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Dartmouth College
Why Smart Executives Fail: Common Mistakes & Warning Signs
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  3. Leadership and Management
Dartmouth College

Why Smart Executives Fail: Common Mistakes & Warning Signs

This course is part of Strategic Leadership: Impact, Change, and Decision-Making Specialization

Sydney Finkelstein

Instructor: Sydney Finkelstein

22,319 already enrolled

Included with Coursera Plus

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4 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.9

(396 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Recommended experience

Beginner level

Participants need only the desire to learn from mistakes—those of others and their own.

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
99%
Most learners liked this course

4 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.9

(396 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Recommended experience

Beginner level

Participants need only the desire to learn from mistakes—those of others and their own.

Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace
99%
Most learners liked this course
  • About
  • Outcomes
  • Modules
  • Recommendations
  • Testimonials
  • Reviews

What you'll learn

  • Which mistakes leaders make most often

  • How to spot the early warning signs of key mistakes

  • How to avoid making these same mistakes in your own life

Skills you'll gain

  • Leadership
  • Change Management
  • Business Leadership
  • Leadership and Management
  • Leadership Development
  • Strategic Leadership
  • Culture Transformation
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Accountability
  • Business Strategy
  • Organizational Change
  • Strategic Decision-Making
  • Company, Product, and Service Knowledge
  • Compensation Management

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

20 assignments

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Strategic Leadership: Impact, Change, and Decision-Making Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

We don’t often talk about mistakes and failures, but there’s so much to learn from what goes wrong. In this course, Professor Sydney Finkelstein will teach you why leaders make mistakes, and what you can do to avoid making those same mistakes yourself. Using real-life examples of smart executives who failed, Professor Finkelstein will walk you through scenarios that prepare you to understand, manage, and even take advantage of the continuous change that is inevitable in organizations and in life.

What's included

11 videos4 readings5 assignments

11 videos•Total 66 minutes
  • Why Smart Executives Fail•7 minutes
  • Wang Labs•8 minutes
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - Competition and Customers•4 minutes
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - Intellectual Honesty•2 minutes
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - A Little History Lesson•4 minutes
  • A Deep Dive on Strategy - From Vision to Value Chains•6 minutes
  • A Deep Dive on Strategy - Going a Little Deeper•8 minutes
  • Why Core Competence Strategies Make Sense•3 minutes
  • Quick Note on Frameworks•5 minutes
  • Primer on Major Strategic Mistakes•6 minutes
  • Debrief - Lessons and Insights from the Motorola Case Study•10 minutes
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
  • Case Study - Wang Labs•10 minutes
  • Case Study - Motorola in the Cell Phone Industry•10 minutes
  • Of Mice and Mobile Men•10 minutes
  • Too Big to Succeed?•10 minutes
5 assignments•Total 180 minutes
  • Case Study Assignment - Your Lessons and Insights from Wang Labs•45 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Analyzing Your Own Organization - Core Competencies•30 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Analyzing Your Own Organization (Round 2)•30 minutes
  • Application Exercise - The Change Notebook•30 minutes
  • Case Study Assignment - Motorola in the Cell Phone Industry•45 minutes

What's included

6 videos3 readings5 assignments

6 videos•Total 46 minutes
  • The Firm•7 minutes
  • Delusions of a Dream Company•8 minutes
  • The Perfect Storm•7 minutes
  • Feedback•9 minutes
  • Debrief - Lessons and Insights from the Johnson & Johnson Case Study•9 minutes
  • Practice Exercises•4 minutes
3 readings•Total 30 minutes
  • Why Corporate Culture Counts•10 minutes
  • Podcast - The Sydcast Episode 91. Tom Mendoza - Technology and Culture from a Silicon Valley Pioneer, May 30, 2021.•10 minutes
  • Case Study - Johnson & Johnson in the Stent Business•10 minutes
5 assignments•Total 200 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Lessons Learned from the Tom Mendoza Podcast•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Practicing Feedback•60 minutes
  • Case Study Assignment - Johnson & Johnson in the Stent Business•45 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Learning From Failure•30 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Learning From Others•45 minutes

What's included

7 videos4 readings3 assignments

7 videos•Total 55 minutes
  • The Manager as Master Puzzle Solver•7 minutes
  • Debrief: Lessons and Insights from the Snow Brands Case Study•8 minutes
  • Accountability•12 minutes
  • The Unintended Consequences of Incentives•9 minutes
  • Breaking the Rules?•5 minutes
  • Good Management Requires Good Oversight•6 minutes
  • Knowledge-Sharing Across Boundaries•5 minutes
4 readings•Total 40 minutes
  • Case Study - Snow Brands Group•10 minutes
  • The Executive Accountability Myth•10 minutes
  • The Third Rail of Management•10 minutes
  • Neanderthals and Learning Rationale•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 150 minutes
  • Case Study Assignment - Snow Brands•60 minutes
  • Application Exercise - The Power of Incentives for You•30 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Summary•60 minutes

What's included

9 videos1 reading7 assignments

9 videos•Total 54 minutes
  • The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People•6 minutes
  • Habit 1 - The Illusion of Personal Preeminence (Travis Kalanick, Uber)•4 minutes
  • Habit 2 - The Company is Mine (Adam Neumann, WeWork)•5 minutes
  • Habit 3 - All the Answers (An Wang, Wang Labs)•6 minutes
  • Habit 4 - My Way or the Highway (Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers)•5 minutes
  • Habit 5 - Obsessed with Image (Citizen Kane - William Randolph Hearst)•4 minutes
  • Habit 6 - Disregarding Major Obstacles (Iridium)•8 minutes
  • Habit 7 - Inability to Learn•8 minutes
  • Why Smart Executives Fail - Now You Know What You Should Do to Avoid These Mistakes•4 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
  • Case Study - Theranos: An Oral History•10 minutes
7 assignments•Total 140 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 1 - The Illusion of Personal Preeminence•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 2 - The Company is Mine•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 3 - All the Answers•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 4 - My Way or the Highway•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 5 - Obsessed with Image•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 6 - Disregarding Major Obstacles•20 minutes
  • Application Exercise - Habit 7 - Inability to Learn•20 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Instructor ratings

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

4.9 (144 ratings)
Sydney Finkelstein
Sydney Finkelstein
Dartmouth College
4 Courses•32,145 learners

Offered by

Dartmouth College

Offered by

Dartmouth College

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and consistently ranks among the world’s greatest academic institutions. Dartmouth has forged a singular identity for combining its deep commitment to outstanding undergraduate liberal arts and graduate education with distinguished research and scholarship in the Arts and Sciences and its four leading graduate schools—the Geisel School of Medicine, the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business.

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Learner reviews

4.9

396 reviews

  • 5 stars

    89.89%

  • 4 stars

    8.33%

  • 3 stars

    1.01%

  • 2 stars

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Showing 3 of 396

A
AJ
5

Reviewed on May 8, 2022

E​xceptional prof presenting this specialization. The quality of the material and the level of engagement are top class. Will petition Coursera for Sydney Finkelstein to be a regular contributor.

C
CH
5

Reviewed on Feb 10, 2024

Excellent course. Learning lessons from others' mistakes is an interesting method but really makes sense when you go through this first section of the entire course.

N
NB
5

Reviewed on Apr 24, 2022

Sydney was great at painting the complete picture and engaging. I enjoyed every module of this course and learned a lot.

View more reviews
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