your
leadership philosophy or your actions to develop into the leader you would like to be, but it
should at this point have informed you about who you are and how it impacts the type of leader
you are today. The final presentation evaluation will be broken down into three parts:

1. Content – Your Crucible Experience – I will be evaluating your description of your

crucible experience, including your justification as to why this was a crucible moment for
you and how it links to your leadership. In addition, you should be capable of linking
your crucible experience to your character and authenticity as a leader, and how it has

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 helped (or hindered in the rare occasion) you to consider how you will lead in future
challenges. In addition, connecting this experience to readings and discussions from class
will be useful for adding coherence to your experience and the course overall.
2. Presentation Style – I will also be evaluating your presentation style. Clarity and
consistency in articulating your message will be an important part of the presentation, as
is the demonstration of authenticity and integrity. I will be looking for presentations that
have a clear, coherent, and logical flow, both in the verbal delivery as well as the slide
deck used.
3. Question & Answer Period – The final component that I will evaluate relates to a short
question and answer period that will take place immediately following your presentation.
Your peers will have an opportunity to ask some questions (2-3 minutes max.) and I will
consider your thoughtfulness when you respond to their questions.

The presentation itself should be no more than 12 minutes long with 3 minutes for questions and
answers. The presentations will take place during the last class.

The final written project deliverable is broken down into the following three parts:

1. Reflection- In this section, I want you to reflect on the work done throughout the class to
respond to the questions and themes pertaining to your past, present, and future as a
leader. Specifically, your reflection can address some or all of the following questions in
light of the course and your crucible moment experience:
a. Identification of a specific behaviour, issue, or blind spot that you would like to
improve upon
b. Analysis of the starting situation, then some historical and/or current/ongoing
details that led you to select this experience
c. Some strategic and action-oriented steps you are going to take to address any
leadership shortcomings that you have uncovered from this experience
d. Discussion of the supports you think you might need to put in place to help
support you in your leadership journey
e. A plan for how you wish to strengthen your leader character and leadership
authenticity.
f. Your overall reflection of the course with particular focus on your take-aways for
your leadership and your intended actions for development.

2. Leadership philosophy- As discussed in our week regarding authentic leadership, one of

the most critical development pieces for authentic leaders to maintain consistency is to
have a well-developed leadership philosophy. I would like for you to build upon these
conversations and to take what you have learned in class and during your crucible
moment to develop a personal leadership philosophy that articulates the following
elements:
a. Your personal values (e.g., integrity, social responsibility, respect)
b. Your attitude and approach to tasks and goal accomplishment
c. Your responsibilities and expectations (of yourself and others)
d. A personalized vision statement

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 Writing a leadership philosophy is a very personal exercise that can only be effectively
accomplished once you have seriously considered who you are, what you believe in, what
you value, your priorities, and your expectations of yourself and others (see section 1). A
good leadership philosophy should incorporate your values and your personal vision
statement but go beyond that to include all of the elements outlined above. It should focus
on how you want to lead going forward.

3. Summary letter- As a final summary of, I ask that you write yourself a one-page letter
(as an appendix to your final submission) that summarizes the type of leader you want to
become, the steps you will take to get there, and how you will measure success. I will
email you this letter in one year. Please ensure you provide an e-mail address that you
will continue to use regularly even once the MBA-SEE program has been completed.

I will not be radically strict on the length of your final written deliverable; however I expect that
the average paper will be at least 7-8 pages double-spaced but normally no longer than 12 pages.

4. Class UnParticipation -10%

Attendance, punctuality, and active, prepared participation in the class discussions and exercises
is expected. In an MBA program, much of the value comes from engaging around the content
and cases with your peers. If you are regularly late or absent, disengaged or uninvolved with the
class discussion, or arrive without having prepared the week’s readings or assignments, you
lower the value of the course for your peers. If this occurs, I reserve the right to reduce your
grade by up to 10%. I am confident that I will not have to use this policy

Expectations
Empathy. Over the course of the class, we will be discussing a number of very sensitive
subjects. As such, it is important that you work to understand what others experience as well as
their frame of reference. As such, I encourage you to embrace the conversations that we have and
focus on the issues at hand, not the person.

Respect and Confidentiality. Given that the conversations that we will have in this course could
be of a highly sensitive nature, there must be a baseline of understanding that what is said in the
course will be respected. This infers that students must feel that they can communicate their
vulnerabilities without fear that it will be repeated to outside others. The nature of this course
will make it incredibly difficult to be effective if students cannot feel that they have full
confidence that their candour will not be taken advantage by others.

Professionalism. Professionalism is essential to success in business. A professional

businessperson is competent, knowledgeable, prepared, courteous, and respectful to both peers
and customers. A professional atmosphere promotes a positive learning environment. Please:
• Prepare properly
• Employ basic courtesy at all times and to all class members

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This course is taught under the expectation that students “show up” - even if remotely. This
includes bringing required materials to all classes, taking good notes, and contributing to
discussions. And as is the case in your place of employment, it also means being professional
being highly respectful of others. This extends to yours and others’ well-being which I discuss
below.

Health and well-being. I am excited about teaching this course and I fundamentally believe that
this course is important…but not at the cost of anyone’s health and well-being. If you are feeling
unwell – be it physically, emotionally, mentally, or a combination of any of those – please do
take care of yourself first and foremost. If I can help in anyway, please let me know. I have
outlined policies about attending class and submitting assignments with deadlines, but if you
need flexibility, please reach out to me via e-mail (alyson.byrne@mun.ca) and we can discuss
your needs in confidence.

Avoiding Plagiarism. Some assignments may require you to use information from another
source. Such information may take the form of quotations, summaries, paraphrases, or facts or
ideas that are not common knowledge. Whatever its form, the source of the information must be
clearly documented by in-text citations referring to a list of references at the end of the paper.
Omitting such documentation is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a very serious academic offense that
may result in a range of penalties up to and including expulsion from the University (For further
information, see the University Calendar, Procedures Governing Academic Dishonesty.).

Honesty, Integrity, & Academic Dishonesty. Members of the university community are
expected to adhere to very high standards of honesty. Breaches of these standards cannot
be tolerated, as they insult the integrity of each of us. Academic offences include, but are
not limited to:
• Cheating on examinations, assignments, or any other tests;
• Impersonating another student or allowing oneself to be impersonated for purposes of
taking an exam or carrying out an assignment;
• Plagiarism;
• Theft of examination papers or other material;
• Use and/or distribution of material that has been improperly obtained;
• Submitting false information;
• Submitting work for one course that has been or is being submitted for another course
without express permission to do so.

For further information, please refer to the section of the academic calendar on academic
misconduct.

Resources and Accommodations

Writing Help. If you are having trouble with studying, understanding, or writing, don’t wait
until you get your final grade to do something about it. Be proactive! The University offers
online support: http://www.mun.ca/writingcentre/

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Considerations for Students with Disabilities. If you have a disability that requires special
arrangements or consideration, please contact the Glenn Roy Blundon Centre (phone: 864-2156;
e-mail: blundon@mun.ca).
Considerations for Religious Accommodation. If you have a religious conflict with test dates,
please contact the instructor no later than 2 weeks before the test to arrange an alternative exam
date.
Counseling Services. Many students face a variety of personal challenges throughout the year,
which may negatively impact their academic performance. In such cases, students are
encouraged to make use of the resources provided by the Student Wellness and Counselling
Centre: http://www.mun.ca/counselling/home/
MUN Student Union Resource Centres. The MUN students’ union currently operates a
number of resources centres for historically oppressed and marginalized groups. For more
information, please visit the following webpage: http://www.mun.ca/currentstudents/student/

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Readings:
In Preparation for Class 1

Crossan, M., & Mazutis, D. (2008). Transcendent leadership. Business Horizons, 51, 131-139.

In Preparation for Class 2

Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic
leadership development. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 395-417.

In Preparation for Class 3

George, B., Sims, P., McLean,A., & Mayer, D. (2007). Discovering your authentic leadership.
Harvard Business Review, 85, 129-138.

Goffee, R., & Jones, G. (2005). Managing authenticity: The paradox of great leadership.
Harvard Business Review, 83, 85-94.

In Preparation for Class 4

Byrne, A., Crossan, M., & Seijts, G. (2018). The development of leader character through
crucible moments. Journal of Management Education, 42, 265-293.

Crossan, M., Furlong, W., & Austin, R.D. (2022). Make leader character your competitive edge.
MIT Sloan Management Review, 64, 1-12.

Crossan, M., Seijts, G., & Gandz, J. (2015). Development of leadership character. New York,
NY: Routledge. (Chapters 1 and 2).

In Preparation for Class 5

Christensen, C.M. (2010). How will you measure your life? Harvard Business Review, 88, 45-
51.
Galford, R. M., & Fazio Maruca, R. (2006). Your leadership legacy: Why looking toward the
future will make you a better leader today. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
(Chapter 1)

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Before Class Preparations
Prepare before Week 1 Class

Setting the stage: Please bring something that symbolizes the “essence” of who you are. The
word “essence” is inherently broad and will require you to think deeply about what it means for
you. The dictionary definition of the word essence is “the intrinsic nature or indispensable
quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.” People will
interpret that definition in different ways and that is completely okay. Typically, students tend to
approach this exercise with two objects in mind – one that is really personal and another that is
“safe.” This whole course is an opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and the choice you make
with this first step is deeply personal. My intention with this exercise is that it will allow us to
launch into more in-depth authentic conversations and create an environment for learning and
development that is very generative and non-judgmental.

Prepare before Week 2 Class

Discover your leadership in your life story: To prepare for this week’s class, I ask that you
reflect on your life experiences and assess how they have shaped you as an individual. I
encourage you to journal about this, to talk about this with a trusted friend/family member, and
to reflect deeply on how your past has shaped who you are today. I have proposed a number of
questions that you can use to guide your reflection.

a. Starting with your earliest memories, which experiences marked turning points in
your life? This may take some “digging” and perhaps conversations with those who
have known you to help job your memory. It is easy to forget, take for granted, or
even suppress memories.
b. Pick one personal event that has had a profound impact on the way you see the
world, and the way you see yourself. The “event” can be broadly construed. It may
have been an actual crucible moment in your life, it could have been an event that
happened as part of your normal routine, or it may have even been a book or a
poem that impacted you. Reflect in detail how it changed the way you think, feel,
and engage.
c. How have the failures or disappointments you experienced in your life affected
you? Have they constrained you and/or have you been able to reframe them as
learning experiences?
d. What would you have changed or done differently in your life so far? Do you have
any recurring regrets?
e. Reflecting on your life, who has had the greatest impact on you? Why and how?
f. What motivates you at your core? What is your greatest aspiration? These questions
can but certainly do not have to pertain to work.
g. Reflect on these insights and consider the implications for you as a leader.

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Prepare before Week 3 Class

Rokeach Values Survey: As part of being an authentic leader, it is important that you know
what matters most to you in terms of your values. Please complete the Rokeach Value Survey
Exercise (found on D2L) – this should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to complete. We will
discuss the results and how they apply to leadership.

Prepare before Week 4 Class

What is your leader character? You must have completed the Leadership Character Insight
Assessment (LCIA). The LCIA is designed to enhance your understanding of leadership
character and provide you with insight regarding your own character. The survey takes
approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. Please use the following link to access your personal
survey and its resulting report.

https://www.sigmatesting.com/aspx/ststart.aspx?Module=SELF&ST=YKZQMRH

Once you receive your report, please review it thoughtfully. To help you with this, you may wish
to journal about it, or to discuss it with a trusted friend/family member. This may help you to
make sense of the results and to see whether you see yourself in the same way, and whether
others see you in this may as well. As the course progress, you may find that these early
reflections will provide you important insights about who you were, who you are now, and who
you wish to be.

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