Case Western Reserve University

MOOC
Women in Leadership: Inspiring Positive Change

Professor Diana Bilimoria

KeyBank Professor and Chair of Organizational Behavior
Weatherhead School of Management
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
diana.bilimoria@case.edu
http://faculty.weatherhead.case.edu/bilimoria/

Course Objective:
To inspire, empower and equip women and men to understand the dynamics surrounding women
in leadership, learn to effectively apply leadership skills as a woman and/or a manager of
women, build a purposeful plan for career development, and take on leadership for important
causes and reasons with more conviction and confidence.

Course Description:
This course aims to inspire and empower women and men across the world to engage in
purposeful career development and take on leadership for important causes—to lead change with
more conviction and confidence—and improve our workplaces and communities for all. By
offering more complex understandings of issues related to professional women and work, the
course will help you increase self-knowledge about your own values and vision, as well as
enhance your capabilities as a leader, manager, and team contributor. We will examine the
opportunities, challenges, trade-offs, and organizational dynamics experienced by women in
work organizations, as well as reflect on and practice effective individual behaviors.

The course aims at answering questions such as: What are the valued attributes and behaviors of
women in the workplace? How does the gendered nature of organizations impact women? What
derails our career advancement and what propels us upward? What are your leadership goals
and aspirations? How can you best integrate your multiple family and work life commitments?
How do you define career success? What can organizations do to provide women with
opportunities to excel? What opportunities could our global economy harness by advancing
women to leadership? How can the full talents of the workforce be tapped into and developed?

Learning Goals:
(1) Enhance understanding of yourself and your leadership identity.
(2) Gain a deep understanding of the dynamics and experiences of women in organizations,
as well as of the interpersonal, organizational, and societal structures and processes
impacting women in organizations.
(3) Identify and enhance effective leadership practices for yourself and for women in your
organization.

 
 (4) Define your vision of career success and work-life balance, identify necessary resources
and networks, and create a plan of action to accomplish your goals.

Course Outline

Week 1: Yourself as a Leader—Developing your Leadership Identity

A. Welcome to the Course and Women’s Strengths in Leadership

• Key Questions:
§ What are the benefits to society from having more women leaders?
§ What are your unique strengths for leadership?
• Video 1A: Our Organizations Need Women Leaders!
• Required Reading:
§ Barsh, Joanna, Susie Cranston & Rebecca A. Craske. Centered
Leadership: How Talented Women Thrive. The McKinsey Quarterly,
2008, 4: 35-48
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/centered
_leadership_how_talented_women_thrive
• Assignment: Complete the following “Best Self Exercise”. Conduct about 4-5
interviews with significant people in your life and ask them to provide examples
that describe your best self. Ask each interviewee to describe your characteristics
and behaviors when you were at your best. What strengths and advantages did
you offer in the examples they mentioned? What about you inspired the
interviewee or others? How did you bring out the best from other individuals and
institutions? In 200 or more words, write a reflection about what you learned
about your strengths and unique capabilities from these interviews.

B. Leadership Values and Vision

• Key Questions:
§ What is inspiring leadership?
§ What is your leadership identity in terms of your values and vision for the
future?
• Video 1B: Leadership Vision
• Required Readings:
§ Bilimoria, Diana. 2012. Inclusive Leadership: Effectively Leading Diverse
Teams, Leadership Excellence, 13.
§ Bilimoria, Diana & Godwin. Lindsey (2005). Engaging People’s Passion:
Leadership for the New Century. In Ronald R. Sims & Scott A. Quatro
(Eds.) Leadership: Succeeding in the Private, Public, and Not-for-Profit
Sectors, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., Chapter 14, pp. 260-279.
• Optional Reading:
§ Buse, Kathleen & Bilimoria Diana. 2014. Personal Vision: Enhancing
Work Engagement and the Retention of Women in the Engineering
Profession, Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1-13.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01400

 
 • Assignment: Complete the “Identify Your Values Exercise” provided in the
PowerPoint slides for this week, as well as the following “Personal Leadership
Vision Exercise”. Write a 200 or more word reflection on your values and
leadership vision for the future.
§ Personal Leadership Vision Exercise: Fill in the blanks to begin the
process of developing your personal leadership vision.
• The area in which I want my leadership to best contribute is …
• The core purpose of my leadership is …
• My leadership serves …
• The leader I want to be is a person who is …
• Through my leadership, we will …
• My leadership will be recognized for …

Week 2: The Current State of Women’s Leadership at the Top

A. Women’s Leadership at the Top

• Key Questions:
§ Is there still a glass ceiling?
§ What are the numbers/proportions of women in senior leadership in your
organization, industry and country?
• Video 2A: The global context of women in senior leadership positions in
organizations
• Required Readings:
§ Catalyst. Quick Take: Statistical Overview of Women in the Workplace.
New York: Catalyst, March 3, 2014.
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/statistical-overview-women-workplace
• Assignment: Complete the “Global Context of Women at the Top Exercise”.
For this assignment, please research the answers to the following questions using
Internet sources (e.g., Catalyst.org) and potentially speaking with leaders in your
organization:
1. What is the representation of women at the top of your organization,
industry and country?
2. In which industries are women well represented in your country and in
which industries are they not well represented?
Summarize your answers and reflections on these questions in 100 or more words.

B. Why So Few? Why So Slow? Advancement Barriers and Challenges for Women
• Key Questions:
§ What are the organizational, interpersonal, and individual barriers to
women’s advancement?
§ What are the barriers and challenges you’ve faced in your career and how
have you overcome them?
§ What lessons can we draw from what others have experienced?

 
 • Video 2B: Why So Few, Why So Slow?
• Required Readings:
§ Silva, Christine, Carter, Nancy M. & Beninger Anna. 2012. Good
Intentions, Imperfect Execution: Women Get Fewer of the “Hot Jobs”
Needed to Advance, Catalyst.org. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/good-
intentions-imperfect-execution-women-get-fewer-hot-jobs-needed-advance
§ Buse, Kathleen & Bilimoria, Diana. (2013). Women Who Persist, Society
for Women Engineers (SWE) Magazine, Fall: 45-51.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/swe/fall13/index.php#/48
§ Catalyst, Inc. 2007. The Double-Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership:
Dammed If You Do, Doomed If You Don’t,
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/double-bind-dilemma-women-
leadership-damned-if-you-do-doomed-if-you-dont-0
• Optional Reading:
§ Davis, Kathleen. The One Word Men Never See In Their Performance
Reviews, Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/3034895/strong-
female-lead/the-one-word-men-never-see-in-their-performance-reviews
§ Giscombe, Katherine. Navigating Organizational Cultures: A Guide for
Diverse Women and Their Managers, 2011.
http://www.catalyst.org/system/files/navigating_organizational_cultures.pdf
• Assignment: Complete the “Connect with the Experience of Others Exercise”. For
this assignment, interview a senior woman in your organization, industry or country
to hear her story of the challenges she faced and how she overcame those to become
successful. Summarize your learnings from this interview in a 200 or more word
executive briefing report.

Week 3: Women’s Leadership Presence

A. Self-Confidence
• Key Questions:
§ Is there a gender confidence gap?
§ What is leadership presence for women?
§ How can women develop self-confidence?
• Video 3A: Acting with self-confidence
• Required Readings:
§ Kay, Katty & Shipman, Claire. 2014. The Confidence Gap, The Atlantic,
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/04/the-confidence-
gap/359815/
• Assignment: Complete the “Self-Confidence Assessment” available at:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_84.htm. Write a 200 or more
word reflection about the insights you gained about your own self-confidence
from taking this self-assessment.

B. Navigating Organizational Politics and Gaining Influence in Organizations

• Key Question:

 
 § What are the unwritten rules of career advancement?
§ How can women learn to better navigate organizational politics?
• Video 3B: Navigating Organizational Politics
• Reading:
§ Sabattini, Laura & Sarah Dinolfo. Unwritten Rules: Why Doing a Good
Job May Not Be Enough, 2010.
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/unwritten-rules-why-doing-good-job-
might-not-be-enough-europe-0
§ Carter, Nancy M. & Christine Silva. The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does
Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead? 2011.
http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/myth-ideal-worker-does-doing-all-
right-things-really-get-women-ahead
• Assignment:
§ Complete the following “Power Map Exercise”. For this assignment, think
about a team or organization that you would like to join or influence. Place
the names of the members of that team, or perhaps the major departments
if an entire organization, on a piece of paper in a way that represents to
you how they are related to each other. For example, those who seem to
have the most influence or the most connections with others on the team
or in the organization may make sense to be placed in the center of your
map. Now, take a marker and draw a green circle, yellow circle, or red
circle next to their name depending on how you perceive their relationship
to you. Green means that they are an advocate who could increase your
influence or potential to join, yellow circle means they are neutral, red
circle means they may lessen your influence or potential to join. In 200 or
more words, write a reflection on how you may be able to join or increase
your influence and relational capital on this team, particularly how you
may gain support from those who have yellow circles next to their name.

Week 4: Leadership Tools for Women

A. Negotiating Effectively
• Key Questions:
§ Do women negotiate less?
§ What is the gender pay gap?
§ How should women negotiate?
§ How can you improve your negotiation skills?
• Video 4: Developing Win-Win Negotiation Skills
• Required Reading:
§ Bernard, Tara Siegel. May 24, 2010. A Toolkit for Women Seeking a
Raise. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/your-
money/15money.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
§ Konnikova,  Maria.  Lean  Out:  The  Dangers  for  Women  Who  Negotiate,  
The  New  York  Times,  10  June  2010.    

 
 http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-­‐konnikova/lean-­‐out-­‐the-­‐
dangers-­‐for-­‐women-­‐who-­‐negotiate  
• Optional Reading:
§ AAUW, Spring 2015. The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap.
http://www.aauw.org/files/2015/02/The-Simple-Truth_Spring-2015.pdf
• Assignment: Complete the following “Negotiation Practice Exercise”.
Identify an opportunity to practice negotiating. You may choose to role play with
a friend on a real negotiation you are anticipating at work, or it could be real life
negotiation but one in which you would feel safe experimenting, such as
negotiating price at a local market or garage sale. First think through the interest
based negotiation questions and tips provided in the video lecture and write down
your answers. Then, use the BATNA (Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement)
questions and tips in the video lecture, and write down what your BATNA looks
like. Once you are prepared, practice negotiating either in your role play or real
life experiment. Write a 200 or more word reflection on this experience on what
you felt you did well and what you plan to improve on in the future. If you role
played, make sure to get some feedback from your partner.

Week 5: Purposeful Career Development for Women

A. Defining Your Success and Finding Work-Life Integration

• Key Questions:
§ What does success look like for you?
§ How can work-life integration be achieved?
• Video 5: There is No Single Trajectory for a Fulfilling Career
• Required Readings:
§ Groysberg, Boris and Robin Abrahams. Manage Your Work, Manage
Your Life. Harvard Business Review, March 2014, 2-10.
https://hbr.org/2014/03/manage-your-work-manage-your-life/ar/1
• Optional Reading:
§ O’Neil, Deborah A., Hopkins, Margaret M. & Bilimoria, Diana.
(2013). Sprint, Marathon, Relay: Women Running the Career Race
over Time. In Ronald Burke, Susan Vinnicombe, Lynda Moore, &
Stacey Blake Beard (Eds), Handbook of Research on Promoting
Women’s Careers, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishers, pp.
87-105.
• Assignment: Complete the “Current and Ideal Life Exercise” and the
“Defining Own Success Exercise” described below. Write a reflection of 200
or more words describing your insights from these two exercises.
§ Current and Ideal Life Exercise: Draw a circle and divide it into
segments (like a pie-chart) that represent the proportion of time you
spend currently on various life roles such as work, family (children,
spouse/partner, parents), friends, self, community, etc. Now draw
another circle and divide it into the proportion of time you would like
to spend on these same life roles in your ideal life. How does your

 
 current life pie chart compare with your ideal life pie chart? What
learnings can you transfer from one role to others?
§ Defining Own Success Exercise: Fill in the blanks:
• To me, success mean …
• To achieve this success, I need to …
• When I am successful, I will be able to …

Thank you for taking this course and best wishes for inspiring positive change through your
leadership and contributions to others!

 
 Final Assignment : Praxis Paper
The word praxis means “practical application or exercise of a branch of learning.” It comes from
a Latin word meaning “to do,” or “to take action.” The final paper for this course is termed a
praxis paper because it is specifically designed to help you translate and integrate the course
constructs into your personal development agenda. This is a reflective paper that will give you
the opportunity to understand and apply these leadership concepts to your own life and to create
a plan for your continued development. In this paper, you will bring together your understanding
of course concepts, the results of prior assignments, and further reflections on what you want to
learn over the next era of your life.
Grading criteria can be found in the assignment guidelines below to inform both your writing of
the final paper, and the peer review you will are required to conduct in order to receive your
certificate of completion for the course. Although you may choose to use a question and answer
format, a cohesive narrative will likely be more enjoyable for your peer grader to read and more
likely for you to come back to reading in the future.
***
Final Paper Assignment Guidelines:
Note: All assignments must be submitted in English.
Answer each of the following sections separately when submitting your report.
PART I (25 points total): Applying Key Concepts and Takeaways
1. List 5 key concepts that were valuable to you from the course videos and readings (2
points per concept, 10 points total for this response)
2. List 5 key takeaways from the assignments you completed (2 points per concept, 10
points total for this response)
3. Provide 1 example in which you apply the course concepts and assignment takeaways to
your experience (5 points total for this response)
PART II (30 points total): Your Leadership Vision
4. What are the 5 most important values to you as a leader? (2 points per value, 10 points
total for this response)
5. Summarize your leadership vision in approximately 5 sentences (Use the general guide of
2 points per sentence, 10 points total for this response)
6. Describe the legacy you hope to leave behind for future generations in your organization,
community, or any other meaningful group you are part of in approximately 5 sentences
(Use general guide of 2 points per sentence, 10 points total for this response)

PART III (40 points total): Your Development Agenda

7. List your top 5 current core strengths? (2 points per current strength, 10 points total for
this response)

 
 8. List the top 5 new competencies/skills that you must enhance or develop to achieve your
vision and legacy? (2 points per new competency/skill, 10 points total for this response)
9. List 3 new knowledge areas you need to gain to achieve your vision and legacy? (2 points
per new knowledge area, 6 points total for this response)
10. List 3 opportunities and resources will you need to find/create in order to gain these
strengths, knowledge, and skills? (2 points per opportunity/resource, 6 points total for this
response)
11. List 4 persons who can help you to find these opportunities. You do not need to provide
actual names, just an understanding of their role and why they would be helpful. (2 points
per persons/roles, 8 points total for this response)
OVERALL QUALITY (5 points)
12. Is your paper easy to read? (3 points total)
a. Written clearly and concisely? (1 point)
b. Well-organized so that it is easy to find the answer to each question? (1 point)
c. Well-written with minimal typos, spelling errors, grammatical issues? (1 point)
13. Is your paper enjoyable to read? (2 points total)
a. Have you used some creativity in how you presented your paper by including
interesting quotes or other enhancements to make your writing engaging (1
point)?
b. Have you provided a cohesive story across your answers to the questions in the
assignment (1 point)