Objectives

These sessions are aimed at improving your ability to lead high performing teams, and to operate effectively within a senior leadership team. We will ask and answer the question: What makes the best teams tick (especially top management teams) and what can you do as a leader to increase the probability that your teams will excel?

In your roles at AARP, you already have considerable experience leading teams. Given that experience, this class will provide an evidence-based approach to reinforce some of what you may already be doing (perhaps without knowing there was research to support your good gut instincts), push you to do new things that you haven’t done before, correct some old habits that might be holding you and your teams back, and encourage you to think about what you as AARP’s senior leaders can do to work more effectively as a collective while maintaining high levels of individual responsibility.

More specifically, we will:

1. Introduce a practical, research-based model that accounts for 75% of effectiveness in teams and some key tactics to help you increase the probability that your teams will be effective

2. Position you to do well in your SLP teams and other AARP teams

3. Apply the team effectiveness model to your past, present, and future AARP teams

4. Discuss how you can apply the model to your SLP and other work teams

5. Identify immediate changes or next-steps for your SLP other work teams

Pre-Reading:

• Bernstein, E. 2015. “Leadership and Teaming,” HBS #9-414-033.
  This note is a bit long, but is accessibly written. You may ignore Exhibits 2, 4, and 5, but the rest is an important, useful basis for what we’ll cover.

• Duhigg, C. 2016. “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team” NY Times.

Otherwise, please just come with an open mind ready to learn and have some fun doing so!

Syllabus

Session 1 Objectives

This session examines strategy statements and strategic positioning. It first develops the concept of a clear and concise strategy statement: one that highlights the strategic intent of the organization over the relevant time horizon and one that employees can internalize and understand. It then provides a framework for developing an effective strategy statement that underscores: (1) objective, (2) scope, and (3) advantage. It concludes by examining several strategic positioning frameworks, including low cost vs. differentiation and specialists vs. generalists.

Required Class Preparation

Pre-Reading

• Collis and Rukstad (2008) “Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?” Harvard Business Review

• Porter (1996) “What is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review

Pre-Work

• Read the journal articles.

• Come prepared to discuss their significance in general and specific to AARP.

Syllabus

Slides

Session 2 Objectives

This session examines the internal resources and capabilities of firms. It first defines resources and capabilities in terms of value, rareness and inimitability. It then provides frameworks for appraising and leveraging resources and capabilities and for recognizing different types of inertia. Several examples, including Walt-Disney, are used to foster class discussion.

Required Class Preparation

Pre-Reading

• Collis and Montgomery (2008) “Competing on Resources,” Harvard Business Review

• Lunscombe. “Bob Iger’s Bets are Paying off Big Time for Disney.” Time 10/04/2018.

Pre-Work

• Read the journal article.

• Read the Time article.

• Come prepared to discuss their significance in general and specific to AARP.

Syllabus

Slides

Session 3 Objectives

This session examines business models and business model innovation. It first provides a broad definition of business models. It then provides frameworks around the approaches toward and the difficulties in business model innovation. Several examples, including Walt Disney and Trader Joe’s, are used to foster class discussion.

Required Class Preparation

Pre-Reading

Johnson, Christensen and Kagermann (2008) “Reinventing Your Business Model,” Harvard Business Review

Dubner. “Should America Be Run by Trader Joe’s?” NPR Freakonomics Radio 11/28/2018.

Pre-Work

Read the journal article.

Listen to the NPR podcast.

Come prepared to discuss their significance in general and specific to AARP.

Syllabus

Session 1 Slides

Session 2 Slides

Session 3 Slides

Session Description

Strategic communication and influencing your audience about your agenda require starting with your audience. As organizations return to new work arrangements following the restrictions of the pandemic, the need for clear messaging and active listening is paramount. Understanding what makes conversations challenging is the first step in being more strategic in our communication. This session will build from our webinar on managing challenging conversations by exploring communication within the emerging hybrid workspace. We will explore how understanding our own conflict styles can empower us to lead and communicate more effectively.

Learning Outcomes

• Explore the opportunities and challenges of communicating in a hybrid workspace.

• Identify your own conflict style

• Recognize the opportunities and challenges associated with your conflict style

• Isolate strategies for engaging in conflict in a productive way

Required Class Prep

Pre-Reading:

Haas, M. (2022). 5 Challenges of Hybrid Work -and How to Overcome Them. HBR Reprint: H06V3U-PDF-ENG

To be filled out prior to the session:

Thomas Kilman Conflict Style Inventory

Syllabus

Session Description

Based on our understanding of our own conflict styles, we will examine thinking routines and mindsets that keep us from listening and reflect on the key elements of productive conversations. We will examine a framework for leading to productive dialogue and discuss the challenge of communicating difficult conversations within online environments.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify thinking routines that lead to your conclusions about a conversation

• Explore the three stories in every conversation

• Examine and practice a framework for moving to productive dialogue

Required Class Preparation

Pre-Reading:

• Weeks, H. (2001). Taking the stress out of stressful conversations. Harvard Business Review (reprint R0107H).

• Edmondson, Amy and Christensen, Karen (2019) The Fearless Organization. (ROT389) Harvard Business Review

Syllabus