Chapter 16, “Creating Leaders: An Ontological / Phenomenological Model”, by Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, and Kari Granger
In “The Handbook for Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Doing, and Being” edited by Harvard Business School’s Scott Snook (Senior Lecturer), Nitin Nohria (Dean of the Harvard Business School and George F. Baker Professor of Administration), and Rakesh Khurana (Dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development), the editors write:
“How does one teach leadership in a way that not only informs them about leadership but also transforms them into actually being leaders? …this eclectic group of scholars argues for adopting a decidedly ontological approach to leadership education that promises to leave students actually being leaders. Contrasting their ontological approach described as being and action as experienced “on the court” with more traditional perspectives where leadership is observed and commented on “from the stands,” this chapter presents a rigorous theory of leadership education that begins and ends with the following bold promises to students:
You will leave this course being who you need to be to be a leader.
You will leave this course with what it takes to exercise leadership effectively.
“…by following a rigorous, phenomenologically based methodology, students have the opportunity to create for themselves a context that leaves them actually being a leader and exercising leadership effectively as their natural self-expression.”
The chapter described above by the editors is available for download at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1681682.
About the Editors
Scott A. Snook is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Tukman Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Business School.
Nitin Nohria is the Dean of the Harvard Business School and the George F. Baker Professor of Administration. He previously served as co-chair of the Leadership Initiative, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development, and Head of the Organizational Behavior unit. He is the author of numerous books and articles.
Rakesh Khurana is the Dean of Harvard College and the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School. He is also Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and co-Master of Cabot House at Harvard College. He is the author of numerous important articles and books in the areas of leadership and management.
