Full semester course in eight weeks. Used multi-media approach through films, reading, and Ted Talks for students to analyse five key parts of leadership: > the little black box (i.e., idiosyncratic) > vision to reality > internal stake-holders > communications > external stake-holders

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American University of North Africa
SYLLABUS
Leadership Challenges: Summer 2019
Course # 3 credits
Tuesday 13h - 15h; Saturday 9h-13h
Office Hours: 14h-14h Thursday
Ned McDonnell; aunaspring2019@gmail.com
Office Hours: I will also regularly be in my office on Fridays.
Course Description/Overview:
This course focuses on exploring challenges that face new and seasoned leaders. First the course
sets out what leadership and then explores topics of personal and institutional challenges involving
communications, stake-holders, and middle management.
Relationship of Course and Program: Part of the curriculum for all students of AUNA who are
in the undergraduate business program; elective course.
Learning Objectives:
In educating business students about challenges typically facing leaders, the following objectives
should be achieved:
1. Understanding what leadership is and studying leadership models.
2. Discovering ways of facing pitfalls new leaders face, either in senior or middle
management, with respect to time management and stake-holder buy-in.
3. Analysing the ethics, communications, and strategy challenges leaders face.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Identify and analyse key leadership challenges on a personal level and propose responses
for them.
2. Identify and analyse key institutional challenges both inside and outside the organization
and develop responses to them.
Teaching and Learning Philosophy and Methodology: Each class will have elements of lecture,
alternative media use, discussion, problems, and presentations. Lectures for each class will
provide the basis for written work, quizzes and examinations. Students will sometimes be asked
to present a case and to start the discussion. Students will also be assigned problems to be solved
sometimes individually, sometimes in groups and sometimes in a short time period and other times
as a class assignment.

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Course Learning Activities: The learning that students are to do in connection with this course
will only partly occur during the scheduled class time.
1) In Class Learning: 40%
2) Reading and Research: 40%
3) Analysis: 20%
Classroom Issues: Preparation, Participation, Attendance and Behavior in the Classroom:
1. Preparation: All assignments are to be read or written prior to class.
2. Class Participation: The grade for participation will be based on your in-class
contribution.
3. Attendance: Attendance is an important part of the learning; three absences means an ‘F’.
4. Laptop / Mobile Phone Policy: Collected or shut off at the beginning of class, unless
specified.
Evaluation, Assessmentand Grading: Evaluation and assessment is distributed for the purposes
of grading as follows:
 Participation – 20% – quality, not quantity; questions welcome
 Midterm Exam – 20% – on the accounts studied
 Quizzes – 5% – as an end of class teaching tool
 Assignments – 20% – problems to apply skills
 Discretionary – 15% – either extra credit for those struggling or a project
 Final Examination – 20% – on financial analysis with a focus on financial numeracy
Please note that no make-up exam (midterm or final) will be administered except for cases of
extreme emergencies. In this case you are expected to provide appropriate written documentation.
GRADING SCALE: Letter grades for the course will follow the same standards as specified in
the AUNA Catalog. See the following table for grading scale:
Grade quality Numerical scale or percentile
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F Below 60
A grade of incomplete will not be granted except for the most extreme circumstances.

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Plagiarism and Cheating Warning: Plagiarism and/or cheating are very serious offences.
Students found guilty of plagiarism or cheating face severe penalties. Unless waived by me,
students will hand-write and sign the following honour pledge for each assignment and test:
“On my personal honour and integrity, I pledge that I have neither received nor accepted any
unacknowledged assistance on this [essay, exam, quiz, assignment, project], including
secondary sources.”
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS, updated periodically.
Required Texts:
1. Carpenter, Mason, Bauer, Talya, and Erdogan, Berrin. Principles of Management. Pitman
Publishing Company U.K. 2010.
2. Kennedy, John. Profiles of Courage. Harpers. New York. 1955.
3. Kouzes, James and Posner Barry. The Leadership Challenge. Wiley. San Francisco. 2003.
4. Lederer, William and Burdick, Eugene. The Ugly American. W.W. Norton. New York. 1958
5. Teta, Richard. “THESIS. Getting Ugly: Network Development in The Ugly American”. Naval
Post-Graduate School. Monterrey, CA. 2012.
6. Articles as assigned:
 Henisz, Witold “‘Corporate Diplomacy’: Why Firms Need to Build Ties with External
Stakeholders”. Knowledge@Wharton. May 2014.
 EDUCBA. “5 Simple Steps to Manage Stakeholders Effectively (Types)”. c. February 2019.
 Deutschendorf, Harvey. “5 Ways To Stay Focused In A World Full Of Distractions”. Fast
Company. 24th July 2014.
 Springman, Jack. “Implementing a Stakeholder Strategy”. Harvard Business Review. July
2011.
 Centre for Creative Leadership. “The Top 6 Leadership Challenges Around the World”.
2016
 Goleman, Daniel. “Why Leaders Need a Triple Focus”. Greater Good Magazine 5University
of California at Berkeley). 21st January 2014.
 Klemash, Steven. “What Boards Should Prioritise in 2019”. Ernst & Young Reporting. 18th
December 2018.
 Sull, Donald. Turconi, Stafano. Sull, Charles. “Six Steps to Communicating Strategic
Priorities Effectively”. Sloan Business Review. M.I.T. 19th January 2018.
 Kissel, Neal. Foley, Patrick. “Three Challenges Every New C.E.O. Faces”. Harvard
Business Review. 23rd January 2019.
 Rabinowitz, Phil. “What Do We Mean by the Challenges of Leadership?”; Community
Tool-Box; 2018.
 Keller, Valerie. “How companies can tackle humanity’s greatest challenges and take a stand
for purpose”. Ernst & Young Reporting. 14th June 2018

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Alternate Media Materials in Class:
 “The Caine Mutiny”. Columbia Pictures. 1954.
 “Glory”. TriStar Pictures. 1989.
 “Thirteen Days”. Beacon Pictures. 2000.
 “The American Experience: Henry Ford”. Public Broadcasting Corp. 2013.
 “The Intern”. Warner Brothers Pictures. 2015.
 “Henry V”. Eagle-Lion Distributors, LTD. 1944.
 Semler, Ricardo. “How to run a company with (almost) no rules”. TED Talks. October
2014.
 Torres, Rosalind. “What it takes to be a great leader”. TED Talks. October 2013.
 Sinek, Simon. “How great leaders inspire great action”. TED Talks. September 2009.
 Begum, Shad. “How women are creating change”. TED Talks. November 2018.
 Hill, Linda. “How to manage for collective creativity”. TED Talks. September 2014.
 Tómasdóttir, H. and Freedman, B. “The crisis of leadership – a new way forward”. TED
Talks. February 2019.
 Edmondson, Amy. “How to turn a group of strangers into a team”. TED Talks. October
2017.
 Frei, Frances. “How to build and to re-build trust”. TED Talks. April 2018.
 Doerr, John. “Why the secret to success is setting the right goals”. TED Talks. April 2018.
 Ford, Gerald. President. The United States of America. “Humility”. C-Span. August 1974.
Course Moodle platform: During the semester, the Professor will maintain contact with students
via the Moodle platform site for this course and electronic mail.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
WEEK-1
20th-25th `May 2019
Topic: Introduction
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: introduction
Objective-2: identify challenges
Objective-3: prioritise challenges
 Articles, pre-assigned
 TED Talk by Rosalind Torres
 TED Talk by Tómasdóttir and
Freedman
 TED Talk by Frances Frei
 TED Talk by John Doerr
 TED Talk by Linda Hill
 TED Talk by Begum Shad
One written assignment and quiz
WEEK-2
27th May-1st June 2019
Topic: What is Leadership?
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: What is leadership?
Objective-2: Who is a leader?
Objective-3: Analysing leadership
 Principles of Management: Chapter-10
 Leadership Challenge, Chapter-1 (pp.
14-29)
 “American Experience: Henry Ford”
One written assignment and quiz

5. 5
WEEK-3
3rd-8th June 2019
Topic: The Leader and the Led
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: Importance of internal
stake-holders
Objective-2: Focus on middle managers
– mainstays or mutineers
Objective-3: Weighing everyday work-
place ethics, up-&-down-&-across
 Profiles in Courage, Chapter-6
 “The Caine Mutiny”
One written assignment and quiz
WEEK-4
10th-15th June 2019
Topic: Communications
Four hours instruction
Two hours in Mid-Term
Objective-1: Mid-term; case study
Objective-2: Importance and challenge
of communications
Objective-3: Communications across
levels, age-brackets, and demographic
groups
 THESIS: Ugly American, Chapter-VI
 M.I.T. article.
 “The Intern”
One written assignment and quiz
Mid-term: Case Study
WEEK-5
17th-22nd June 2019
Topic: Maintaining Vision
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: Review Mid-term and
discuss course to date
Objective-2: Resilience and translating
vision into reality
Objective-3: growing into leadership
 Leadership Challenge, Chapters 2 (pp.
(57-64) AND 3 (pp. 71-74; 76-81; and,
87-91)
 Fast Company article
 U.C./Berkeley article
 TED Talk by Simon Sinek
“Glory”
One written assignment and quiz

6. 6
WEEK-6
24th-29th June 2019
Topic: Juggling to Survive
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: Who are external stake-
holders
Objective-2: ranking external stake-
holders
Objective-3: Managing external stake-
holders
 The Ugly American, Chapter-18.
 Wharton article
 Harvard Business Review article
 EducBA article
 TED Talk by Amy Edmondson
“Thirteen Days”
One written assignment and quiz
WEEK-7
1st-6th July 2019
Topic: Bringing it Together
Six hours instruction
Objective-1: Integrated leadership to
beat the odds
Objective-2: Balancing control and
creativity
Objective-3: Term-paper due; combining
the individual and the environment into
leadership
Leadership Challenge: Chapters 1 (pp.
33-40) AND 11 (pp. 305-318)
TED Talk by Ricardo Semler
C-Span clip of President Ford
“Henry V”
One written assignment and quiz
WEEK-8
8th-12th July 2019
Topic: Final Exam
Two hours in Final Exam
Objective: ¡Get outta here!
Final: Case Study