OGL 200: Introduction to Organizational Leadership

 

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·         This course laid the foundation for my understanding of leadership. It helped me to see beyond the role of management and look more closely at the various contributing factors for true leadership of a group.

·         This class frequently utilized articles from the New York Times that highlighted the relevance of leadership in modern society. These articles did a great job of identifying the universal nature of leadership across various cultures and organizations.

·         Within this introduction to leadership, I participated in the first of many self-assessments. These assessments outlined my current state of leadership ability and understanding. These assessments then served as a benchmark against which I could measure my continued growth.

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OGL 260: Resource Allocation in Organizations / Foundations of Finance

 

·         This course focused heavily on the measurement of organizational success - primarily through financial performance. This focus helped to balance the behaviors of a team environment with the results they create.

·         While leadership is a flexible skill that is in a constant state of revision, financial documents evaluate businesses with a systematic and consistent approach. Understanding how to review a company's financial performance is a key skill in achieving organizational success.

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OGL 300: Theory and Practice of Leadership 

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·         This course helped me realize the value and appropriate implementation of various leadership strategies. The concepts of transformational leadership were specifically appealing because I have personally been influenced by several transformational leaders in my past – though I may not have recognized it at the time.

·         Focusing on the encouragement and development of others has always been important to me, but this class helped me see how to be more effective in executing development strategies.

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OGL 321: Project Leadership, Strategy and Scope

 

·         This course utilized a dynamic computer simulation in order to demonstrate the cause and effect relationship between leadership choices and project success. This simulation allowed me to lead several different projects with unique constraints in order to exercise my project management skills.

·         This course was extraordinarily eye-opening for me as I had previously worked as a self-taught project manager. The example activities allowed me to better understand missteps of my past and learn from previous personal challenges.

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BIS 350: Diversity and Organizations

 

·         In today's world, understanding and appropriately responding to cultural perceptions is incredibly important and challenging. Operating within a diverse organization with multicultural influence requires me to have a more clear understanding of how individuals interact with one another. This course allowed me to identify my own cultural biases and misunderstandings in order to better interact with others.

·         This course was specifically impactful in terms of my current career, as Starbucks is know for it international operations and desire to support diversity in the workplace.

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OGL 355: Leading Organizational Innovation and Change

 

·         This course allowed me to understand the value of external analysis of organizations. In my current job, there is a distinct need to derive organizational strategy from operational reporting. Information on consumer trends and satisfaction needs offers valuable insight into the leadership planning process.

·         Self-awareness is a critical element of successful leadership. In order to fully understand myself, this course challenged me to abandon any preconceived notions I may have about others and look at organizational elements (especially individuals) with a fresh perspective.