Overview:

According to the best research available (which we will read in this class), to be a successful leader, you need to understand happiness and manage to it—yours and others’. Unfortunately, most leaders have to learn this fact by hard experience. Furthermore, they are never exposed to the expanding science of happiness, which contains a wealth of information on how to be happier as a leader and make others happier as well.

Career Focus:

Leadership & Happiness is meant for anyone aspiring to be a leader—whether in business, or even as head of a family. As you rise in the career ladder post-HBS, you will face many pressures: Loneliness at the top, dislocation from old friends, 80+ hour work weeks, and (probably) wealth. This class will help you mitigate the bad, and better handle the good.

Educational Objectives:

Students will take the best surveys on happiness, read some of the most influential modern research on the topic, discuss the research in class, and apply their knowledge to leadership scenarios. They will leave after seven weeks prepared to use the material during the balance of their time at HBS and in the workforce. Not only will this give them a competitive advantage in the labor market; it will also help them enjoy their work and lives.

Course Content and Organization:

Leadership & Happiness is unique to HBS in that it is lecture-based, not case-based. Each week, you will be required to take one (or more) academically-validated happiness survey, which will chart how you manage emotions, your attachment to money, the extent to which you have meaning in life, and the extent to which you pursue (or avoid) romantic relationships—to name a few. Additionally, you will be required to read 3-5 academic journal articles each week pertaining to the week’s lectures. Across seven weeks, we will cover a range of topics to prepare you for your next eighty years: Happiness versus unhappiness, emotional self-management, the science of falling and staying in love, loneliness in leadership, managing worldly idols (such as money and prestige), and finding your meaning in life.

Grading / Course Administration: Grading in the class will run as follows:

• Midterm take-home memo (a short essay/memo that discusses your insights from the surveys you have taken to date): 20%
• Final take-home memo or project (a short essay/memo, or a recorded lecture of you teaching friends or family more than one key topic of the course): 40%
• In-class participation: 20%
• Timely completion of surveys: 10%
• Attendance: 10%

Copyright © 2024 President & Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved.