SEMESTER: Spring 2019

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 291I-11

COURSE TITLE: Improvisational Leadership

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 Unit

INSTRUCTOR: Cort Worthington

E-MAIL ADDRESS: cort@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:  The course will meet over 2 Sundays – 10 and 24 February 2019.

Please note the unorthodox nature of this course, which meets all day on 2 Sundays. To earn a passing grade, you must attend BOTH class sessions in their entirety.

PREREQUISITE(S): EWMBA Core Curriculum

CLASS FORMAT: Course content is covered through approximately one-third lecture and discussion, two-thirds interactive class exercises.

REQUIRED READINGS:

The Starfish and the Spider, Brafman, 2006

Improv Wisdom, Madson, 2005

People Skills, Bolton, 1996

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Two short written assignments (30%), final paper (30%), and class participation (40%)

CAREER FIELD: This course is relevant for all career fields

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

IMPROVISATIONAL LEADERSHIP is an introductory course in the theory and application of improvisational techniques to business communication situations. This course explores the broad principles of improvisation: a performing art form that has developed pedagogical methods to enhance individual spontaneity, listening and awareness, expressive skills, risk-taking, and one’s ability to make authentic social and emotional connections. Such skills grow increasingly critical as leaders rise within organizations, and this course strives to develop students’ business communication leadership skills while enhancing both interpersonal intuition and confidence. No prior experience with improvisation or performance is necessary or presumed.

Specific topics include (1) introduction to improvisational theory,(2) speaking and spontaneity, (3) listening and awareness, (4) emotional intelligence, and (5) status and influence. In all of these topic areas the emphasis will be on applied business communications.

Lectures and discussions comprise approximately one-third of each session. Interactive exercises comprise the remainder, giving students considerable opportunity to strengthen their own improvisational, in-the-moment decision making skill set. Additional role-plays will provide practice applying class material to leadership and communication situations. Readings and outside assignments supplement each unit.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: 
Cort Worthington is a full-time lecturer in Leadership at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.  A leadership consultant, his organizational client list includes Exxon Mobil, Sumitomo Bank, Oracle, Square, the US Army, Kaiser, Yahoo!, Pixar, McKesson, the US Olympic Team, and Stanford University.

Prior to teaching at Berkeley, Cort was co-founder of toy company Primordial, LLC, where he raised capital and served as Director of Operations.  He also worked for many years as a film producer, directing documentary crews around the world. 

Other relevant experiences include fourteen seasons leading elite teams as a forest fire fighter and parachuting U.S. Forest Smokejumper, which piqued his interest in emergent strategies and improvisational principles as applied to leading within complex, dynamic systems. He has been actively utilizing improvisation as a methodology for enhancing leadership skills since 1997. 

Cort holds an MA in Communication from Stanford University, an MBA from Columbia University Business School, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.