Walk in my Shoes: An Unconventional Approach for Learning about Leaders


Page 240 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume 42, 2015 

 

ABSTRACT 
 

Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson, Fidel Castro and other 

leaders all stepped into my classroom last week. We spent two 

hours debating who was the best leader, comparing and con-

trasting how one becomes a leader, reflecting on our failures 

and successes, and looking at what we had in common (or not). 

In reality, students in my leadership class were invited to be-

come the leader whose biography they had read, and, in doing 

so, they were able to develop a deeper understanding and ap-

preciation of these leaders than would be possible if they were 

simply asked to report on their investigation of these individu-

als.  In this paper, I describe an experiential learning approach 

that turns student presentations of their book reviews into an 

active, personal learning experience. This approach invites 

students to incarnate the leader whose biography they read and 

to share their wisdom and insights with the other leaders in the 

room. Students experience the leaders, through the eyes of oth-

ers, but also through the thoughts and feelings they have as they 

are presenting themselves as these leaders. This paper de-

scribes how the experience unfolds as well as some of the 

unique lessons that students have learned from their role mod-

els. 

 

 

WALK IN MY SHOES:  

AN UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH  

FOR LEARNING ABOUT LEADERS 
 

Céleste M. Brotheridge 

ESG – UQÀM (Université du Québec à Montréal) 

grimard-brotheridge.celeste@uqam.ca