The course encourages participants to imagine a created future, and to allow the possibilities of that future to influence how they live in the present, with its set circumstances. Participants engage in this endeavour by way of a course leadership project 鈥 simultaneously a playground in which to experiment with the course鈥檚 teachings and an opportunity to influence a situation in their lives requiring leadership.
Participants who have taken the course have engaged in leadership projects on an exceptionally wide range of topics, from addressing violence against women in a family context, to understanding the effects of isolation on elderly people. Other projects have sought to directly engage with different communities, from, for example, providing free CPR and AED training that is linguistically and culturally adapted to an underserved community, to creating institutional initiatives that aim to promote student mental health and well-being. The course provides participants with the tools they need to create and see their way through projects that can only occur through their intervention and contribution.
If the approach is of interest, Werner Erhard and Michael Jensen (with Kari Granger) wrote the Chapter entitled 鈥淐reating Leaders: An Ontological / Phenomenological Model鈥 for the book , edited by Scott Snook, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer; Nitin Nohria, HBS Dean and George Baker Professor of Administration; and Rakesh Khurana, Dean of Harvard College.
Leadership Academy
About the Leadership Academy
The Leadership Academy at the University of Ottawa is a campus-wide initiative stemming from a partnership between the Faculties of Law, Engineering and Social Sciences based on the proposition that to be an effective leader, and to provide effective action, one must include a focus on being. The Leadership Academy is built around a cluster of ideas, practices, projects, course offerings and professional training on the thriving science of leadership.
Upcoming training and course offerings
Leadership in Academia and in Life
Being a student in the 21st century demands much more than having specialized knowledge. To that effect, the course Leadership in Academia and in Life offers a training that deviates from the traditional teaching model, based on the addition of knowledge, to adopt a more experiential model that promotes discovery learning. Through this course, you will have access to a new approach to leadership: you will see and live leadership as a way of being and acting that is accessible to all and not necessarily linked to notions of charisma, title or authority; you will design and carry out your own leadership project; and you will know how to make significant changes in your professional and personal lives 鈥 in any environment and under any circumstances.
Generally, there are two or three opportunities during the year to undertake the leadership training as an academic course (for credit) over the course of a regular 12-week academic term (either in the fall or the winter). The Leadership Academy also offers an intensive version of the course each spring, taking place over the course of six days in May. This intensive offering is available to anyone, but specifically targets professionals, scholars and members of the staff. Each version of the course carries associated costs.
If you are interested in registering for leadership training via one of the offerings described above, please contact Professor Margarida Garcia ([email protected]) for more information and next steps.
Training program: A transformational experience
The Leadership Academy鈥檚 training program is based on the renowned leadership training course 鈥淏eing a leader and the effective exercise of leadership: an ontological-phenomenological model鈥, co-designed by Werner Erhard (independent thinker), Michael C. Jensen (Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, Harvard Business School), Steve Zaffron (Founder and Head of Research and Development, Vanto Group) and Jeri Echeverria (Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, California State University System (ret.)). The training evolves through a series of structured dialogues designed to bring about leadership mastery in any situation. Drawing on insights from a range of fields, including neuroscience, linguistics and philosophy, the course shows that leadership is not an intrinsic quality that leaders possess; it is a way of being that is open to all of us and which can be brought to any leadership challenge.
Our team: Interdisciplinarity and different perspectives
Margarida Garcia
Margarida Garcia is a jurist, criminologist and sociologist. She holds the position of Assistant Dean, Research (2017-2021), and Professor at the Faculty of Law (University of Ottawa), and also teaches at the Faculty of Social Sciences. She teaches leadership, epistemology and the methodology of research in law. Her interdisciplinary work focuses on the theme of innovation and the obstacles to innovation in law reform (especially in the area of criminal law and human rights) and in institutional change. Her research focuses on the concept of human rights and relies on the contributions and active participation of Canadian, European and South American judicial actors (especially judges and crown prosecutors). She is currently undertaking research on leadership in times of crisis and on the concept of failure. Her work explores social and normative innovation at the crossroads of the legal and non-legal knowledge produced by law and by the social sciences. This is an approach that Professor Garcia considers essential for understanding the development of standards in a multicultural, pluralistic and diverse world.
Marc Dub茅
Marc Dub茅 is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He is the former Vice-Dean Research for his Faculty and has also served as Department Chair. He is a Fellow of both the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Chemical Institute of Canada. He performs research in sustainable polymer reaction engineering: making polymers from renewable materials such as starch, cellulose, lignin, limonene and glycerol to make coatings and adhesives that have a lower impact on the environment. Marc is committed to mentoring his 91精品黑料吃瓜 colleagues to help them achieve their top performance in not only teaching, research and academic service, but in living balanced, happy and fulfilling lives.
Richard Dub茅
Richard Dub茅 is a Full Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and a member of the Canada Research Chair in Legal Traditions and Penal Rationality. His main fields of interest lie in the sociology of law. His current research focuses on reform of the criminal justice system, its fundamental principles and objectives, modern theories of punishment, and the conditions necessary for the emergence of innovative ideas in the field of criminal justice. His work has been the subject of several publications, notably in the journals Les Cahiers de droit, Droit et Soci茅t茅, Champ p茅nal and D茅viance et Soci茅t茅. He has also co-edited a book on the topic of sentencing entitled Modern Criminal Rationality: Theoretical Reflections and Empirical Explorations, published in 2013 by the University of Ottawa Press. He is currently working on the development of a sociological theory of dysfunctional social systems.
Cintia Quiroga
Cintia Quiroga is Assistant Dean Research at the Faculty of Law. She is committed to sustaining the development of creative, innovative and inclusive research environments that promote collaboration among disciplines and the use of multiple methods to connect with diverse communities. Trained initially in developmental psychology methods, she has a varied experience in interdisciplinary research, having worked on large-scale longitudinal research projects, particularly in schools, hospitals, and communities with vulnerable or equality seeking groups. She teaches research methodology at the Faculty of Law and is interested in knowledge mobilization. Cintia Quiroga is a member of the Research Centre for the Future of Cities.
Andrew Kuntze
Andrew Kuntze works as the Research Communications Strategist at the Research Office of the Faculty of Law. He collaborates with researchers in law to promote the visibility of their work, developing innovative textual and visual narratives to support knowledge mobilization. Committed to telling stories that bring research to life, Andrew oversees research award nomination files, as well as all research-related communications, including knowledge dissemination campaigns on social media networks. Andrew has been trained in the delivery of ontological leadership course material and has served as a part-time professor in the Common Law Section, delivering the course Law, Life and Leadership to students. Andrew holds a Master鈥檚 degree in English Language and Literature.
Research: Exploring the ontological paradigm
Beyond the ontological training courses, the Academy has a major research component exploring the thriving science of leadership. As just one example, a large study, 鈥淟eadership in Times of Crisis, Failure and Breakdown: What Does it Mean? What Does it Look Like?鈥, is currently being conducted by Professors Margarida Garcia and Richard Dub茅.
As a hub for ontological leadership, the Academy aims to attract people from the region, across the country and around the world to contribute to its cutting-edge work on the ecology of effective and transformational leadership. With this in mind, it will organize specialized events and will continue to develop an extensive research agenda around ontological inquiry, in addition to tailored workshops and training and mentoring services.
More information on these offerings will be made available soon.
The alumni community: sharing, collegiality, support
The Alumni Community
The Leadership Academy alumni community is an assembly of people who have participated in a leadership course at the University of Ottawa derived from the course "Being a Leader and Effective Leadership: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model". Both (former) students as well as professors and administrative staff (from all Faculties) are welcome to become a member.
This project, led by Coline Moreau, a doctoral student from the Faculty of Social Sciences, offers the opportunity for participants of the leadership course to continue climbing the 鈥渕ountain with no top鈥 after the course is completed. It creates an opportunity for alumni to stay in the conversation of the course, to have the opportunity to share their discoveries and experiences, to support each other in their journeys and to have the opportunity to maintain contact with colleagues who have had the same experience.
Meetings are held on a monthly basis. They will take place via Zoom. The meetings will be bilingual, French-English.
To register or be kept informed of the meetings program, please send an email with your contact details to the following address: [email protected].
Testimonials
鈥淭his course starts with the bold promise that any participant, whatever their background, position or inclination, will come out of it being a leader and exercising leadership as their natural self-expression. And it totally delivers. For me, it opened up a whole realm of possibilities for being a leader that I wasn鈥檛 even aware of, convincing me in a deep way that I could give to a leadership situation what it required, whether I thought this was the 鈥榢ind of person鈥 that I was or not. I left the course empowered, with the conviction that I could be an effective agent of change in my milieu鈥.
Marie-Eve Sylvestre
Dean
Faculty of Law (Civil Law Section), University of Ottawa
鈥淭his experience was not only transformative professionally, it also was at a deep personal level. At the time I took the course, I was preparing for my promotion to full professor and reflected on the steps required to diversify my skillset and possibly take on a more senior leadership position. Unfortunately, this period also coincided with the news of terminal illness in our family. Thanks to the ontological context in which the course took place, my leadership project came naturally. I did not work on my own professional advancement. Rather, as a caregiver, I led our young family through the devastating loss of a parent and partner. I imagined a future for our children in which life was possible, yet different from what we had originally planned for; different from what others will experience. Our family is forever changed yet empowered by the ordeal that comes with premature death. It took everything this course is about, behaving authentically and with integrity, working towards something bigger than oneself, while taking it all in, on the court. I remain accountable for this vision for as long as I remain a parent, equipped with a set of skills that will evolve and develop as we age together. As I reflect on it, both personal and professional advances were made. I think it is one of the exceptional emergent properties of this approach鈥.
Alexandre Poulain
Full Professor and Vice-Dean of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships
Faculty of Science, University of Ottawa
芦 J'ai eu la chance incroyable de participer 脿 la formation en pr茅sentiel 脿 Ottawa en mai 2022. Le contexte 茅tait pour moi extraordinaire, loin de mon quotidien et de mon pays et cela m'a permis de profiter pleinement de la formation en leadership transformationnel. L'茅quipe des formateurs est d'une grande humanit茅 et leur attitude ouverte, exempte de tout jugement, offre un espace d'expression tr猫s pr茅cieux pour les participants. Les r猫gles du jeu sont pr茅cises; elles m'ont guid茅es pour adopter la posture d'茅coute indispensable pour int茅grer les messages forts. Les interactions entre les participants 茅taient tr猫s enrichissantes aussi, avec une prise de recul bien accompagn茅e par l'茅quipe qui anime les s茅ances. Certains moments (notamment au travers des exercices mais parfois tout simplement par la pratique de l'茅coute authentique) ont 茅t茅 de vrais instants de r茅v茅lation pour moi. Cette formation laisse des traces profondes et impacte aujourd'hui encore ma mani猫re d'锚tre et d'agir, en particulier dans l'exercice de mes fonctions 禄.
Est猫le Jouison-Laffitte
Vice-pr茅sidente, Orientation et Insertion Professionnelle
Universit茅 de Bordeaux, France
芦 Le Leadership inclusif 鈥 est un cours particuli猫rement intense et surtout totalement enrichissant! Lire, voir, entendre, r茅fl茅chir et exp茅rimenter les enseignements du cours est transformateur 脿 coup s没r. Ce cours devrait 锚tre obligatoire pour tous !! 禄
Eva Ottawa
Professeure et Directrice du programme de certificat en droit autochtone
Facult茅 de droit (Section de droit civil), Universit茅 d鈥橭ttawa
鈥淭his is much more than a course on leadership, it is an opportunity for professional development, introspection and personal growth. The course instructors are the perfect guides on a journey that will change you. I came into the course having had many leadership opportunities. Yet my vision of what leadership is was challenged, and expanded in many ways! This provided me with a new perspective, positively impacting how I felt and how I interacted with others. I also often use and reflect on the course material years after taking it. I have recommended this journey to close colleagues, envying them and hoping they get as much out of this experience as other participants and I did! 鈥
Andr茅 Beauchemin
Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Interim),
University of Ottawa
芦 L鈥檈xp茅rience offerte par ce cours a 茅t茅 profond茅ment transformatrice pour tous les aspects de ma vie. L鈥檃pproche du leadership en tant que mani猫re d鈥櫭猼re m鈥檃 permis de prendre conscience et d鈥檃gir sur mes attitudes et repr茅sentations limitant mon acc猫s au leadership authentique, qu鈥檌l s鈥檃gisse de la peur de l鈥櫭ヽhec ou de celle de d茅cevoir. En pavant la voie 脿 une mani猫re d鈥櫭猼re et d鈥檃gir plus intentionnelle et libre, ce cours m鈥檃 outill茅 de mani猫re durable pour exercer mon leadership de mani猫re plus efficace, courageuse et satisfaisante 禄.
Sophie Th茅riault
Professeure titulaire et Vice-doyenne aux 茅tudes
Facult茅 de droit (Section de droit civil), Universit茅 d鈥橭ttawa
芦 Le programme de formation de l鈥橝cad茅mie, c鈥檈st un exercice de prise de conscience, d鈥檌ntrospection, de d茅couverte de soi . On est dans la r茅flexion qui, 脿 terme, fait naturellement de nous un meilleur leader. Le cours nous am猫ne 脿 recontextualiser les choses, de sorte qu鈥檕n 茅merge de chaque rencontre 茅nergis茅s et beaucoup plus productifs. C鈥檈st une des exp茅riences les plus marquantes de ma vie 鈥 莽a a chang茅 ma fa莽on d鈥檈nseigner et ma vie quotidienne. 禄
Terry Skolnik
Associate professor and Co-Director, 91精品黑料吃瓜 Public Law Centre
Faculty of Law (Civil Law Section), University of Ottawa
鈥淭his Transformational Leadership training had me look at what I really cared about in the world and the difference I wanted to make in my communities. The course led me to look beyond my own success in teaching, research and publishing. I saw the possibility of creating a world transformed through powerful partnerships between university and community in areas of shared passion. And I discovered that this new kind of leadership was more about listening, authenticity and the empowerment of others in taking action in areas of mutual concern鈥.
Rebecca Ward
Research Associate
Brock University
Private Practice Psychologist
鈥淲hen I enrolled in the Inclusive Leadership intensive course, I expected to learn 鈥渢extbook鈥 leadership strategies; however, I finished the course having gained a new understanding of myself and what it means to lead with integrity. This course has helped me to identify my personal and professional strengths, reconnect with my passion for teaching and fostering relationships, and develop tools to overcome significant feelings of 鈥渋mposter syndrome鈥 in my career. Having spent the past seven months putting this course into practice, I have experienced tangible improvements in my personal and professional life. This leadership training has been transformational, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and participate鈥.
Drew Taylor
Senior Specialist, Field Placement and Experiential Learning and Part-Time Professor
Faculty of Social Sciences (Criminology Department), University of Ottawa
芦 Le cours de Leadership inclusif est une formation qui a eu un impact transformationnel 茅norme sur moi. Tr猫s diff茅rent de ce qu鈥檕n conna卯t d鈥檜n cours traditionnel, il m鈥檃 offert des outils pour r茅fl茅chir 脿 ma vie (personnelle et professionnelle), mais surtout des outils pour vivre ma vie en descendant 芦 des gradins 禄 pour sauter 脿 pieds joints dans mon 芦 carr茅 de sable 禄. Je l鈥檃i v茅cu comme une certaine lib茅ration qui devenait essentielle pour avancer vers l脿 o霉 je veux 锚tre. Sept mois apr猫s la fin du cours, j鈥檈n ressens encore les bienfaits et je suis enthousiaste d鈥檈xp茅rimenter ce que la formation continue de m鈥檃pporter 禄.
Marie-Lyne Vachon
Gestionnaire, stages et formation pratique
Facult茅 des Sciences sociales (D茅partement de criminologie), Universit茅 d'Ottaw
芦 Ce cours a 茅t茅 formateur 脿 plusieurs niveaux, mais la prise de conscience du contr么le que j鈥檃ie sur mes actions et sur mes d茅cisions a 茅t茅 des plus utiles. Cette prise de conscience a 茅t茅 possible parce que cette formation de leadership met l鈥檃ccent sur la fa莽on d鈥櫭猼re et d鈥檃gir. Donc, une personne peut 锚tre extravertie ou introvertie, son leadership est d茅fini par ses actions et non sa personnalit茅. Le leadership est beaucoup plus diversifi茅 et moins st茅r茅otyp茅! 禄
Sochetra Nget
Doyenne adjointe
Facult茅 de droit, Universit茅 d鈥橭ttawa
芦 J鈥檃i aim茅 la conception hautement interactive de ce cours et le r茅el ancrage de ce dernier dans ma r茅alit茅, tant professionnelle que personnelle. Le fait qu鈥檌l soit donn茅 sur le cours de plusieurs semaines m鈥檃 permis de mieux assimiler, mais aussi prendre un meilleur recul par rapport au contenu et r茅flexions. Les 茅changes avec les autres participants ont fait toute la diff茅rence pour moi et j鈥檃i trouv茅 qu鈥檌l s鈥檃git-l脿 d鈥檜ne opportunit茅 unique de d茅veloppement professionnel donn茅e par une 茅quipe bien rod茅e et 脿 l鈥櫭ヽoute de nos diverses aspirations. Je le recommanderais sans aucune h茅sitation 脿 tout.e employ茅.e qui a 脿 c艙ur de (re)prendre en mains les r锚nes de sa vie. Merci!鈥
Sophie Wauquier
Agente de d茅veloppement 鈥 Carrefour communautaire
Universit茅 d鈥橭ttawa
"This is fabulous course at so many levels. It is about leadership, of course, but it causes you to reimagine what leadership means and, more importantly, to make it part of what you do as a natural way of being (as opposed to a new knowledge set that you make note of during a course and perhaps soon forget). Leadership of this kind is relevant to managers, deans and directors; but it is also relevant to individuals who are doing their best to be good leaders just in the context of their own lives. In the decade before taking this course, I had been a leader of the first kind, and I am sure that I would have found it immensely valuable if I had taken it before trying to fulfil those roles. But at the time of taking the course I was more focused on personal projects. The course allowed me to move from projects that were bogged down by a myriad of doubts and obstacles to projects that were real and ready to be acted upon. Along the way, there was a lot of sharing with colleagues 鈥 it was a real pleasure getting to know them better in this way, and of course to benefit from their insights and suggestions. The team that runs this leadership course is nothing short of extraordinary: friendly, supportive, knowledgeable, inspirational. I am so grateful to them. I am very glad that I took this course and would take it again, and would surely benefit just as much, if differently, if I did. I recommend it strongly to others鈥.
Peter Oliver
Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Formerly Vice-Dean (French Program), Vice Dean Research and Co-Director of the Centre de droit public 91精品黑料吃瓜 Public Law Centre
"Through the exercises and reflections, this course changed my relationship with myself and revolutionized my way of being and acting in the world."
Coline Moreau
Doctoral candidate in Criminology
University of Ottawa
"This is a unique course that allowed me to learn more about myself. It has provided me with a toolkit that I can rely on to exercise leadership effectively."
Jaskeerat Heera
Student, Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa
"The course helped shift my perspective and boost my confidence. It taught me to live life with wonder, and be present in the moment. I learned to get out of my head to truly be 鈥榦ut here鈥 and seize opportunities with the confidence that, I came to learn, I already had within me."
Aena Poologarajah
Student, Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa
"En tant qu鈥檃ncien sergent de police, coach d鈥檃thl猫tes, membre du CA d鈥檜ne association sportive nationale et dirigeant d鈥檈ntreprise, mener des hommes et des femmes fait partie de ma vie depuis plus de 25 ans. Malgr茅 cette exp茅rience, je me suis surpris 脿 revoir le leadership d鈥檜ne mani猫re 茅clairante, utile, efficace, enti猫re et profonde. Avec un grand sourire, 脿 55 ans, ce cours m鈥檃 permis d鈥櫭﹙oluer alors que je croyais avoir compris...."
Alfredo Mu帽oz
Student, Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa
"I am eternally grateful to Professors Garcia and Kuntze for delivering this course, for allowing me to rediscover motherhood with my son, revealing my love for law school, restrengthening my commitment to environmental justice, and most importantly, for redirecting me on the path of my personal journey into being. This course is worth so much more than credits. It is not a lesson plan but a practical roadmap to being that this course gifts its students. I highly recommend this course be offered to law students before beginning their 1L semester. I truly believe in its potential to transform the culture and learning of law and leadership for a more positive experience that will pay dividends to all students鈥 mental health and wellness."
Sundeep Virdi
Student, Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa
Contact Information
Email: [email protected]
Photos : Marta Sobral Garcia
