Changing the World: Life Choices of Influential Leaders
Course Number 1350
27 Sessions
Project
This course is designed as a capstone for graduating MBA students.
Our mission is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. As you prepare to leave Harvard Business School, the critical question is: “What do I need to do to make a difference?” To answer this question, we will study—and learn from—the life choices of a variety of remarkable people who left a lasting legacy that changed the world.
Each week, we will analyze case-length biographies to understand the choices that these high-impact individuals faced in their lives and the paths they followed. Here is a list of the HBS case-format biographies that will be included in your case packet:
Business | Mary Kay Ash P.T. Barnum Sarah Breedlove Walt Disney Henry Ford Katharine Graham Steve Jobs |
Authors | Ayn Rand |
Education | James Conant |
Entertainment | Leonard Bernstein |
Government/Military | Dwight Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Robert McNamara Ronald Reagan Margaret Thatcher |
Humanitarian | Mahatma Gandhi Helen Keller Nelson Mandela Bill Wilson |
Scientists | Marie Curie Albert Einstein |
Sports | Muhammad Ali Jackie Robinson |
The course is divided into three parts: learning, testing and applying, and reflecting.
Learning: During the first part of the course, students will read about a variety of interesting protagonists and learn how each individual rose to a position of prominence. We start by identifying the key personal characteristics that underpinned their success. Then, we introduce “building blocks” to understand how each protagonist strengthened the hand they were dealt in life. Next, we analyze the different strategies that they followed to maximize their potential. Finally, we reveal how each protagonist navigated forks in the road and ultimately found purpose in their life.
Testing and Applying: During the second part of the course, students will work on a project to test and apply what they have learned. Students will first work in small teams to develop interview questions. Then, either alone or in pairs, they will be asked to interview someone they admire and write up their findings as part of a final paper. Scheduled classes will be freed-up to give students time to work on this project.
Reflecting: In the final part of the course, materials and in-class discussions will be designed to answer the question: What does this mean for me?
Grading will be based on class participation, short polls and hand-ins, and the completed project paper.
You will find this course appealing if:
- You enjoy learning about the lives and times of interesting individuals in a wide variety of settings,
- You want to understand, and be inspired by, the choices that these individuals made and the paths they followed to rise to positions of prominence,
- You enjoy engaging in a spirited discussion about controversial topics,
- You want to be challenged to think about your own life and the choices you will confront if you want to make a difference in the world.
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