Authority Dynamics in Leadership

Catalog description

With discussions of authority comes conversations about trust, trustworthiness and power. How do we define these words, "trust", "authority" and "power"? What connotation do we assign to these words and why? What does it mean to be trustworthy? What do authority figures have to do to show up as trustworthy? How do we define power - is it "good" or "bad"? How do authority figures and organizations use power to build capacity? Is power necessary to be effective in "the work" and make progress at an organization? How is power gained, maintained and distributed? Each of us holds deep feelings about authority figures, trust and power, and this will be explored in this course. How do our deeply rooted feelings hold us back and impact how we show up in vulnerable spaces and times of stress and struggle? How do we get a grip on our emotions and gain an understanding of what fuels us so that we may position our power compassionately and responsibly?