Transformative Leadership

The core objective of the new SMU-X Transformative Leadership course is to nurture a new generation of young leaders motivated and capable of tackling intricate global and local challenges related to the nexus of 'digital disruption, demographic change and diversity' in an integrated, interdisciplinary fashion. Digitization refers to the power of new digital technologies and business models which can lead to the decline and eventual disappearance of existing goods and services. A major challenge related to demographic change is the trend towards a rapidly ageing population. Both trends affect a particular component of diversity, namely age diversity, and thereby generational issues such as perceived differences between older and younger people in terms of values, communication priorities; age discrimination or the initiation of new types of social ('digital') behaviours transmitted from the plugged-in 'Generation Z' (born 1996 and after) to Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964).

These three challenges (positioned at the interface of both current and future issues) are not only globally relevant but also have significant local implications for Singapore.

Embedded in the experiential SMU-X initiative, the Transformative Leadership course provides students with a unique learning opportunity to develop and implement (socially) innovative approaches which leverage digital technologies in order to make a positive impact on both demographic change and the way age diversity matters are managed in business and society in close collaboration with reputable partners in business, nonprofits and government. Learners will be paired up with an external SMU-X partner to work on relevant innovative projects with real impact.

The successful completion of such transformative SMU-X projects requires learners diving deep(er) into various disciplines such as social sciences, business, political governance, public policy, demography, technology, etc. It is expected that the chosen practical challenges commissioned by SMU-X partners will ‘stretch’ students, forcing them to step out of their comfort zones and to explore the unknowns in order to make a ‘real’ difference ‘out there’ in both the social and business sectors.

In terms of effective leader development, in particular, transformative leadership, the SMU-X course design will support learners in expanding their individual capacity to be effective in leadership roles and processes. Emphasis will be put on proximal indicators of leader development such as self-views around self-concept, including leader self-awareness, leadership self-efficacy and leader. Through their SMU-X projects, students will appreciate the importance of leadership development so that they can articulate what it takes for teams and their leaders to create strong(er) alignment and high(er) levels of commitment. The latter requires interpersonal trust, care and concern as well as shared mind-sets regarding (transformative) goals and values such as the ‘real’ sharing propelled by collaborative leadership approaches.