Week 1 — Introduction to Leadership & Entrepreneurship

📅 4-Hour Session Planner

0:00 – 0:10

Hook + Warm-Up

🎯 Icebreaker

0:10 – 0:35

Defining Leadership

📖 Lecture §1.2

0:35 – 1:00

Defining Entrepreneurship

📖 Lecture §1.3

1:00 – 1:15

Quick Check Quiz

⚡ Mini Quiz

1:15 – 1:45

The Intersection + Table

📖 Lecture §1.4

1:45 – 2:00

Historical Evolution

📖 Lecture §1.5

2:00 – 2:10

Break

☕

2:10 – 2:40

Self-Assessment

✍️ Activity 1

2:40 – 3:20

Scenario Debate

🗣️ Activity 2

3:20 – 3:50

Group Fishbowl

🐟 Activity 3

3:50 – 4:00

Wrap-Up + Exit Ticket

🎫

Lecture

Part A — Core Concepts

⏱ 0:00 – 2:00 hrs

🎯 Opening Hook — The 10-Minute Icebreaker 0:00–0:10

Facilitator Note Do NOT start with slides. Start with this exercise. It immediately reveals how students think about leadership — and gives you material to reference throughout the session.

Ask the class (show on screen or write on board):

"Name one person — living or dead, real or fictional — you consider a great leader. Write their name on a piece of paper. You have 60 seconds."

After collecting responses, write 8–10 names on the board. Then ask:

Cross Questions — Opening Hook

Look at this list. What do all these people have in common? What's different?
How many of them started something new — a movement, a company, a revolution?
Would you call any of them managers? Why not?
If you had to define "leadership" in exactly five words — based on this list — what would you say?

This grounds the class and surfaces pre-existing mental models before formal definitions.

§1.1 Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

LO1 Define leadership and entrepreneurship as distinct yet complementary concepts

LO2 Explain why entrepreneurial ventures demand distinct leadership approaches

LO3 Trace the historical evolution of entrepreneurial leadership as a field

LO4 Differentiate entrepreneurial, managerial, and strategic leadership

LO5 Reflect on personal leadership orientation through self-assessment

§1.2 Defining Leadership 0:10–0:35

Leadership is one of the most studied yet least understood phenomena in human behaviour. Despite thousands of studies, no single universal definition exists — yet most definitions converge around a few core elements.

Leadership

"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal."
— Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice

Core Components of Leadership

Influence — Affecting others' behaviour without coercion. The currency of leadership.
Vision — A compelling picture of a desired future. Leaders articulate where the group is going and why it matters.
Purpose — The deeper "why." Purpose sustains motivation through difficulty.
Followership — Leadership cannot exist without followers. The quality of the leader-follower relationship is central.
Process — An ongoing, interactive dynamic between leaders, followers, and context.

Key Insight — Kotter's Distinction

Management copes with complexity — planning, budgeting, organizing, controlling. Leadership copes with change — setting direction, aligning people, motivating, inspiring. A startup founder needs both, but the mix is radically different from a corporate manager.

Cross Questions — §1.2 Leadership

Can someone be a leader without followers? What does that say about the definition?
Kotter says managers "cope with complexity" while leaders "cope with change." Can you give a real Indian business example of each?
Is influence always positive? Can a leader use influence for harmful purposes and still be called a "leader"?
Think about your college's student union president. Are they a leader, a manager, or both? Why?
(Challenge question) — If leadership is about influence, does that mean a social media influencer with 10 million followers is a leader? Defend your answer.

§1.3 Defining Entrepreneurship 0:35–1:00

The word "entrepreneur" derives from the French entreprendre — "to undertake." Over centuries the concept evolved from "one who undertakes a business" to a richer construct encompassing innovation, opportunity recognition, and value creation under uncertainty.

Entrepreneurship

"Entrepreneurship is the process of creating value by bringing together a unique combination of resources to exploit an opportunity."
— Stevenson, Roberts & Grousbeck, Harvard Business School

Core Components of Entrepreneurship

Opportunity Recognition — Identifying gaps, unmet needs, or new ways of creating value. Entrepreneurs see possibilities where others see problems.
Innovation — Introducing something new. Schumpeter called this "creative destruction."
Value Creation — Economic (profit), social (impact), or environmental (sustainability).
Risk-bearing — Assuming financial, emotional, and reputational risk under uncertainty. Richard Cantillon (1755) was the first to emphasize this function.
Resource Mobilization — Assembling and deploying resources the entrepreneur does not personally own or control.

Scholarly Perspective — Schumpeter (1934)

Joseph Schumpeter positioned the entrepreneur as the engine of economic development — an innovator who disturbs market equilibrium through "new combinations." For Schumpeter, entrepreneurship is fundamentally about innovation, not just business ownership. The shopkeeper is not an entrepreneur; the person who reinvents the shop is.

Cross Questions — §1.3 Entrepreneurship

Is opening a new chai stall entrepreneurship? What about opening a chain of 500 chai stalls with a franchise model? Where is the line?
Schumpeter says entrepreneurship is about "creative destruction." Who gets hurt in this process? Is that acceptable?
Zomato launched in 2008 by aggregating restaurant menus. Was that innovation or just a good business idea? What's the difference?
Risk-bearing is listed as a core component. But what about salaried employees of a startup — they also bear risk. Are they entrepreneurs?
(Think-Pair-Share) — "Value creation" can mean economic profit or social good. Can it mean both simultaneously? Give an example from India.

⚡

Quick Check — Concepts Check

⏱ 1:00–1:10 · Individual · Formative (no grades)

Click an answer to check it. This is formative — just checking understanding before we go deeper.

Q1. John Kotter's distinction says that management copes with ___ while leadership copes with ___.

A. change / complexity
B. complexity / change
C. people / systems
D. stability / growth

Q2. Richard Cantillon (1755) was the first scholar to emphasize which function of the entrepreneur?

A. Innovation
B. Opportunity recognition
C. Risk-bearing
D. Resource mobilization

Q3. "Effectuation" (Sarasvathy, 2001) means an entrepreneur:

A. Sets a goal first, then finds resources to achieve it
B. Starts with available means, then co-creates outcomes
C. Avoids all risk by careful market research
D. Relies on external investors before acting

Q4. Which term describes uncertainty where probabilities cannot be calculated — the native environment of entrepreneurship?

A. Systemic risk
B. Calculated risk
C. Knightian uncertainty
D. Black swan event

§1.4 The Intersection — Why Entrepreneurial Ventures Demand Distinct Leadership 1:15–1:45

Entrepreneurial leadership sits at the crossroads of two powerful traditions. Yet the intersection is not simply additive — it is transformative. The conditions entrepreneurs face break every assumption that classical leadership theories were built on.

Why Traditional Leadership Frameworks Fall Short

No Established Hierarchy — Most theories assume formal structure. Startups have none; the leader creates structure while operating without it.
Extreme Resource Scarcity — Corporate leaders manage allocated budgets; entrepreneurial leaders must create resources from scratch.
Radical Uncertainty — Knightian uncertainty: risks that cannot be measured or insured against, not just calculated probability.
Simultaneous Roles — Visionary, salesperson, recruiter, culture-builder, and primary doer — all at once.
Emotional Intensity — Identity, reputation, and personal savings are deeply intertwined with the venture's fate.

Entrepreneurial Leadership

"Entrepreneurial leadership involves organizing and motivating a group of people to achieve a common objective through innovation, risk optimization, taking advantage of opportunities, and managing the dynamic environment of a venture."
— Kuratko (2007), adapted from Renko et al. (2015)

The Distinctive Blend

Entrepreneurial leadership uniquely combines:

The vision and influence orientation of leadership
The opportunity and innovation focus of entrepreneurship
The resourcefulness and agility required by uncertainty
The storytelling and persuasion needed when you have no track record

The Three-Way Comparison

Dimension	Entrepreneurial Leadership	Managerial Leadership	Strategic Leadership
Primary Focus	Opportunity creation under uncertainty; building from nothing	Efficiency, stability, and process optimization in established systems	Long-term direction and competitive positioning of established organizations
Orientation	Future-focused; creating what does not yet exist	Present-focused; maintaining and improving what already exists	Future-focused; adapting and repositioning an existing entity
Resource Stance	Resource-seeking; "make do with what you have" (bricolage)	Resource-allocating; working within budgets and organizational constraints	Resource-leveraging; deploying organizational assets for competitive advantage
Risk Approach	Calculated risk-taking; comfort with ambiguity; affordable loss thinking	Risk-minimizing; following established procedures and controls	Risk-managing; hedging and diversifying across business units
Decision Logic	Effectual (start with means, co-create outcomes) and causal (plan then execute)	Predominantly causal; data-driven, analytical, planned	Causal with scenario planning; analytical with environmental scanning
Authority Basis	Personal influence, vision, passion; little or no formal authority initially	Positional authority within a defined hierarchy	Positional authority; often C-suite or board-level mandate
Time Horizon	Survival to scale; immediate to medium-term	Short to medium-term operational cycles	Long-term (3–10 year strategic horizons)
Key Challenge	Creating legitimacy, building teams, and finding product-market fit with no resources	Maintaining consistency, quality, and efficiency at scale	Anticipating and responding to environmental shifts and competitive dynamics

Cross Questions — §1.4 The Intersection

Narayana Murthy of Infosys started as an entrepreneurial leader, then transitioned to a more managerial style as the company grew. What triggered that shift — and was it the right decision?
The table shows entrepreneurial leaders use "affordable loss thinking." How is that different from how a bank manager thinks about risk?
Is "leading without formal authority" only relevant for startups? When might a middle manager in a large company need the same skill?
(Devil's Advocate) — Someone argues: "Entrepreneurial leadership is just management with more chaos." How would you respond?
Ratan Tata launched the Nano with a vision, a team, and massive uncertainty. Which row of the table best captures his leadership style at that moment?

§1.5 Historical Evolution of Entrepreneurial Leadership 1:45–2:00

Entrepreneurial leadership as a distinct field is relatively young. Its evolution traces the convergence of two longer-established academic traditions: leadership studies and entrepreneurship research.

1755–1950

Economic Origins of Entrepreneurship

Cantillon (risk-bearer) → Say (coordinator) → Schumpeter (innovator/creative destruction) → Kirzner (alertness to opportunity). Entrepreneurship is an economics concept; leadership is studied separately.

1950–1970

Leadership Studies Mature

Trait Theory (Stogdill), Behavioural Theories (Ohio State, Michigan), Contingency Theories (Fiedler, Hersey-Blanchard). Entrepreneurship studied through personality traits of founders — the two fields don't speak to each other.

1970–1990

Entrepreneurship as a Field Takes Shape

Babson Conference (1981), Journal of Business Venturing (1985), David Birch reveals startup economic significance. Drucker's Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1985) bridges management thinking.

1990–2000

The Convergence Begins

"Entrepreneurial leadership" appears in academic literature. Dot-com boom provides rich case material of founder-CEOs. Research focuses on vision communication, culture-building, and team leadership in startups.

2000–2010

Field Establishment & The Lean Startup

Kuratko (2007), Gupta/MacMillan/Surie (2004) establish the domain. Sarasvathy's Effectuation Theory (2001). Eric Ries introduces the Build-Measure-Learn loop — the leader as experimenter.

2010–Present

Diversification & Global Expansion

Social entrepreneurial leadership, digital/platform entrepreneurship, emerging economy contexts. Renko et al. (2015) provide the first validated ENTRELEAD measurement scale. COVID-19 accelerates research on crisis leadership in ventures.

The Big Picture

The field evolved from "Can leadership and entrepreneurship be studied together?" → "How do leadership approaches apply across the venture lifecycle?" → "What entirely new paradigms does the entrepreneurial context demand?" This course traces that intellectual journey — from its roots to the frontiers of current research.

§1.6 Key Concepts & Terminology

Leadership — A process of influence toward a common goal; distinct from management and positional authority.
Entrepreneurship — The process of creating value by identifying and exploiting opportunities through innovation, often under conditions of uncertainty and resource constraints.
Entrepreneurial Leadership — The distinctive leadership approach required when creating, building, and scaling new ventures — blending visionary influence with entrepreneurial opportunity pursuit.
Influence — Affecting others' behaviour, attitudes, or beliefs without coercion. The currency of leadership.
Vision — A vivid, compelling mental image of a desired future that the leader communicates to inspire followership.
Opportunity Recognition — The cognitive process of identifying market gaps or possibilities for creating new economic or social value.
Innovation — The successful implementation of creative ideas; distinct from creativity (idea generation) and invention (technical discovery).
Risk-bearing — The assumption of financial, emotional, and reputational consequences of venture outcomes under uncertainty.
Effectuation — A decision-making logic used by expert entrepreneurs: starting with available means rather than predetermined goals, emphasizing affordable loss, and co-creating the future with stakeholders (Sarasvathy, 2001).
Bricolage — "Making do" with resources at hand; creatively repurposing what is available rather than seeking optimal resources.
Knightian Uncertainty — Uncertainty where probabilities cannot be calculated; fundamentally different from measurable risk. The native environment of entrepreneurship.

☕ 10-Minute Break — 2:00 to 2:10

Tutorial

Part B — Interactive Activities

⏱ 2:10 – 4:00 hrs

✍️

Activity 1 — Entrepreneurial Orientation Self-Assessment

⏱ 2:10–2:40 · Individual → Pair Discussion · ~30 min

Facilitator Instructions Students complete the scale below individually (8 min). Then pair up, compare scores, and discuss the reflection questions (12 min). Close with a 10-min class debrief on what the instrument measures and its limitations.

Rate yourself on each statement. 1 = Strongly Disagree | 5 = Strongly Agree

I enjoy taking on challenging tasks even when the outcome is uncertain.

Disagree Agree

I believe my success depends mainly on my own efforts, not luck.

Disagree Agree

I often notice problems that others overlook and think of ways to solve them.

Disagree Agree

I am comfortable making decisions with incomplete information.

Disagree Agree

I naturally tend to take the lead in group tasks or projects.

Disagree Agree

I am not afraid to fail — I see failure as a learning opportunity.

Disagree Agree

Pair Discussion — After Assessment

Which statement did you rate highest? Which lowest? Did any of your answers surprise you?
If two people score identically on this scale, does that mean they'll be equally good entrepreneurial leaders?
This instrument measures orientation, not skill. What's the difference — and does it matter?
Can someone who scores low on risk-taking still be a successful entrepreneur? Give a real example.

Purpose: Surface the limitation of trait-based self-assessment tools — connects to Week 3 on Trait Theory.

🗣️

Activity 2 — "Who is the Entrepreneurial Leader?" Scenario Debate

⏱ 2:40–3:20 · Groups of 4–5 · ~40 min

Facilitator Instructions Assign each group one scenario card below. Groups have 10 min to discuss and classify the leader type (Entrepreneurial / Managerial / Strategic / Mixed). Each group presents in 3 minutes. Then class votes — and debates disagreements.

Task: Read your scenario. Classify the leader's style using the three-way comparison table. Be ready to defend your answer with specific evidence from the case.

Scenario A

Ritika, 26

Co-founder, EdTech Startup

Ritika has Rs. 2 lakhs, two friends helping part-time, and an idea. She makes decisions daily with incomplete data, iterates her app weekly based on 12 beta users, and personally calls every school principal who might be interested.

What type of leader is Ritika? What's the evidence?

Scenario B

Suresh, 48

Operations Head, Pharma MNC

Suresh manages 400 people across three factories. His KPIs are yield efficiency, zero defects, and cost reduction. He follows ISO protocols strictly, holds weekly performance reviews, and escalates decisions above his pay grade.

What type of leader is Suresh? What's the evidence?

Scenario C

Ananya, 55

CEO, Legacy FMCG Brand

Ananya is repositioning a 40-year-old soap brand for Gen-Z. She's making 5-year investments in digital channels, divesting old product lines, and building a new direct-to-consumer capability while the core business still runs.

What type of leader is Ananya? What's the evidence?

Scenario D

Dev, 34

Intrapreneurship Lead, IT Company

Dev leads a 6-person innovation lab inside a 15,000-person company. He pitches ideas upward to get budget, assembles teams across departments without formal authority, and runs MVPs — but within corporate compliance.

Dev is inside a large company. Is he an entrepreneurial leader? What makes him different from Ritika?

Plenary Discussion — After Group Presentations

Two groups classified the same scenario differently. Who's right — or can they both be right? What does that tell us about the boundaries of these categories?
Dev (Scenario D) is an intrapreneur. Does a large company give him an advantage or a disadvantage compared to Ritika?
As companies like Zomato or Ola grow from startup to 5,000 employees — which type of leader does the CEO need to become?
Is it possible for one person to be all three types simultaneously? Or does context force a choice?

🐟

Activity 3 — Fishbowl Debate: "Is every entrepreneur a leader?"

⏱ 3:20–3:50 · Fishbowl format · ~30 min

How to Run a Fishbowl Place 4–5 chairs in the centre of the room (the "fishbowl"). Remaining students sit outside and observe. The inner group debates the proposition. After 8–10 min, a student from outside can tap someone inside to swap places. Rotate 2–3 times. Close with faculty synthesis.

Debate Proposition

"Every entrepreneur is automatically a leader — but not every leader is an entrepreneur."

Side A: Agree | Side B: Disagree

Persona Cards — Role Play Option

Assign these personas to fishbowl participants to deepen the debate:

💻

Solo Developer

Builds and sells an app alone. Revenue: Rs. 3L/year. No team ever.

🏭

Factory Owner

Inherited father's business. Runs it profitably. Never changed the model.

🌱

Social Founder

Runs an NGO with 50 volunteers. No profit motive. Solving clean water access.

📈

VC-Backed CEO

Raised Rs. 50Cr. 200 employees. Growth-focused but increasingly process-driven.

Fishbowl Seed Questions — Faculty uses these to provoke

The solo developer has no followers. Is he a leader? Does Northouse's definition require followers?
The factory owner took no new risks and created no new value. Is he still an entrepreneur?
The NGO founder influences 50 volunteers without paying them. More entrepreneurial than the VC-backed CEO?
At what point does a startup founder become a manager rather than an entrepreneurial leader?
(Closer) — After this debate, revise your original 5-word definition of leadership from the opening hook. What changed?

This brings the session full circle — back to the opening hook question.

🎫

Exit Ticket — 3:50 to 4:00 (Last 10 min)

⏱ Individual · Submitted before leaving · Ungraded

Facilitator Note Students write answers on a slip of paper (or type into a shared form). Collect before they leave. Read a few next class to open Week 2. This is formative feedback for you, not assessment for them.

1️⃣ One thing you learned today that you didn't know before.
2️⃣ One thing you're still confused about — your genuine question.
3️⃣ Complete this sentence: "An entrepreneurial leader is someone who ___________."
4️⃣ One Indian entrepreneur you think we should study as a case in this course — and why.

✦ Week 1 — Key Takeaways

Leadership ≠ Management — Kotter: management copes with complexity; leadership copes with change.

Entrepreneurship ≠ Business Ownership — Schumpeter: it's about innovation and creative destruction, not just starting a shop.

Entrepreneurial Leadership is Distinct — Not just "leadership in a small company." A genuine synthesis demanding unique competencies.

The Three Types Differ Fundamentally — In resource stance, risk approach, authority basis, and decision logic.

Knightian Uncertainty is the Native Context — Entrepreneurs face unmeasurable risk, not just calculated probability.

The Field is Young but Maturing — From Cantillon (1755) to ENTRELEAD (2015): a 260-year intellectual journey.

Self-Study Reflection Questions

These are for individual reflection before Week 2. Not collected.

Think of a leader you admire. Would you also call them entrepreneurial? Why or why not?
Can you think of an example where someone was a successful entrepreneur but a poor leader — or vice versa? What does this tell us about the distinction?
Why did entrepreneurial leadership emerge as a distinct field only in the last 25–30 years, while both traditions are much older?
Which of the three leadership types is most needed in today's Indian economy? Defend your position.
How does "influence without authority" show up in your own life — in student projects, clubs, or internships?

Readings & References

Core Northouse, P. G. — Leadership: Theory and Practice (Latest Edition), Chapter 1: Introduction.
Core Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. — Essentials of Organizational Behavior, Chapter on Leadership.
Supp Kuratko, D. F. (2007). "Entrepreneurial Leadership in the 21st Century." Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(4), 1–11.
Supp Renko, M. et al. (2015). "Understanding and Measuring Entrepreneurial Leadership Style." Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), 54–74.
Supp Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001). "Causation and Effectuation." Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 243–263.

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