۱- Introduction

۲- Authentic leadership

۳- Experiential learning

۴- The case of the Leadership in action course

۵- Impacts of the leadership course: method and results

۶- The collaborative action game as a trigger to develop AL components

۷- Experiential learning at the service of SDGs

۸- Some challenges to game-based approach

۹- Conclusion

References

Abstract

To attain sustainable development goals (SDGs), organizations need authentic leaders. Authentic leaders are self-aware and are guided by a strong set of ethical values that drive their actions. They create a climate of trust that stimulates the personal development of subordinates and organizational performance. Experiential learning is recognized as a promising strategy for developing the skills required for authentic leadership. This paper describes an original leadership course in management master’s programs at a Canadian university. This course incorporates an intensive off-campus leadership camp whose main strategy involves collaborative action games. This article proposes a threefold contribution. First, it provides a detailed description of a proven educational approach based on experiential learning. Second, it assesses the value of this approach in developing certain key authentic leadership skills, including self-awareness, which is identified as an essential characteristic of a responsible manager. Third, it demonstrates that the intensive leadership camp constitutes an original and relevant pedagogical approach to foster students’ learning of authentic leadership, provided that a rigorous process, including a reflexivity mechanism, is followed.

Introduction

Adopted in 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set an ambitious agenda to resolve problems ranging from extreme poverty to climate change, human rights and corruption (Parkes, Buono, & Howaidy, 2017; Storey, Killian, & O’Regan, 2017; United Nations, 2015). Businesses are considered key actors in the attainment of these objectives because of their direct impact on all issues addressed by SDGs, through their operations, investments or business models (Parkes et al., 2017; Storey et al., 2017; Weybrecht, 2017). They are thus being encouraged to redefine their relations with society in order to play a significant role in preventing human, financial or ecological crisis (Storey et al., 2017). For the new paradigm to permeate businesses, and eventually entire sectors of the economy, executives must become agents of change (Borges, Ferreira, Borges de Oliveira, Macini, & Caldana, 2017; Haertle, Parkes, Murray, & Hayes, 2017), leaders with conviction who will serve as “moral compasses” (Moon, Walmsley, & Apostolopoulos, 2018, p. 172) in organizational transformation. These organizations can eventually become participants fully engaged in this movement. To contribute to this effort, and thus to achieve the goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2015), institutions of higher education have an important role to play in training these executives. Notably, the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) (PRME, 2007) highlight the need to incorporate the values of social responsibility into curricula and academic activities (Principle 2: Values).