University of Glasgow

Rethinking Leadership Narratives for a Data-Driven Age

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University of Glasgow

Rethinking Leadership Narratives for a Data-Driven Age

This course is part of Data-Driven Leadership Specialization

Matt Offord

Instructor: Matt Offord

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Intermediate level

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1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Critically evaluate traditional and data-driven leadership models and their relevance in digital organisational contexts

  • Analyse and assess leadership narratives and whether they help or hinder modern leaders in a digital age

  • Apply your understanding of agile and hierarchical leadership structures to assess how data shapes organisational decision-making

  • Describe and evaluate the role of collective decision-making and agile teams in driving organisational performance

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Assessments

6 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Data-Driven Leadership Specialization
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There are 3 modules in this course

Before we can think about leadership in the 21st Century, the Information Age, we need to think about what people thought about leadership in the past. Why? Because the legacy of these ideas about leadership live on to a large extent. If you have any sort of leadership training, or perhaps read a book about leadership, the chances are you have been exposed to powerful narratives about heroic leaders and authority. Perhaps your current view of leadership is heavily stereotyped? Perhaps the organisation you work for prefers 'traditional' or 'old school' leadership. These paradigms still exert influence; sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. In any case, this module will explain where these views come from and what conditions leaders dealt with. This will help you to understand why we are still dealing with legacy leadership styles, how thet can help, and what new situations call for a different approach.

What's included

3 videos6 readings2 assignments4 discussion prompts

Some claim that leadership, as a concept, is in decline and may no longer be important. However, this may be a little premature or even naive. Leadership has always been important but authority and centralised decision-making are very recent, perhaps ephemeral, developments. As you move through this narrative of leadership, you will learn how leadership is changing. Due to the data deluge and hyper connected work places, high degrees of centralisation are becoming a thing of the past. Many firms are favouring more networked and less hierarchical approaches . Additionally, the introduction of social science in the 20th Century has radically shaken up some of the romantic ideas about leadership.

What's included

1 video6 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts

So far we have explored the origins of traditional leadership and how this changed in the 20th Century. In the 21st Century we see the birth of a new business model: agility. Agility, like a lot of management and leadership ideas, has its roots in the military. The US military actively researched and developed ways of becoming more agile in the early 21st Century. Many other prominent military powers already embraced agility, especially in NATO. But what is agility and how does it relate to data? In this module, we will learn about agility in leadership.

What's included

2 videos5 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts

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Instructor

Matt Offord
University of Glasgow
4 Courses6,979 learners

Offered by

University of Glasgow

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