In the Classroom: The Leadership Journey
What’s Your Story?

After 25 years as a corporate consultant focusing on leadership and change, Greg Shea defines the ultimate goal of any leader as implementing change — either in him or herself, an organization, or a nation. "With leadership, there’s a constant ongoing adjustment as the role of leaders has changed, and as you personally change," Shea said. He noted that his partner in developing the program, Wharton Professor Mike Useem, discusses the actions of leaders at critical crossroads in their careers in his book The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All. "This course will help you understand all that it took to get you to that moment, and where to go from there."

In encouraging participants to explore their own leadership stories, Shea and Useem took advantage of Philadelphia’s history in planning the course. Through a forum that includes personal biography, a study of Philadelphia’s role in the founding of the American democracy, contemporary and historical case studies, and role playing, Shea and Useem will help participants see the broader framework of leadership. In addition to reading biographies, participants will write their own "stories" — and then rewrite them. The purpose of this is to see how you can use the same material (your history) to create either a more positive or a more negative story.

"We’ll ask if someone like John Adams mattered — did he maximize his capabilities or did he miss chances? Then we can walk the same streets that he walked in Philadelphia and bring out the larger tapestry of the role of leadership, beyond just missing that quarter’s results," Shea said.

Find out more about the new program The Leadership Journey

• Wharton Executive Education
  
  
• The Wharton School

This month's articles:

• Thought Leaders: Leading Up
  Acting as If You Were in Charge: What do you do when your boss is making a bad decision? Wharton Professor Michael Useem examines the consequences of keeping quiet.
• Laughter From the Front Lines: We learn how important it is to pay attention to the little nuances of conversations — even if you think you’re speaking the same language.
• Wharton West: Vice Dean Helps A.L.S. Association: When a teaching sabbatical, a relative’s diagnosis with a crippling disease, and a passion for bicycling all came together for Len and Susan Lodish.
• Wharton Fellows: Fellows at Chicago Regional Forum Set New Program Design Transformation.
• In the Classroom: The Leadership Journey: What’s Your Story? Your own story can become your leadership map.
• Out of the Classroom: Wharton Leadership Ventures: A new Wharton program helps you to walk the walk — across mountains and valleys — in search of new perspectives on leadership.
• The Last Word: Wharton and The New Business Reality: Taking Stock of the Future. Vice Dean Bob Mittelstaedt discusses Wharton scenarios for the future and a new program on "the new business realities."