2024-25

Foundations of Leadership, MGMT 71, is a required course all incoming business students will take in either the Winter or Spring quarter of their first year.  The course was launched last year and is built on a long tradition of leadership studies at Leavey, with the most prominent example being The Leadership Challenge, a book and series of informative tools created by Professor Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes. This course marks the beginning of a student's leadership journey at the Leavey School of Business—a journey where one will lead and follow, influence and be influenced, all while staying true to the student's goals and values.  Aidan Kwapisz shares: “Overall, this class has been a catalyst for both my personal and professional growth. I’ve felt myself develop into a more confident, fearless version of myself -- one who’s not only afraid to show the best parts of myself through my work and presentations, but also one who’s willing to be vulnerable and make true deep human connections during class and outside of it. I feel deeply grateful for this opportunity, and I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned outside of class to the real business world”. 

MGMT 71 is rooted in the Jesuit approach to leadership, which emphasizes two key principles: (1) we are all leaders in that we all influence others, in ways that are good or bad and large and small, all the time, and (2) all leadership begins with self-knowledge. Leadership is not defined by a position but rather by a mindset, shaped by who you are and what you want to achieve.  

This course underscores the importance of clarifying personal core values and identifying one’s strengths and weaknesses as foundational for effective leadership. Research suggests that leadership success is more dependent on self-awareness than technical skills.  Melody Ho says this about her MGMT 71 experience:  “At the start of the course, I set a leadership goal for myself in my red composition notebook: to prioritize confidence over conformity. I often found myself changing my opinions to fit the group rather than expressing what I actually felt. However, through the various team exercises and discussions, I gradually embraced my ability to assert my thoughts while still maintaining respectful collaboration. This shift reinforced my understanding that leadership is not about blending in but about contributing authentically and standing by my values—because who wants a leader that doesn’t even know what they want?”.  For more details how this course was piloted read this article from Leavey News.

Find links to the MGMT 71 professors teaching next year:

Andrew McBride	Shuqi Li	Chris Norris	Michael Smith
Suzy Papzian	Regina Lawless	Brenda Fellows	Gary Richman
Sarah Cabral	Suzy Papazian

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