Transdisciplinary Leadership: Leading Healthy Organizations
Program Overview
This program fosters authentic and inclusive leadership/management which promotes trust-building; staff empowerment; positive wellbeing; inclusion; and innovation. Courses will include theories and pragmatic strategies to positively influence: mental health and wellbeing of organizational communities and positive cultures; and promote enhanced staff and organizational capacity for overall success of individuals and teams; and innovative and entrepreneurial responses to manage change and/or crises.
Topics include: understanding inclusion; mental health and wellbeing; organizational culture and its impact on productivity; authentic and values-based leadership and management; and building capacity of staff, leaders, and teams. It also examines current societal concerns regarding respectful and dignified inclusion of different voices (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, gender, religious minorities, persons with exceptionalities, etc.) and how this can influence workplace productivity, cultures, and success.
This program can be considered a standalone program within the laddered MEd Interdisciplinary degree program, but also aligns with the Transdisciplinary Leadership: Strategy & Innovation in Organizations program.
Program Details
Courses in this program are offered fully online. Courses are held in both an asynchronous environment (D2L) and a synchronous (real-time) environment (Zoom) which allows instructors to virtually meet and talk with students and experience a live exchange of ideas, hear class presentations and do group work with access to a whiteboard. For additional information regarding online delivery, refer to the Online Delivery & eLearn website.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- Explore how authentic and inclusionary leadership approaches influence wellbeing, trust, and organizational cultures;
- Critically examine policies and practices related to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion;
- Identify strategies and approaches for ensuring performance management processes are aligned with positive professional growth opportunities with the view to promote innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship, promising career trajectories, and wellness;
- Identify the requisite knowledge and skills for boundary breaking and entrepreneurial leadership/management to challenge “status quo” protocols, practices, and mindsets that constrain responsiveness and innovation; and
- Develop policies, principles, procedures, and/or action plans to manage crises and inform disaster recovery.
This program will be of interest to aspiring and incumbent managers/leaders who work in dynamic organizations within education (K-12 and post-secondary), as well as other contexts and sectors, such as: business, engineering, health and medical industries, policing, the military, not-for-profit, and service industries.
A registration package will be sent to new students after they have been admitted. Registration for the summer term will be available in late winter. Fall and Winter registration opens in the spring. Your Graduate Program Administrator will send more information about registration to you.
Fee details are available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.
The University of Calgary offers multiple ways to meet the cost of your education. Please refer to the Awards, Scholarships and Bursaries page to learn more about options available to students. For additional information, please contact Student Financial Support.
Please refer to the MEd Interdisciplinary Admission Requirements page.
Program Schedule & Course Descriptions
- Program begins each Summer term (refer to the Academic Schedule for specific dates)
- Outlines are normally available 1-2 weeks prior to the start of term in D2L
- 3 units per course
Term 1 - Summer
Leading Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
This course explores trends and issues surrounding inclusion and diversity within contemporary workplaces. It examines the leadership required to forge optimal cultures and inclusion. Participants will develop practical strategies specific to their own workplaces to create greater inclusion, to prevent or overcome exclusive practices, and to promote positive work environments.
Key ideas and topics:
Leadership considerations regarding – BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, the glass ceiling, exceptionalities and accessibility, religious diversity, managing sexual harassment and discrimination, all with the view to examine inclusive leadership and positive organizational cultures within diverse societies. Students will examine policies, practices, and processes that promote positive cultures alongside identifying enabling leadership skills such as professional and personable communication, collaboration and genuine consultation, and critical thinking.
Registration info:
EDER 619.50 L03
Term 2 - Fall
Leading Healthy Workplaces
Participants will reflect on: forms of leadership which influence relationships; and their own workplace contexts, policies, and processes, to consider how to enhance wellbeing while identifying processes to increase psychological safety and mechanisms to provide valuable input to executive teams, and develop strategies to address impediments to healthy environments.
Key ideas and topics:
Positive and negative leadership/management approaches; mental health and wellbeing of leaders and employees; technology and workload implications on wellbeing; empowerment and psychological safety.
Registration info:
EDER 619.51 L02
Term 3 - Winter
Leading for Transformation
This course examines the relationships between transformation, accountability, and professional growth. It analyzes leaders’/managers’ role in designing or promoting effective professional development for staff with the view to foster transformation, innovation, entrepreneurship, satisfying career trajectories, and wellness. Relationships between professional development, nimble organizations, and responsive to change are examined.
Key ideas and topics:
Transformation, accountability, and professional growth; relationships between performance management/accountability to growth and development of staff; connections between professional growth, promoting innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship, satisfying work, and wellness.
Registration info:
EDER 619.52 L06
Term 4 - Spring
Leading During Uncertainty
Participants explore the importance of authentic and adaptive leadership during times of crisis/uncertainty and develop pragmatic strategies for successful change leadership that reinforces and facilitates resilience, growth, and empowerment. Entrepreneurship entails “thinking outside of the box”, changing practices, and looking for viable “boundary breaking” opportunities.
Key ideas and topics:
Leading online operations; managing crises and uncertainty; disaster recovery; nurturing effectiveness through trust; and entrepreneurship and boundary breaking innovation.
Registration info:
EDER 619.53
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