EDUC 240-001, 3 Credits
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 11 AM-12:50PM
Whitney Auditorium, Room 1315, School of Education Building
**Note: This course is an elective for all U-M undergrad students. Check with your advisor with questions, or ping me Greg Dooley dools[@]umich.edu
Course Premise
Leadership is an evolving practice that can be and should be taught, learned and adapted. The notion of the “born leader” is flawed. Many of the best lessons in leadership (in general) come from athletic coaching. Corporate and office walls are often adorned with inspirational quotes from or photos of famous athletic coaches. The premise behind this course is to tap into that wisdom, from athletics leadership and beyond.
Learning Objectives
The learning objectives for this course will be taught and reinforced through guest speakers, lectures, group exercises/discussions, and supplemented by light reading, articles and podcasts.
Guest speakers will include accomplished athletic coaches, athletic administrators, business executives and entrepreneurs. These leaders will share real-world examples and application of the leadership principles taught in this course.
Students will leave the course with a broad knowledge of several critical coaching principles, which they will have applied in simulated team and business leadership situations/scenarios. Key principles include:
- Knowing and leading yourself first, through your values & mission and striving for true self-awareness.
- Embracing leadership through positivity–in your demeanor, attitude and interactions.
- Building powerful teams by embracing the value and strengths of our differences.
- Developing and maintaining authentic, lasting and meaningful relationships with team members.
- Understanding, identifying and managing personal biases, blind spots, self-deception.
- Establishing and fostering a culture of integrity and trust with staff/team members.
- Developing effective communication strategies as a coach/leader, and as a teammate.
- Developing coaching tools to support teammates struggling with professional/team development, or personal challenges such as mental health.
- Build team-optimization best practices around hiring/finding new team members and managing individuals with performance challenges.
With the culmination of a final project, students will define their personal leadership values, culture, and style which can be applied in their lives beyond the classroom.
———————————–
This class is part of the Education for Empowerment minor program offered by the School of Education, specifically the ‘Coaching & Leadership’ pathway. It requires 15 credits total (4 classes + an internship + 1 credit capstone). Interested? Contact marsal.minor@umich.edu – any undergrad can declare after completing any (1) qualifying course. Here’s an endorsement from former U-M Coach John Beilein.
