Executive Leadership Styles & Personalities

Dear students,

We encourage you to apply for our seminar “Executive Leadership Styles & Personalities” in the Summer Semester 2026! You can apply for the course using this survey link. Please note, that there are limited places available.

The application deadline is: March 24th, 2026, noon.

This course examines executive leadership from theoretical and empirical perspectives, with a focus on contemporary leadership theories. You will analyze how leadership theories are derived from the literature, empirically operationalized, and enacted by top managers (e.g., CEOs). Using executive exemplars, the course explores the benefits and limitations of different leadership approaches and their implications for executive development. Leadership theories are further applied to current cross-cutting topics such as gender, artificial intelligence, and culture.

During the course, you are expected to select a specific leadership style and pick a leader that represents this style. Based on the style and exemplar, you will gather and review relevant scientific literature as well as empirical evidence (e.g., interviews) to analyze the chosen leadership approach. You will conduct a qualitative analysis of the empirical data using an established method (e.g., the Gioia Method) and document the analysis process in a methodology appendix. Your findings from both the literature review and the empirical analysis will be presented during an oral presentation in class. Finally, as part of the in-class assignment, you will write an essay-style reflection discussing what you have learned during the course and how it relates to your analysis of the leadership style.

Grading:

Group presentation and in-class discussion – 50%

Workbook – 50%

• Methodology Appendix – 25% (of total grade)
• In-class assignment - 25% (of total grade)

Dates for the classes:

• Kick-Off: 17.04.2026, 10:00 – 12:00
• Prep-Session 1: 24.04.2026, 10:00 – 12:00
• Prep-Session 2: 07.05.2026, 10:00 – 12:00
• Pitch & Feedback Session: 21.05.2026, 10:00 – 12:00
• Presentation Day 1: 25.06.2026, 10:00 – 18:00
• Presentation Day 2: 02.07.2026, 10:00 – 12:00
• In-class assignment: 16.07.2026, 8:00 – 10:00

Please note that this Seminar does not permit admission to the Bachelor Thesis at the Institute for Leadership and Organization (ILO).

Registration for the course:

Please apply for the course using the following this link to the survey.

The application deadline is: March 24th, 2026, noon

We will let you know whether you have been accepted no later than Wednesday, March 25th , 2026.

Please confirm until Friday, March 27th, 2026, 12:00 noon, whether you want to take your assigned spot or not. Dropouts from the seminar after this deadline will result in an appropriate rating (failed - 5.0). Together with the information about acceptance to the course, we will send you 2-3 papers to read before the first Kick-Off session, and which will be discussed together in-depth with questions to you.

In case you have any questions regarding the course, please contact the course administrator via email: i.sosnowska@lmu.de. Please find the syllabus here (PDF, 140 KB).