When faced with a complex and ambiguous work environment, how do you, as a potential leader, envision the future? How can you deliver on your vision in a way that conveys meaning and drives positive change within your organisation? In this course you will explore how leaders can create a compelling vision and communicate it, and how they create meaning and make work more meaningful. You will look at the role the brain and the body play in processing meaning, and how this can inspire your employees to follow you and your vision. This course will also teach you how to develop meaningful brand identity and the role it can play in clarifying and reinforcing your leadership vision within your organisation, for your partners and for your customers. You will discover that meaning crosses into almost every aspect of management. Finally, you will better understand how social and cultural factors can influence what you can achieve and your limitations when seeking to create meaning.
Leading: Human Resource Management and Leadership SpecializationMacquarie UniversityAbout this Course
What you will learn
Evaluate approaches to influencing and creating meaning at work
Evaluate and apply approaches to meaning making that play a role in aligning employee buy-in of organisational narratives
Evaluate, create and apply strategies to leverage meaning making through branding
Situate discussions of meaning making within broader social contexts and concerns.
Skills you will gain
Offered by
Macquarie University
Macquarie is ranked among the top one per cent of universities in the world, and with a 5-star QS rating, we are recognised for producing graduates who are among the most sought-after professionals in the world. Since our foundation 54 years ago, we have aspired to be a different type of university: one focused on fostering collaboration between students, academics, industry and society.
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Meaning and making meaning
This week we start off with exploring the essence of meaning, and why meaning is important at work. We also explore the conditions that facilitate or hinder meaning making. We look at how meaning could be enhanced by ensuring a fit between work and those who undertake it. We talk about the importance of linking employees’ activities with a significant bigger purpose and how this might be accomplished. We look at aspects of designing work to increase meaning and then flip our perspective and try to understand the concept of meaninglessness and some of the factors that contribute to meaninglessness.
Leadership and meaning making
In this week, you explore the use of symbols and language in developing meaning – how leaders can use metaphors and imagery to convey, not just thoughts but feelings – a very powerful tool in meaning making. You will learn how leaders apply a powerful meaning making tool, framing, which can be utilised to analyse problems through the lens of organisational goals and trigger meaning making aimed at problem-solving. You will also explore the power of social identity in meaning making by learning how leaders can leverage the power of the social group to achieve organisational objectives.
Brain, body and storytelling in meaning making
This week you will explore a slightly different perspective on meaning making that highlights the role of neuroscience and storytelling. You will look at how the brain works and how to influence people’s interpretation of meaning. You will learn some physiological techniques to project meaning through your voice and breath, body language and posture. You will learn how storytelling exploits some of our ancient tribal instincts to trigger meaning making.
Branding as meaning making
In this week, you we will learn about the role of branding in communicating meanings, and the role of different levels of meanings, including functional, emotional, and higher purpose in this communication process. You will be shown how to shape meanings you wish to communicate and how to shape the perceptions of your organisation's stakeholders over the long-term. You will be introduced to different categories of brand meanings, or brand personalities.
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM VISIONARY LEADERSHIP, IDENTITY & MOTIVATION: BECOME A MEANING MAKER
The course is very comprehensive explaining how we can instill meaning in various different context from being a team leader in an organization to creating purposeful and meaningful brand.
I enjoyed taking this course very much. The course structure was easy to comprehend. The readings were the best and the practical assignments were worth taking. Its been insightful
This course is an eye opener to real knowledge on how to motivate people. Story telling was never known to be of so much importance by me. This course is fascinating.
Great Course. I found a different perspective on Leadership. Articles were really good. Bit long course, hope will be useful for my organsation
About the Leading: Human Resource Management and Leadership Specialization
Become an adaptable leader, ready to face the challenges of the disrupted workplace. This Specialization will equip you with the skills to lead and navigate the ever-changing global environment we now work in. Through four themed courses you will: learn how to motivate staff with meaningful work (Become a Meaning Maker); better enable your organization to deliver on its strategic objectives (Know Your Organisation); harness your team’s diversity and use teamwork to innovate and increase your organization’s output (Know Your People), and strengthen your personal leadership skills (Adapt Your Leadership Style).
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