Power and influence: Leadership in action

2-4 November 2023 | Executive seminar

In a world in which most organisations, communities and societies face enormous challenges, leadership is critical. This course gets to the core of leadership and getting things done. 'Power and influence' is a course for those of you who want to make things happen, despite the obstacles that might stand in your way. It is about understanding power dynamics and learning to use them as effective tools for analysing your surroundings and achieving your goals. During the course we intend to unearth your implicit theories and feelings about power and influence. These have a profound impact on how you perceive problems and opportunities and subsequently, how you decide upon particular courses of action.

This course includes conceptual models, self-assessment tools and simulation exercises to help you develop your own influence style and understand political dynamics as they unfold around you. The course provides you with the opportunity to observe effective and ineffective uses of power in different organisational contexts and career stages. By design, this course will challenge you to define for yourself what will constitute the responsible exercise of power and influence in your life.

The objectives of the course are to help you:

• Develop a conceptual framework for understanding power and influence. You should be able to define power and influence and begin to appreciate how essential they are for your own career;
• Practice diagnostic skills that will enable you to map out the political landscape, understand others' perspectives and power bases and learn to predict and influence their actions;
• Assess your own power bases and develop your own strategy for building and exercising power and influence ethically and responsibly.

The course relies upon a mix of traditional case studies, biographical case studies of historical figures, exercises and simulations, films and guest visits. The exposure to the development and use of power in many different social settings and at various points in history allows for a comprehensive analysis of power in action.

This seminar is offered as part of the Executive MPA programme and in the open enrolment programme.