MMS Course Is a Gateway to Learning Soft Skills

MMS Director, Martha Reeves, PhD

students in gateway course

The current rising sophomores are the first Markets & Management Studies cohort who have taken the new gateway course as part of their official MMS curriculum. As a gateway course, Organizational Leadership & Management provides first and second-year students with an introductory level MMS course to jumpstart their program. MMS Director Martha Reeves explains why the course is a valuable early step in the certificate experience.

 

Have you ever worked for someone with poor communication skills or who could not motivate others? Perhaps this person was inconsistent in decision-making, treated people badly or couldn’t build a positive team environment. If you have, then chances are your own motivation for working your hardest suffered. Maybe you even decided to quit.

Understanding how to lead and motivate people and how to build a successful team are critical elements for leading in a business environment. After graduating from Duke, you may be in a position to lead others. When you are responsible for other people, you are evaluated not only on your individual results but on the performance of the people you lead. Your team will look to you for leadership and inspiration.

The Markets & Management Studies Gateway course (MMS 197), develops in students the soft skills necessary for success in any job, but particularly for success in leading and managing others. The term “soft skills” refers to interpersonal skills that reflect how you interact with others. These skills may be difficult to quantify and explicitly define, yet they are absolutely critical for advancement. Lack of soft skills is one of the primary reasons people become derailed from their career ambitions.

The Center for Creative Leadership found that about 1/3 of senior executives derailed or plateaued in their careers due to a lack of soft skills such as the inability to regulate their emotions or the inability to build a team. Moreover, a study by Harvard University suggested that as much as 80% of achievements in an individual’s career are determined by soft skills and only 20% by hard skills.

MMS 197 is designed to ensure students leave with a better grasp of the kinds of topics and skills needed when leading teams. These topics in the course include leadership styles, emotional intelligence, empathy, motivation and reward systems, decision-making, power and politics in business organizations, conflict management, ethics, organizational culture, and the design and structure of organizations.

The course is very interactive, with discussions being the best way to highlight concepts. Among the activities and assignments students will do are the following:

  • develop their own personal leadership brand that will give them a framework for leadership and decision-making success
  • use what they have learned to create an analytical paper on a leader or organization of their choice.
  • analyze situations in the workplace that require interpersonal skills

The MMS program recommends that you take the course in your first or second year at Duke. It is offered in both fall and spring semesters. For questions or more information about the course, contact Jessica Ellington at jessicae@duke.edu.