Welcome to LDR 301: Leadership Development, an 8 week course designed to help you better understand yourself as a leader and develop your leadership skills. In this course, we will be focusing on self-assessment and evaluation as key tools for personal and professional growth. Through assessments and evaluations, you will gain valuable insights into your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. This self-awareness is an essential foundation for leadership development, as it helps you to identify areas where you can improve and build on your natural abilities. By the end of this course, you will have a deeper understanding of yourself as a leader and a clear plan for how to continue growing and developing your leadership skills. Are you ready to embark on this journey of self-discovery and growth? Let’s get started!
I. Course Description
You are a unique creation of God! Growing in self-awareness will allow you to not only better understand yourself but also relate to others and deepen your understanding of your creator. As you progress through your journey in Kairos, you will know you have completed this outcome when you and your mentor team have determined that you…
Recognize your strengths, skills, and traits and show how they can be utilized in a holistic way for exploring opportunities in various academic, professional, or personal pursuits.
During our time together, students will explore some personality assessments, strengths, weaknesses, leadership styles, philosophies and principles, how the student works with others, and self-awareness.
II. Course Objectives
While progressing toward the goal of this outcome, you will typically:
- Discover and/or grow in the understanding of your gifts, abilities, and personality;
- Consider ways in which you can enhance your strengths and minimize your weaknesses;
- Reflect on your contribution to the Kingdom of God.
III. Areas of Focus: In this outcome, you will focus on…
- Content related to the way your context/tradition understands and utilizes the insights of self-awareness. Often students discover new vocabulary and frameworks that describe self-awareness in both individual and communal dimensions;
- Character related to what it means to exemplify self-awareness in your daily life based on your context/tradition’s understanding;
- Craft related to demonstrating the skills and practices of self-awareness as understood by your context/tradition.
IV. Indicators: An individual proficient in Knowing Yourself…
- Demonstrates a growing understanding of one’s gifts, abilities, and personality.
- Demonstrates an understanding of one’s strengths and weakness and how they might be enhanced/minimized.
- Can reflectively articulate one’s contribution to the Kingdom of God.
V. Materials Needed
These materials will be provided to the student for free.
- Sixteen Personalities. Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment.
- Moral Foundations Assessment.
- DISC Assessment Survey. Leadership Style.
- Dark Triad Personality Test.
These materials will need to be purchased by the student.
- James Clear, Atomic Habits, 2018 (available on Amazon $20)
- Understand Myself. Big Five Assessment by Jordan Peterson. $10.
- Tom Rath, Strengthsfinder 2.0, 2015 (available on Amazon $21). Be sure to get a version with the Strengthsfinder test.
VI. Schedule
August 18.
- Review the syllabus and course readings on your own.
- Read “The Fundamentals” of Atomic Habits.
- Watch this interview with James Clear on Atomic Habits.
August 25.
- Read “The First Law: Make it Obvious” of Atomic Habits.
- Take the Sixteen Personalities. Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment.
- Write a paragraph on the Prayer Rule as a Habit and a second paragraph on how accurate and useful you found your Myers-Briggs results.
September 1.
- Read “The Second Law: Make it Attractive” of Atomic Habits.
- Take the Big Five Assessment by Jordan Peterson at Understand Myself.
- Write a couple of paragraphs on two of the results from the Big Five (ideally, your highest and lowest, your two highest, or your two lowest).
September 8.
- Read “The Third Law: Make it Easy” of Atomic Habits.
- Watch this TED talk on Moral Foundations and then take the Moral Foundations Assessment.
- Write a couple of paragraphs on your thoughts on the relationship between Moral Foundations, Habits, and Orthodox Christian Formation.
September 15.
- Read “The Fourth Law: Make it Satisfying” of Atomic Habits.
- Take the DISC Assessment Survey on leadership styles.
- Write a couple of paragraphs describing and reacting to the results of your DISC assessment.
September 22.
- Read “Advanced Tactics” and “Conclusion” of Atomic Habits.
- Watch “The Sociopaths Among Us: How to Spot (and Avoid) a Dark Triad” then take the Dark Triad Quiz.
- Write a couple of paragraphs describing the dark triad, your results, and your thoughts on how you will deal difficult personalities.
September 29.
- Read Strengthsfinder and take the Strengthsfinder test.
- Write a couple of paragraphs describing your results and how accurate you think they were.
October 6.
- Sign up for and take the oral exam.
VII. Course Requirements
Participation. Students are expected to attend all Zoom meetings, be on time at the beginning of class, and stay for the duration of the class. Furthermore, students should come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings.
Papers. Students will write five two- to three-paragraph essays, each due by the beginning of classes two through six. The prompts are on the course webpage. Students will upload their essays to the course site. Please note that these essays are written as part of the preparation for the class for which those readings have been assigned. Time will be taken during class for students to share and discuss the thoughts presented in their essays. Students may use AI to proofread and suggest improvements, but all the writing must be their own.
Oral Exam. Students will discuss the course materials one-on-one with the professor for fifteen to twenty minutes.
VIII. General Information
Attendance Policy. As participation is a key component of this course, students are allowed up to one unexcused absence. Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in the family and other documented illness, deaths in the family and other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, and religious holy days. These absences will be accommodated in a way that does not arbitrarily penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children experience serious illness. Please send an email to the instructor concerning the reason for your absence within three days of the absence so that you are not accidentally penalized.
Late Assignment Policy. All assignment grades will be deducted 10% per day the assignment is submitted late unless excused. Please send an email to the instructor if you are unable to submit your assignment on time with a proper excuse. No excuses or exceptions will be considered after the due date/time.
Professionalism. Professional conduct is expected at all times. This includes communication via email with your instructor and your classmates, and communication on the class website. Our classroom should be a place where people feel safe sharing opinions and ideas. Be sure to use respectful language when disagreeing. If you have a concern with the course, please send a thoughtful email to me outlining your concern.
Academic Honor Policy. Anyone caught plagiarizing or abetting plagiarism will receive a zero for the assignment and may result in expulsion from St. Athanasius College. There are no exceptions to this rule. Plagiarism includes claiming as your own work that which is not yours.
Religious Holidays Policy. St. Athanasius College will provide reasonable accommodations to students who request to be excused from class to observe a religious holy day of their faith. Students will make the request in writing to their instructor, preferably upon receipt of the course syllabus, but not later than two weeks before the holy observance. Note that such an accommodation may not be possible when the religious holy day conflicts with group work or experiential learning projects that cannot reasonably be rescheduled; therefore, students should avoid potential conflicts when scheduling courses. While excused students will be held responsible for the material covered in their absence, they shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the work missed. Instructors and administrators shall not penalize students who are absent from academic activities because of excused religious holy day observance. This policy applies to all St. Athanasius College courses, regardless of location or mode of delivery.
Student Disability Accommodations. St. Athanasius College provides reasonable accommodations or modifications in adherence with local, state, and federal law. To receive accommodations through St. Athanasius College, students must self-elect to disclose their disability to the Office of the Dean and follow the steps to receive accommodations. Accommodations are not retroactive. Approved accommodation requests submitted after courses have begun will be effective as of the date the completed request was received by the Office of the Dean. To complete an Accommodation Request, students can access the form online at the school’s website. If the student has an issue accessing the form for any reason please contact the Office of the Dean. In addition to the Accommodation Request, students should email appropriate documentation to the Office of the Dean.
Syllabus Change Policy. Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.
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