Leadership & Influence

We live in a world of accelerating change and deep uncertainty. The question is not whether change will affect us — it's whether we're equipped to shape it.

This session draws on insights from across disciplines to explore what it really takes to lead and influence in complex environments. We'll look at how change actually happens, why people resist it, and what tools are most likely to move the needle. We'll also examine adaptive leadership, how to collaborate across difference, and how to make better decisions when information is incomplete.

Whether you're leading a team, driving reform, or creating change from the edges of an organisation, this session offers practical frameworks and honest reflection on the messy realities of influence.

This session borrows its name from the now retired Vice Chancellor's course "Leadership and Influence in a Complex World" previously convened by Prof Richard Baker (Fenner School), Prof Giles Hirst (Research School of Management).

Please engage with the resources prior to attending the session.

In this session you'll learn how to develop a Theory of Change and turn that into an actionable plan

Stages of leading teams:

• Tuckman's stages of group development on Wikipedia
• Using Tuckman's Stages of Team Development on MIT Learning

Double-loop Learning:

• Double-loop Learning on Wikipedia

Theory of Change

• Thinking Big - How to Use Theory of Change for Systems Change by Abercrombie, Boswell and Thomasoo

Submit the plan-on-a-page that you've developed during the session.

Include a 250-word reflection that considers any of:

• how the theory matches or challenges your experience of creating change
• your experience using the plan-on-a-page to explain your idea to a critical friend - what worked, what didn't?
• how did putting this together reveal about your ideas? what further work is needed to turn your idea into action?