COURSE NUMBER: MBA 257.1

COURSE TITLE: The Pursuit of Meaningful Work

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 units

INSTRUCTOR: Mike G. Katz

EMAIL ADDRESS: mikegkatz@berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: bCourses

PREREQUISITE(S): MBA205 (recommended)

CAREER FIELD:
This course will be useful for all aspiring managers and leaders who will want to develop themselves and their colleagues in an organization

CLASS FORMAT:
Cases, simulations, group exercises, lectures, guest speakers, peer coaching  

REQUIRED READINGS:
A selection of book chapters, articles, and cases

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
You will be evaluated on the quality of a) your contributions in class (10%), b) two written case analyses (50% total) and c) a final paper (40%).

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: 

The purpose of this course is to cultivate the self-awareness and practices for pursuing meaningful work in any context. Here, “self-awareness” refers to discerning our motivations, moods, and limiting beliefs when taking actions of personal significance. “Practices” refers to the safe-to-fail experiments we design and undertake to dissolve limiting beliefs, shift unproductive moods, and align our actions with our deepest sense of purpose. Without skillfulness in these areas, we run the risk of pursuing unsatisfying work and serving purposes that do not resonate with who we are, and at our core, who we wish to become. To that end, the aim of the course is to increase your skillfulness in 1) Diagnosing the specific sources of meaningfulness that drive individuals' engagement in a work context, 2) Identifying opportunities for developing yourself, your teammates, as well as others across an organization, and 3) Designing safe-to-fail practices that support aspirational changes in your behaviors and mindsets

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Mike G. Katz believes all people deserve meaningful work. He brings this belief to bear at Haas through his two courses "The Pursuit of Meaningful Work" and "People Development", as well as in the non-credit programs of the Interpersonal Development Program. In each of these offerings, Mike aims for students to cultivate their capacity to lead under pressure. In addition to his work at Haas, Mike works as a coach and facilitator supporting executive development in firms such as Google, Lyft, American Express, Credit Karma, and Blue Bottle Coffee. He also facilitates workshops on "conscious inclusion" in the tech space.

Prior to joining the Professional Faculty at Haas, Mike served on the leadership teams of the Haas MBA Career Management Group as well as Management Leadership for Tomorrow. Prior to becoming a coach, Mike consulted institutional clients in financial services on customer segmentation, pricing, and organizational design. He has served on the Boards of O4U, the leading source of undergraduate LGBTQ talent for entry-level careers in tech, banking, consulting, and marketing, as well as the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance.

Mike received his Integral Coach certification through New Ventures West and his Professional Coach Certification through the ICF. He is currently training as a Somatic Coach through the Strozzi Institute. Mike is also trained in The Leadership Circle Profile, Hogan Assessment, Subject-Object Interviewing, and Immunity-to-Change methodologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Information Systems from NYU Stern and a Master of Business Studies in Organization & Management from Emory University.