Leadership Article

ESD Reports Winter 2005

The Fine Art of Leadership at TPP

By Lois Slavin, ESD Communications Director

From a high ropes course on Thompson Island to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to the deepest parts of their hearts, minds, and souls, Professor Dava Newman’s ESD 801 Leadership Development course provides opportunities for students to evolve into engineers, scientists, and humanists who can lead technological development by implementing responsible policies for the benefit of humankind.

In ESD 801, students in ESD's Technology and Policy Program (TPP) work in a seminar environment to develop leadership capabilities, beginning with an Outward Bound experience that builds trust, teamwork and communication skills. Readings, lectures and assignments emphasize the characteristics of great leadership, and global leaders visit MIT to participate in a "Leadership Lunch" series and share their experiences and recommendations with students.

Newman, TPP’s director, is an engineer who is renowned for her leadership in cutting edge research to assess human performance across the spectrum of gravity from 1G to microgravity. This includes, for example, her BioSuit System for space exploration, an experiment for the International Space Station, and investigating flexibility in space systems.

Her Leadership Development course has five learning objectives:

1. Contemplating essential questions for leadership.
2. Defining qualities of a leader.
3. Researching personal characteristics.
4. Providing global examples of leadership.
5. Formulating a TPP leadership plan for each individual participant.

Last fall’s course began with a high ropes/Outward Bound workshop at Thompson Island, during which students worked on a variety of physical and mental challenges that could only be accomplished in teams. This enabled each individual to see how they interacted with others, to examine their own leadership styles, and determine how they could improve.

Third from right – Professor Dava Newman, Director of TPP, at Outward Bound with her students
TPP students learning to support each other	Professor Newman demonstrates risk taking
Photos by Yoko Urano, TPP staff

“The Outward Bound experience reinforced the most important lesson I learned in the course – that leadership is about knowing when to step back and ask others for help, and putting the greater goal first, not one’s own agenda or ego,” says TPP ‘06 student Meghan Sweeney.

Students then visited the Museum of Fine Arts to contemplate essential questions for leaders. They viewed Gauguin's masterpiece, "Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going?", discussed the questions raised in the painting's title in conjunction with lessons learned at Outward Bound, and used their findings to formulate individual leadership development plans. Their learnings were supplemented by visiting web pages of National Public Radio’s WBUR-FM that contained information on a segment of a radio program dealing with Gauguin’s life and art.

But that’s not all. Prof. Newman’s students also studied a range of writings on leadership, such as Norm Augustine’s 12 qualities of a leader. Among other characteristics, these include vision, selflessness, courage, motivation, listening, integrity and love.

In addition, each student chose a film to watch or a book to read about someone they deemed a great leader, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gandhi, or another leader of their choice, and then wrote a four-page paper discussing the leadership qualities they observed.

Students’ learning culminated in the final course assignment – developing their personal leadership development plan. This experience was aided by films and books, and inspired by thoughts from women leaders ranging from Carla Cico, CEO of Brasil Telecom to actress Goldie Hawn.

Throughout the class, Professor Newman hosted a series of Leadership Lunches to bring experienced leaders into the classroom. Guest speakers included Institute Professor Sheila Widnall, former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania the Honorable Robert Walker, and former MIT President Charles Vest.

David André Broniatowski, TPP ‘06 said, “Before taking ESD 801, I thought that a good leader should be able to lead anyone, regardless of the task at hand or the people to be led – that leadership was an office held by one person until the task was done.”

However that changed when he took the course. “I became more aware of the team aspects of leadership,” David explained. “An ideal team is not hierarchical, with one leader and several followers. Rather, everyone may act as a leader at various points in time, as his/her specific skills allow.”

“The most important learning for me was that leadership is a skill, not necessarily an innate quality,” David continued. “Leadership is not the ability to do everything, but rather the ability to know who is good at what and to work with them to accomplish tasks.”

Raphael Berger, a Fulbright Fellow and TPP ’06 who plans to return to his native France and work in the public sector, said the most important leadership concept for him was one with which he was least familiar – asking a team for assistance.

“There no shame in a leader’s asking for help,” Berger explained, “and it’s effective in establishing bonds among people and creating group spirit."

Sweeney says she’s learned to recognize each person’s unique potential when working in groups, to better delegate responsibilities, and to trust others rather than always trying to take on the heaviest workload herself. “The unity within TPP constantly reminds me that leadership is not about competing with peers, but working together so that everyone can achieve their goals,” she explains.

In creating ESD 801, Newman pondered whether or not it was possible to teach Leadership and convinced herself that it was definitely worth a shot. To do this, she pored over the leadership literature and planned active leadership experiences. Newman is wholly committed to educating leaders who will shape global technological development and policies.

“We are educating students who want to change the world and they are the future leaders,” she explains. As for Newman, her quest to give students exposure to leadership learning and experiences has just begun.