West Point Leadership Program (WPLP)

Course Description

General: Course Total – 102 Hours

The West Point Leadership Course is adapted from the Military Leadership Course (PL300) required of all Cadets at the United States Military Academy in their third year of study. The course has been adapted for use in non-military organizations. This is an academically rigorous course that relies heavily on the case based learning. The course examines and integrates leadership in organizations from four perspectives: the individual, the group, the leader, and the organization.

Area I: Individual – 30 Hours

Individuals are the basic building blocks of any organization. The student learns the Police Leadership Framework and also learns the attributes and skills of effective followership. The individual is examined as a psychological system. The student learns various aspects of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and how those factors relate to individual motivation, satisfaction, and performance.

Area II: Group – 18 Hours

Groups dynamics influence performance of the group, individuals in the group, and organizational performance. The student learns effective socialization of new group members, how to increase group cohesion, and how to manage inter-group conflict with strategies that improve group performance in pursuit of the organization’s mission.

Area III: Leadership – 24 Hours

Police leaders lead in an environment in which danger shapes the expectations and desires of followers and the ethical dimension of that relationship is emphasized. The student learns to establish effective relationships with subordinates in order to enhance individual, group, and organizational performance. The student also learns a Full Range Model of Leadership behaviors and when each behavior, or combination of behaviors, most effectively enhances individual, group, and organizational performance.

Area IV: Organization – 18 Hours

Organizations are dynamic and complex systems. The student walks the terrain of the Revolutionary War battle that occurred at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and examines the battle from the perspectives of Collins’ works Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall. The student learns effective strategies for shaping organizational culture, leading learning and change within the organization, and shaping organizational actions that influence the ethical climate of the organization.

Examinations: Cased Based Examinations – 12 Hours

At the end of each Area of study the student takes a cased based examination that integrates that area with the previous Area of study. Each examination lasts up to four hours and requires the student to apply what has been learned to solve a leadership dilemma as described in a case study.

Contact for More Information

Dr. Mark Bowman
910.630.7434
[email protected]