COURSE NUMBER: MBA291T.1B

 

COURSE TITLE: Interpersonal Skills and Embodied Leadership

 

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

 

INSTRUCTOR: Erica Peng

 

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

 

MEETING DATES:  Fall B: 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/29, 12/6

 

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: TBD

 

PREREQUISITE(S): None.

 

CLASS FORMAT: In class lecture, experiential exercises, skill-building practices, and reflection journals to capture learning and developmental progress.

 

REQUIRED READINGS: Articles and several short videos on interpersonal development topics and research.

 

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Attendance to every class session, class participation, submitted reflection journals.

 

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

In today’s global environment, our personal and professional lives are more complex, uncertain, and stressful.

 

What does it take to inspire and engage people - and teams - across language, culture, and other dimensions of difference in a dynamic and diverse world?

 

Thinking alone is not enough.

 

Whether you’re at the beginning, middle, or later stages of your career, being confident and effective in our current context – and being perceived as such – requires more than cognitive knowledge and content expertise.

 

Often leadership is described in behavioral outcomes vs. actual specific skills and competencies necessary to actually be effective and have influence and impact. I.e. “An effective leader is emotionally intelligent, encourages multiple perspectives, and can help teams navigate and leverage differences and conflict.”

While this may be a true statement, how does it help an aspiring leader actually get from here to there?

Developing and embodying skills and competencies for effective and influential leadership, requires concrete practice, over time, and in developmental stages.

This goals of the course: 1) provide a supportive experiential learning environment, 2) facilitate development of foundational interpersonal skills in a spirit of fun and discovery, 3) improve your ability to build rapport and influence as a team member and/or leader, during your time at Haas and beyond.

The course is based on the following elements:

·        Experiential activities and skill practice provide structure and scaffolding for each class session. Through these experiential learning opportunities, you will gain more awareness about your own reactions and tendencies, as well as insights about how your reactions and behaviors impact others.

 

·        Research and information enable you to make meaning from the experiential exercises and your own reactions and behaviors. Research topics include: neuroscience, emotions, emotional intelligence, relationships, communication, bias, and leadership.

 

·        Coaching and feedback from the instructor and classmates will help you assess your impact and consider what skills and behaviors to focus on in terms of practice and application.

Skill Development

The skills and competencies introduced in each class build upon each other. They include the following:

·        Self-awareness

·        Grounded presence

·        Empathic listening

·        Self-regulation (managing emotional “triggers” and “hot buttons”)

·        Comfort with discomfort

·        Personal disclosure / building trust and rapport

·        Taking generative risks towards learning

·        Acknowledging appreciation and positive influence

·        Giving and receiving feedback

·        Requesting feedback

·        Flexibility and openness

CAREER FIELD: Developing interpersonal skills is foundational to being more effective and successful across all career fields, and in both personal and professional arenas.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: As a leadership development consultant, instructor, and coach, Erica’s expertise is cultivating "internal" grounded presence, along with "external" skills and competencies. She incorporates somatic/whole body practices that transform internal barriers (i.e. self-criticism, insecurity, perfectionism, etc.), into embodied interpersonal and leadership skills. Having lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Asia, Latin America and Europe, Erica brings nuanced awareness and skill in navigating leadership and performance issues across language, culture and other dimensions of difference.

 

Erica facilitates and delivers interpersonal development courses at Haas School of Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and University of San Francisco School of Law. Erica coaches senior executives at Stanford’s Executive Education Leadership Programs and leads women’s groups for professional women, Stanford GSB students and alumni. At Haas, Erica also works with students as a career coach, helping them clarify core skills, purpose, and values.

 

Through her coaching and consulting firm, Deep Stream Leadership (www.deepstreamleadership.com), Erica partners with teams and emerging leaders to senior executives, and has a deep commitment to supporting women and Asian leaders. She offers high-impact leadership development workshops based on the most popular interpersonal dynamics "T Group" course at Stanford GSB. Erica also brings her skills and sensibility as an award-winning digital storyteller, and performing singer and dancer, to support students and clients to convey compelling personal leadership stories with engaging and grounded presence.