Lesson 1 Overview

For many of us, the possibility of becoming a leader can engender a fight-or-flight response. Often engineers (incorrectly) liken a leader to the dynamic, business-savvy manager who grabs the organization by the horns, tells everyone what to do, and “kicks butt” when things go poorly. You are about to embark on a journey of discovery, where you will learn that you can establish a personal approach to effectively leading engineers. This journey can not only be enjoyable, but also very fulfilling.

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following things:

• Identify the differences between leadership and management.
• Recognize important characteristics of leadership.
• Develop self-awareness through the discovery and application of psychometric testing.

Lesson Readings

Please complete any other assigned readings prior to reading the lesson commentary.

• course syllabus
• lesson commentary
• Taylor, S. N., (2010). Redefining leader self-awareness by integrating the second component of self-awareness. Journal of Leadership Studies, 3 (4), 57–68.
• (Optional) Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J., (2014). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25, 36–62.

Lesson Assignments

• Academic Integrity form
• three journal entries
• lesson reading quiz
• discussion forum