Educational Objectives

The mission of Harvard Business School is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The question addressed in this course strikes at the heart of our mission: how is it that some individuals manage to have such an outsized impact on the world?

Course Content

To answer this question, students will study the life choices made by people of great influence. Each week, students will read, analyze, and discuss HBS case-length biographies to understand the choices that these high-impact individuals faced in their lives and the directions they chose. The leaders that students study come from business, science, the arts, government, humanitarian organizations, education, sports, and entertainment. However, they all have one thing in common: they are famous because they changed the world in significant ways (see Table below for list of individuals from which we will draw subjects for class discussion).

The purpose of in-class analyses will be to uncover commonalities among these high-impact individuals: What skills did they choose to invest in early in their careers? How did they allocate their time? What did they choose not to do? How did they balance the pressures of career and family? What critical goals did they set for themselves? How did they leverage their energy and creativity? How did they discover new ways of seeing the world? How much of their time did they devote to helping others?

The search for patterns in choices among these prominent historical figures - people who changed the world - will challenge students to think through the choices that they may want to make (or not make) in their own lives and careers.

Grading will be 50% participation and 50% for a final paper. The paper will ask students to apply course principles by either interviewing someone they admire (and believe has made a difference in the world) or analyzing one of the historical figures (listed in the Table below) not covered in class (materials will be provided to students who choose this second option).

Changing the World: Life Choices of Influential Leaders - Completed Biographies