خود آگاهی و رهبری، ایجاد یک طرح توسعه فردی، راهبردی و حرفه ای در یک دوره رهبری MBA Self-awareness and leadership: Developing an individual strategic professional development plan in an MBA leadership course

1. Introduction Leadership is a foundation course in almost all business programs (undergraduate and MBA) and is also commonly included in degree programs across many other academic disciplines. In addition, many organizations throughout the world offer professional development seminars and executive training sessions on the topic of leadership in order to facilitate the growth and promotability of their employees. Although it is difficult to estimate exactly how many universities and colleges in the U.S. offer courses on leadership, the number of these classes and programs has expanded exponentially since the 1990s (Dugan & Komives, 2007). In 2012, the American Society of Training and Development reported that U.S. businesses spend more than $170 Billion dollars on leadershipbased curriculum, with the majority of those dollars being spent on “Leadership Training” (Myatt, 2012). Furthermore, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has included leadership as a required core competency of AACSB accredited business schools (http://www.aacsb.edu/). Recently, leaders in management education and business schools worldwide have advanced a “Principle for Responsible Management Education”, which also designates leadership as an essential skill, emphasizing its alignment with, and embodiment of, principle values of the United Nations (Woo, 2009). Leadership courses are important components of all business program curricula, whether emphasis is on management, finance, accounting, marketing, or another functional area. Regardless of the major, graduating business students will eventually be placed in situations where their success will be dependent on their application of leadership skills and their ability to manage people and resources effectively. Most leadership classes in Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs include leadership theories, concepts of leadership and management, and to varying degrees, student learning of some managerial skills; however, many of these classes do not provide the needed focus on the development of essential skills, such as self-reflection and self-awareness (Hobson, Strupeck, Griffin, Szostek, & Rominger, 2014). Prior research has generally supported a positive relationship between ‘knowing thyself and self-awareness’ and overall leadership success (Ashley & Reiter-Palmon, 2012; Goleman, 2004). Van Velsor, Taylor, and Leslie (1993), in a review of causes for leaders’ derailments, reported four primary areas of leadership failure: (a) interpersonal relationship problems, (b) not meeting objectives, (c) team leadership breakdowns, and (d) inability to adapt to transitions and changes. Self-awareness is related to all four of these areas, but seems particularly applicable to an individual’s ability to adapt to change. This is directly related to the issue of self and leadership gaps (standard model of scientifically developed leadership competencies and derailment factors) which are also part of possessing the necessary soft-skills for success in the workplace. In addition, self-awareness and the ability to assess oneself are basic tenets of possessing high emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998). Furthermore, the importance of knowing oneself through introspection is as old as ancient Greece, where the inscription on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi states: “Know Thyself’ (γνῶθι σεαυτόν) (The Oracle at Delphi, 2017).