The Resilient Leader - South Africa
Professionals increasingly lead in environments marked by uncertainty, rapid change, inequality, ethical complexity and disruption. This requires leaders who can remain grounded, make defensible choices, communicate honestly, act with courage and a strong moral compass.
The Resilient Leader develops students’ capacity to lead themselves and others responsibly before, during and after challenging situations by integrating four mutually reinforcing dimensions: Ethical Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Personal Leadership, and Crisis Leadership. This minor equips students to become ethical, authentic and crisis-ready professionals who can analyse complex leadership dilemmas, make and communicate responsible decisions, build trust with diverse stakeholders, and sustain personal and organisational resilience.
Study features
Minor content
The minor explores the different dimensions over 9 weeks that build up to an integration in the form of a Authentic Leadership Effectiveness Charter:
Week 1: Leading with Purpose: Ethics and the Resilient Leader
Key Concepts: Ethics, ethical leadership, moral theories including Objectivism and Capability Theory.
Week 2: Authenticity, Trust and Moral Courage
Key Concepts: Authentic, transformational, servant and ethical leadership, power, integrity, whistleblowing.
Week 3: Stakeholders, Sustainability and Shared Value
Key Concepts: Stakeholder theory, CSR, sustainability, tragedy of the commons, Capability Theory applications.
Week 4: Building Ethical and Resilient Organisations
Key Concepts: Ethical culture, codes, governance, accountability, transparency, psychological safety.
Week 5: Inclusive Leadership in Diverse Contexts
Key Concepts: Inclusive leadership, equity, diversity, cross-cultural ethics, South African context.
Week 6: Crisis Leadership: Sense-Making and Decisions Under Pressure
Key Concepts: Crisis management/leadership cycle, polycrisis nature of risks, wicked problems, Thomas Sowell on knowledge limits, empirical realism, consensus decision-making, and continuous data feedback loops.
Week 7: Leading People Through Crisis and Recovery
Key Concepts: Stakeholder care, psychological safety, team leadership, conflict, well-being, recovery.
Week 8: Ethical Crisis Communication and Difficult Conversations
Key Concepts: Ethical communication, crisis communication, transparency, empathy, knowledge management and honest communication of data limitations.
Week 9: From Compass to Impact: Integration and Future Practice
Key Concepts: Integration of ethics, authenticity, resilience and crisis leadership, professional identity.
Structure of the minor
The minor comprises 15 EC's and covers three learning outcomes:
1. Apply moral concepts, ethical theories and structured dialogue to analyse and respond to authentic organisational and societal dilemmas, including situations of uncertainty and crisis.
2. Design, test and justify leadership interventions that strengthen ethical culture, stakeholder trust, inclusion, preparedness, crisis response and organisational learning.
3. Develop, test and maintain a personal Resilient Leadership Compass and Charter that guides ethical, authentic and effective leadership practice in routine and high-pressure situations.
Educational activities include Ateliers (DBE), student-led seminars, personal leadership coaching sessions, and guest lectures from South African business and community leaders.
The learning outcomes of this minor are developed in collaboration with our partners in business.
Formative assessment is done through participation in ateliers and student led seminars and summative assessment comprises an organisation intervention report, an individual ethics and crisis leadership test, and a personal leadership portfolio report and presentation.
This minor is open to all NHL Stenden students who have succesfully completed their first two years of study. Some background in management and leadership theory is desirable but not a must.