HARVARD UNIVERSITY
John F. Kennedy School of Government
MLD-351: LEADERSHIP LITERACY
Fall 2015
Faculty: Professor Barbara Kellerman
Schedule of Classes: Tuesdays and Thursdays; 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM
Classroom: L-382
Class Dates: Thursday, September 3 through Thursday, December 3
Professor Kellerman:
Office Location: Taubman, Center for Public Leadership, #158
Phone: 617-495-7570
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: By appointment.
Faculty Assistant: Catherine Kearns
Office Location: Center for Public Leadership/Hauser Suite, Belfer 117
Phone: 617-495-7573
E-mail: [email protected]
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Course Description:
I divide what I call the “Leadership Industry” into two different categories. The first
is Leadership Studies – which suggests learning about leadership. The second is Leadership
Development – which suggests learning how to lead. This course falls squarely into the
first category, not the second. It is intended to give all students with more than a passing
interest in leadership a fundamental familiarity with the leadership canon. It is presumed
nevertheless that knowing about leadership and followership is not only relevant to the
practice of leadership, but important to the practice of leadership.
The leadership canon is not large. I limit it to texts that have each of these three
characteristics: they are seminal; they are universal; and they are timeless. Mostly they are
the outpourings of great minds. And mostly they are commentaries of some sort on power,
on authority, and on influence.
“Leadership Literacy” travels time: from Lao-tse to Lenin, from Freud to Friedan,
and from Carson to Kramer. Moreover it is based on certain assumptions, for example, that
the liberal arts are important to leadership learning, which is why it incorporates different
disciplinary perspectives including history, philosophy, psychology, political science, and,
importantly, literature. The course further assumes that while the assigned readings are
primarily western in origin, the perspectives they take and the topics they cover are of
consequence wherever in the world there is leadership on the one hand, and followership
on the other. (Elective readings will be selected on the basis of their global representation
and orientation.)
The course requires reading, writing, and rhetoric, all intended to inspire critical
thinking. To cover the requisite ground we will spend short periods of time with a wide
range of different writers and orators. Approximately the first half of the course is devoted
to readings from Lao Tsu to Lenin; approximately the second half of the course is devoted
to 20th century ideologues and intellects, from Freud to Friedan and beyond.
Our collective concern is primarily but not exclusively with leadership in the public
realm. Our reach will be long, our scope wide, and, it is anticipated, our grasp firm.
Throughout the course we will be posing either explicitly or implicitly four key questions.
1) Why has this particular piece of the leadership literature stood the test of time? 2) What
does this particular writer assume about the nature of the human condition? 3) How have
our ideas about leadership and followership evolved over time? 4) What would the
leadership system look like if these leading lights, these intellectual leaders, had their way
with the world?
Finally, a personal note: I developed this course so that students at HKS and beyond
could obtain a leadership education that is more expansive. It is focused not just on leaders,
or even on leaders and followers. It is grounded instead in what I now call the leadership
system. This system has three parts, each of which is equally important to the other two:
leaders, followers, and contexts. Thus the two assumptions underlying this course. First,
that what 21st century leaders need to know includes not only self-knowledge, but
knowledge about the different players (especially followers), and about the contexts within
which leaders and followers are situated. Second, that what 21st century leaders need to
know includes a leadership literature that grapples with the nature of the human condition.
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Course Format:
I like a lively classroom - so most of our classes will be a mix. First there will be content
delivered informally by me. And second there will be collective, inclusive conversations, to
be led by small groups of students. The expectation is that students will learn from me,
from the course materials, and from each other.
No rote memorization is required – critical thinking is. This should not present a problem,
for if you dig into the great leadership literature, which is exactly what you are expected to
do, you will inevitably think hard about patterns of dominance and deference as evidenced
over hundreds of years of history.
Course Policies and Procedures:
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The use of any devices during class is strictly prohibited. Exceptions to this rule
will be granted only under exceptional circumstances. (As the late, great David Carr
said to his students, “If you ignore me, I will ignore you. It won’t go well.”)
In the event that you must come late to class, or leave class early, please advise me
in advance.
In the event that you are absent more than twice during the term, please explain
your situation to me.
Bring the readings for each session with you to class. These readings constitute the
core of our considerations and conversations. Skip or skim them at your peril.
There will be no “cold calls.” Your participation in the discussion is simply
expected.
The syllabus that follows is essentially final. However it is not engraved in stone. It
is expected to be slightly expanded and amended.
Two films will be shown during the term, in the evening, along with pizza and
drinks. In the event that you are unable to join us after dark, be certain to see the
films on your own (they are on reserve in the HKS Library), in time for class
discussion the following day.
All announcements will be made in class and also posted online, as will all course
handouts and other relevant information.
Feel free to contact me at any time with questions or comments. I can always be
reached by e mail and, or, we can set up a time to meet.
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Course Requirements:
Requirement #1: That you write and submit to me three papers. The first paper is
due on Tuesday, September 29. The second paper is due on Tuesday, October 27.
And, the third paper is due on Tuesday, December 1.
The first two papers should be between five and seven pages in length (typed,
double-spaced), and focus on one or more of the assigned readings, and/or the class
discussions, and/or the films. The third and last paper is due on Tuesday, December 1.
It should be between eight and ten pages in length, and identify a different piece of
leadership literature altogether, outside the confines of the classroom, one that can, if you
are inclined, expand the conventional notion of what constitutes leadership “literature.”
This final paper should point to work that was itself an act of leadership – that is, it had a
demonstrable impact - and proceed then to discuss how and why. Together, the three
papers, totaling no fewer than eighteen pages, will comprise the body of writing required
for this course. A handout will be made available to provide further paper parameters. All
three papers should be submitted to me - one hard copy will suffice - on the dates indicated.
And all three papers are expected to include either a brief bibliography and/or a list of
endnotes.
Finally, please note that you are expected to abide by the University policies on
academic honesty and integrity as provided in the Student Handbook. See the Student
Handbook for all pertinent information.
Requirement # 2: That you actively participate in a small group charged with
creatively and instructively leading one half of one class.
Requirement # 3: That you routinely participate in class – at least as much as class
format and size will allow. Some students may also want to make a brief in-class
presentation, a request that I will try to accommodate.
Course Grading:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of:
1)
2)
the effectiveness of their oral participation
the excellence of their written submissions
Grades will be determined in approximate accord with the following percentages:
Participation: 40 %
Papers:
60 % (first paper 20%; second paper 20%, third paper 20%)
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Course Readings:
The following books are recommended but not required for purchase. If you choose to buy
one, make it Leadership: Essential Selections. (Many of our readings will be from this
book.) Each of the following books is available at the Harvard COOP.
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Barbara Kellerman, ed. Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and
Influence (McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Barbara Kellerman, Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and
Changing Leaders (Harvard Business School Press, 2008)
Barbara Kellerman, Hard Times: Leadership in America (Stanford University Press,
2014)
The following three books are also available for purchase at the Harvard COOP. I
recommend that if you do not already own The Prince, you consider buying the
edition below for your leadership library.
o Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (University Of Chicago Press, 1998).
Online: http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm
o Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto (Norton, 1998).
Online: http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html
o William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Thomson Learning, 1998).
Online: http://pd.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/
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All readings are also on-line, and/or on in the HKS Library, and/or available on
CANVAS.
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In some cases, for your convenience, links are provided on the syllabus. In other cases
it is assumed that you will locate the readings yourselves, from one of the abovereferenced sources.
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The instruction “Read any Introduction” indicates that you are expected, on your own,
to read at least one additional, easily available, commentary.
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WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3: LINCOLN and TRUTH
THE LEADERSHIP SYSEM – THE LEADERSHIP LITERATURE
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Barbara Kellerman. Followership, pp. xv-74.
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Barbara Kellerman, Hard Times, pp.1-35.
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Barbara Kellerman, Introduction to Leadership, pp. 1-16.
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Abraham Lincoln and Sojourner Truth in Leadership, pp. 214-223.
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Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address”
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm(CANVAS)
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Abraham Lincoln, “The Second Inaugural Address”
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html (CANVAS)
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Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t_I_a_Woman%3F (CANVAS)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8: LAO-TSU
THE SAGE AS LEADER – A VIEW FROM THE EAST
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Lao Tsu in Leadership, pp. 2-8.
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Lao Tsu chapters, 18, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31, 37, 48, 51, 57, 58, 81, 66, 68, 69,
76, and 77. (HKS LIBRARY RESERVE DESK)
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Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, Eds., Lao-tsu and the Tao Te Ching
pp. 1-10. (CANVAS)
The Philosophers’ Mail, “The Great Eastern Philosophers, Lao Tsu”
http://thephilosophersmail.com/perspective/the-great-eastern-philosopherslao-tzu/ (CANVAS)
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10: CONFUCIUS and PLATO
GREAT MINDS – ON LEARNING LEADERSHIP
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Confucius and Plato in Leadership, pp. 8-28.
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Plato, The Republic – Read any Introduction.
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Simon Leys, Introduction, The Analects of Confucius, pgs. xv-xxxii.
(CANVAS)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15: MACHIAVELLI
HOW MACHIAVELLIAN IS MACHIAVELLI?
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Nicolo Machiavelli in Leadership, pp. 34-41.
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Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Harvey Mansfield’s Introduction, pgs. viixxiv. (CANVAS)
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Additionally Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince :
XIV: “What a Prince Should Do Regarding the Military.”
XV: “Of Those Things for Which Men And Especially Princes…,”
XVI: “Of Liberality and Parsimony.”
XVII: “Of Cruelty and Mercy…”
XVIII: “In What Mode Faith Should Be Kept by Princes.”
XIX: “Of Avoiding Contempt and Hatred.”
XX: “Whether Fortresses and Many Other Things Are Made…”
XXI: “What a Prince Should Do to Be Held in Esteem.”
XXII: “Of Those Whom Princes Have as Secretaries.”
XXIII: “In What Mode Flatterers Are to Be Avoided.”
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17: HOBBES, LOCKE, and MILL
SEMINAL SHIFT – FROM LEADERS TO FOLLOWERS
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Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and John Stuart Mill in LEADERSHIP, pp. 4256 and 66-73.
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Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan - Read any Introduction.
John Locke, The Second Treatise of Government - Read any Introduction.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty –Read any Introduction.
George Kateb, “Hobbes and the Irrationality of Politics,” Political Theory,
17 (Sage Publications, 1989); pp. 383-388, 391. (CANVAS)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22: PAINE and HAMILTON
WORDS MATTER – REVOLUTION!
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Thomas Paine in Leadership, pp. 124-132.
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Thomas Paine, Common Sense. – Read somewhat additional online:
http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/ (CANVAS)
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Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers, # 69 and 70 – Read somewhat additional
online. http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/ (CANVAS)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24: CARLYLE, SPENCER, JAMES, and TOLSTOY
THE HERO IN HISTORY – THE MAN (YES, MAN) AND THE MOMENT
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Thomas Carlyle, Herbert Spencer, William James and Leo Tolstoy in Leadership,
pp.56-66.
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Woodrow Wilson, “Leaders of Men” in Barbara Kellerman, ed., Political Leadership:
A Source Book (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1986), pp. 428-437. (CANVAS)
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29: MARX and ENGELS
ASSIGNMENT DUE – PAPER #1
POWER TO THE PEOPLE – REVOLUTION!
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Required: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Leadership, pp. 139-147.
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Introduction to The Communist Manifesto by Eric Hobsbawn (Norton, 1998)
(CANVAS)
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Recommended: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm
(CANVAS)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1: FOLLOWERSHIP
THE INEVITABLE, THOUGH WIDELY IGNORED, COUNTERPART
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Barbara Kellerman, Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and
Changing Leaders (Harvard Business School Press, 2008), pp: xv – xxii.,
3-23, 75-93 (CANVAS)
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Stanley Milgram in Kellerman, Leadership, pp. 105-110.
familiarize yourself with Milgram’s famous/infamous experiment on
“Obedience to Authority” on line. (CANVAS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVlI-_4GZQ and passim.
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6: SELECTION FROM OTHER THAN THE WESTERN CANON
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TBD – Students requested to make their own selection and then very briefly
report on the selection in class.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7: FILM, EVENING SESSION, 6 TO 8 PM
“Julius Caesar” (1953)
Directed by Joesph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Marlon Brando, John Gielgud, and
James Mason
Location: TBA
To quell you hunger, pizza; to quench your thirst, drinks.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8: SHAKESPEARE, “JULIUS CAESAR” (Text/Film)
THE BARD ON LEADERSHIP and FOLLOWERSHIP –
and ON POWER, AUTHORITY, and INFLUENCE
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Harvard COOP: William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Thomson Learning,
1998).
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Online: http://pd.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/juliuscaesar/ (CANVAS)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13: WOLLSTONECRAFT and STANTON
FOLLOWERS INTO LEADERS - WOMEN START SPEAKING UP
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Mary Wollstonecraft and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in LEADERSHIP, pp. 118124 and 132-139.
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Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Read any
Introduction.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Declaration of Sentiments” - Read any
Introduction.
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Ellen Carol DuBois, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony:
Correspondence, Writings, Speeches (Shocken, 1981); pp. 2-22.
(CANVAS)
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15: DUBOIS, KING and OBAMA
HARD TIMES: LEADERSHIP IN AMERICA – ON THE MATTER OF RACE
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Dubois and King in Leadership, pp. 148-152 and 518-529.
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W.E.B DuBois, “The Talented Tenth,” in The Negro Problem
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=174
(CANVAS)
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Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” in S. Jonathan Bass,
Blessed are the Peacemakers (Louisiana State University Press, 2001).
http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html (CANVAS)
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Manning Marable, Black Leadership: Four Great American Leaders and the
Struggle for Civil Rights (Columbia University Press, 1998); pp. 41-58.
(CANVAS)
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Barack Obama, Eulogy for Reverend Clementia Pinckney
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/26/remarks-presidenteulogy-honorable-reverend-clementa-pinckney (CANVAS)
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Michiko Kakutani, “A Eulogy that Found It’s Place in History,” New York
Times, July 4, 20015.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/arts/obamas-eulogy-which-found-itsplace-in-history.html?_r=0 (CANVAS)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20: LENIN
REVOLUTIONARY LEADERSHIP – and FOLLOWERSHIP
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V. I. Lenin in Leadership, pp. 224-232.
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V.I. Lenin, What is to be Done?
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/iv.htm
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Stephane Courtois et al, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror,
Repression (Harvard University Press, 1999), 1-31. (CANVAS)
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Conversation about Communism – Prepare to discuss.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22: FREUD
DOMINANCE AND DEFERENCE – PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE
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Sigmund Freud in Leadership, pp. 81-89.
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Sigmund Freud: You are expected to familiarize yourself with the central
argument of these two books by Freud:
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Civilization and its Discontents, Moses and Monotheism.,
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Bruce Mazlish, The Leader, the Lead, and the Psyche (Wesleyan University
Press, 1990), pp. 249-358. (HKS LIBRARY RESERVE DESK)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27: FOLLETT and BURNS
ASSIGNMENT DUE – PAPER #2
LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS IN TANDEM – IN THE U.S.
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Mary Parker Follett and James MacGregor Burns in Leadership, pp. 91-104:
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Pauline Graham, ed., Mary Parker Follett—Prophet of Management (Harvard
Business School Press, 1995), pp. xiii-xix, 1-9. (CANVAS)
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James MacGregor Burns, Leadership (Harper & Row, 1978), pp. 422-443.
(CANVAS)
Barbara Kellerman, Hard Times: Leadership in America, pp. 13-35 and 257282.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29: PAUSING ON PAPERS
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3: HITLER and ARENDT
EVIL LEADERSHIP/EVIL FOLLOWERSHIP
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Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf (Houghton Mifflin, 1971), pp. ix-xxii, 300-329, 579595. (CANVAS)
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Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism: Part Three of the Origins of
Totalitarianism (Harcourt Brace, 1951), 71-73, 102-110.
http://www.archive.org/details/originsoftotalit00aren (CANVAS)
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Hannah Arendt (Eichmann in Jerusalem) in Leadership, pp. 104-116.
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Also review Milgram reading in Leadership.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4: FILM, EVENING SESSION, 6 TO 8 PM
“Triumph of the Will” (1934)
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Starring: Hitler and his henchmen.
Location: TBA
Pizza and drinks - again available
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5: REFLECTIONS ON RIEFENSTAHL
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Susan Sontag, “Fascinating Facism” in Under the Sign of Saturn
(Doubleday, 1991), pp. 73-105.
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/33dTexts/SontagF
ascinFascism75.htm (CANVAS)
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Steven Bach, Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl (Knopf, 2007),
pp. 123-140. (CANVAS)
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10: ROOSEVELT and CHURCHILL
GREAT MEN MAKE A GREAT DIFFERENCE
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B.D. Zevin, ed., Nothing to Fear: The Selected Addresses of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt (Houghton-Mifflin, 1946); pp. 258-267, 301-312. (HKS LIBRARY
RESERVE DESK)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt online:
“Four Freedoms” Speech: (CANVAS)
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3320
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War Message to Congress (CANVAS)
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3324
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Fireside Chat: On the War with Japan (CANVAS)
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3325
Winston Churchill in Leadership, pp. 244-253 – and online:
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“Adamant for Drift”
http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/Locusts.html (CANVAS)
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The Annexation of Austria:
http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/Austria.html (CANVAS)
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The Threat to Czechoslovakia
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winstonchurchill/112-the-danube-basin (CANVAS)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12: FANON, QUTB, and FRIERE
ANGER AS EXPLICATOR
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Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth in Leadership, pp. 153-159.
Sayyid Qutb, Milestones (HKS LIBRARY RESERVE DESK)
Paolo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Continuum, 1970 and 1993),
Foreword by Richard Shaull, pp. 29-34 and 43-69. (CANVAS)
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17: GANDHI and MANDELA
NONVIOLENCE AND…SHIFTING FROM NONVOILENCE TO VIOLENCE
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Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in Leadership, pp. 233-243.
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M.K. Gandhi, “Satyagraha” in Leadership, pp. 233-243.
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Nelson Mandela, “I am Prepared to Die.”
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mandela/mandelaspeech.html
(CANVAS)
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Nelson Mandela, “Address to the People of Cape Town, Grand Parade, On
the Occasions of his Inauguration as State President”, Cape Town, 9 May
1994.
http://historicalspeeches.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/nelson-mandelaaddress-to-the-people-of-cape-town-grand-parade-on-the-occasion-of-hisinauguration-as-state-president/ (CANVAS)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19: FRIEDAN and CARSON
THE 1960S – TWO WOMEN
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Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique in Leadership, pp. 167-171.
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Chapter 1 online: http://www.h-net.org/~hst203/documents/friedan1.html
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Chapter 5 online:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/friedan.htm
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Rachel Carson. The Silent Spring in Leadership, pp. 159-167.
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Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), pp. x-xix, 15-61,
357-363. (CANVAS)
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24: ALINSKY and SINGER
THE 1970S - HUMAN RIGHTS/ ANIMAL RIGHTS
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Saul Alinsky in Leadership, pp. 172-180.
Peter Singer in Leadership, pp. 180-191.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1: KRAMER
ASSIGNMENT DUE – PAPER #3
THE 1980S – GAY RIGHTS
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Larry Kramer in Leadership, pp. 191-203.
 Larry Kramer. Reports from the Holocaust: The Making of an AIDS Activist
In order to get a further feel for his prose, read several selections from Kramer’s
writings (Copy available at the RESERVE DESK)
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Michael Specter, “Public Nuisance,” in New Yorker (May 13, 2002).
(CANVAS)
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Barbara Kellerman, A Blog in Four Parts, “Larry Kramer Leader,” July
2015, at barbarakellerman.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3: ORWELL
LEADERSHIP SYSTEM – LEADERS, FOLLOWERS, CONTEXT
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George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”
Online: http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays/shooting-an-elephant.htm
(CANVAS)