The first module of the 2024 EMBA cohort is Leadership & Organizational Change. The 4-days module will offer the students the opportunity to learn and discuss the most important attitudes and skills that enhance the continuous development of individuals and organisations, by examining a wide variety of leadership models in the challenging context of organisational change. By the end of this module, students will be able to brand their leadership style in a coherent manner, evaluate their leadership style, assess the effectiveness of leadership in various contexts, through multiple theoretical lenses, and foster diversity and inclusion into their organisation. They will also be able to manage the changing organisational landscape in terms of triggers of change, resistance to change, power, influence, and politics.
Students will be guided in this journey by Dr. Elesa Zehndorfer, multiple award-winning writer and researcher, and Dr. Andrew Taylor, lecturer and consultant with a global experience. We invite you discover in the next lines who is the Dr. Elesa Zehndorfer and why is she an inspiration for us and the module leader for Leadership and Organisational Change module.
Name: Elesa Zehndorfer
Company / Institution: Blackheath Publishing
Title: Professional Writer & Author, Editor-in-Chief
Website: www.elesazehndorfer.com/
LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/elesazehndorfer001/
Country of origin: UK
Country you currently live in: Austria
1. Why do you find leadership so interesting?
To me, it affects literally every aspect of our lives, from the powerful impact of self-leadership (e.g., self-talk, self-coaching, visualisation, health, fitness), to how we interact with others, to how we vote, to how we experience the world personally and professionally. We are evolutionarily designed to want to seek out a leadership figure, which is in itself fascinating. Concepts like charisma are so compelling and exciting, too. Ultimately, the more we can understand leadership concepts, the more we can positively influence our own experience of the world.
2. What inspires you?
I love to see people succeed, which is why I love being involved in education. Often, so many people don't realise how talented they are.
3. What was the last book that you read that made you think differently?
Never Split the Difference by former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. I'm currently reading it and it includes some great negotiation tactics and insights.
4. Which individuals have inspired you and why?
When I was 13, I saw a film called Cry Freedom. It is the true story of an incredible leader named Steve Biko. His story - and the story of Donald Woods who wrote a book about him - definitely changed the way I saw the world. It is probably why I ended up becoming a lecturer & researcher in the field of leadership. I am also really inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, particularly because I love the gym, and because I have a deep interest in politics, and he has been a successful leader in both contexts. I listen to his podcast quite often. When it comes to writers, I love George Orwell and Agatha Christie. Lots of people inspire me in daily life too.
5. Tell us about your new novel
Upload is an explosive adventure thriller that focuses on the dangers of weaponizing faith/religion and big tech in politics. The use of fake news, lies and freewheeling charisma form the basis of an epic story with larger than life characters, all weaved into a story that is designed to keep readers guessing until the very last page.
Before writing Upload, I'd written a political non-fiction title for Routledge (Evolution, Politics & Charisma: Why Do Populists Win?). I loved the idea of writing a novel that packaged up those same concepts, but in a really entertaining way, with characters that people could really root for, empathise with, and care about. The book was published in paperback, hardback and e-book (you can check it out here via Amazon).
6. With your background in sport, what can business executives learn from sport?
My PhD was a study of how sport participation can develop leadership skills. I am sometimes critical of many ways people try to transfer sports skills to a corporate context, but it absolutely can be done, and it can offer excellent performance benefits. For example, sports coaches receive excellent training in how to be a coach, regardless of how brilliant their technical knowledge of the sport might already be. But that concept is usually entirely absent for business managers, leaving them, and their team, at a disadvantage from the outset.
Sport psychology and burnout approaches can offer fantastic day-to-day, easy to implement interventions that can improve self-concept, self-confidence, and the ability to perform. High-quality feedback is way more prevalent in sport, as is high quality metrics that assess current performance. A holistic approach to knowing one's athlete/team member (and therefore knowing how to motivate them) is generally absent, too. Valuing health is a big one, too - even lacking optimal sleep can majorly impact performance, as can a lack of nutrients, exercise, nature exposure, even hydration. The board room is as much a performance arena as a sports field at the end of the day, and athletes and executives share the same basic physiology - but only the former really appreciates how much it can influence how well they succeed at their craft at a foundational level. There are many, many practices, in sum, that can be transferred, but not many people know how to do it in a really pragmatic way.
7. What research projects do you have right now?
I am currently engaged in extensive research for a manuscript titled 'Post-Truth Politics: A Brave New World?`. It explores the idea that politics has transmuted into a kind of politically fuelled world of entertainment, where social media and cable TV push fake news designed to target our survival instincts and influence how we vote. The title of the book is a tip of the hat to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and represents the way that we arguably need to approach modern politics from a whole host of diverse angles - media studies, neurobiology, marketing, and even political fiction - to truly understand this brave new political world in which we now live. The book will be released in Jan 2025 by Routledge, the same month that a POTUS will be sworn in.
Writing Upload actually influenced how I approached writing parts of the book, because it made me really appreciate how stories can sometimes connect more powerfully with people than facts alone. I also manage a Psychology Today blog called Political Animals & Animal Spirits that explore many of these kinds of concepts.
8. Where do you find your energy?
I'm a personal trainer and Pilates coach, and I really value exercise, nutrition & getting outdoors whenever I can. It gives me a lot of energy and makes me feel happier.
We are grateful for having Elesa for the third time in Cluj-Napoca to deliver this module. In the next months, you will have the opportunity to meet our lecturers and find out interesting details about them.
The Leadership and Organisational Change module will have 3 editions of Executive Talk (free events, open to the public interested in learning more from the guests we’re having. In March, the first 3 editions are:
MARCH 1 – Balancing organisations and culture
Guest: Magor Csibi, Head of Leadership and Organizational Culture Practice at Trend Consult Group
Friday, face-to-face, from 5 pm
March 2 – Emotional Intelligence in Business
Guest: Sinziana Maioreanu, an Executive and Leadership Coach, with over 25 years of experience in financial services
Saturday, face-to-face, from 10.30 am
March 3 – Leadership under challenging conditions
Guests: Dr Vanessa M Johnen and Franz-Xaver Neubert, McKinsey-related consulting & leadership
Sunday, online, from 3 pm
