Fall Courses
Personal Leadership I: Know Thyself – Fall 2024
This course builds upon the wisdom of the three Delphic maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo: “know thyself,” “nothing in excess,” and “certainty brings ruin.” It combines classical models of leadership with modern management practices. Its anchor, however, remains the medium of tragedy, the realm of truth and self-discovery par excellence. Some of the texts studied are Sophocles’s Oedipus the King, Aeschylus’s Eumenides, Donald Cowan’s and Louise Cowan’s Classic Texts and the Nature of Authority, and Max De Pree’s Leadership Is an Art. The lyric voice will also feature prominently, as the “star to every wand’ring bark,” as Shakespeare writes in Sonnet 116.
This course encourages self-reflection about such topics as leadership style and bringing the best in those whom one serves. It seeks to reveal the contours of leadership (rather than details) so as to engender an understanding of leadership as an art in the sense of the ancient Greek word techne. It does not focus on operationalizing one’s vision in a school. This course contains synchronous elements and requires a personal mentor.
Required texts: Max De Pree’s Leadership Is an Art.
Recommended texts: Sophocles’s Oedipus the King and Aeschylus’s The Eumenides. Links to free, online versions will be provided in the course.
Lives of Leaders: Thomas More – September 2-29, 2024
This course serves as an introduction to the life and leadership of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), Chancellor of England and a pillar of the Western intellectual tradition. Drawing from a selection of works written by More and about him, we will examine the variety of ways in which More responded to the contingencies of his day, as well as the virtues he cultivated which made such responses possible. Particular emphasis will be given to More’s characteristic combination of sobriety and good humor, his concern for the danger of pride, his diligent regard for his fellow citizens, and his dynamic approach to the moral life.
This is the first in a series of courses on the lives of leaders from history. Our next course in the series will be on Martin Luther King, Jr.
Required text: A Thomas More Source Book
Facilitator: Dr. Nicolas McAfee, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Center for Thomas More Studies. His research centers on the politics of William Shakespeare and Thomas More, and he is the author of Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare: A Way Out of the Wreck (Lexington, 2024).
Hiring for Mission Fit – Fall 2025
This course will highlight one of the critical building blocks of a virtuous faculty culture – hiring for mission fit. In a school with a focus on virtue ethics, the teachers serve as models to the students, as a type of character friend who will always carry the best interests and moral growth of the students firmly in their hearts. Beginning with a section on identifying “first who,” the course will then explore several components in the process of hiring for mission fit, including recruiting, screening, interviewing, and onboarding. This course contains synchronous elements. Please be prepared to attend one group meeting a week.
This course requires a campus mentor who is a part of the campus hiring team.
Required texts: Patrick Lencioni’s The Ideal Team Player and Geoff Smart’s and Randy Street’s WHO.