Fundamental Group Work for Leadership I F

Academic unit or major

Academy for Leadership

Instructor(s)

Keisuke Yamada / Yuri Matsuzaki / Mayu Watanabe

Class Format

Exercise (Face-to-face)

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

Intensive

Class

F

Course Code

TAL.W502

Number of credits

020

Course offered

2026

Offered quarter

3-4Q

Syllabus updated

Sep 11, 2026

Language

English

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

This course aims to cultivate the basis of students' abilities to recognize the role that they should play in a team of different expertise, to present vision by themselves or to share the vision of others, to build consensus with the community of stakeholders, and to make the consensus into a concrete shape by using his/her own expertise and abilities of others. In addition, each student will present in class what they have done so far with their own leadership and how they would like to develop these in the future, and will receive feedback from students and faculty with different specialties.

Course description and aims

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
(1) learn communication tools that work effectively in the multidisciplinary teams; set personal learning goals to be an effective team member.
(2) develop relationship-building skills to connect with people from different disciplines; logical explanation, effective presentation.
(3) develop practical skills to realize one's idea and present the new value; planning, concept-building, execution.
(4) set the long-term goal achieved by taking leadership, with clear motivation.

Keywords

Leadership/Followership, Consensus Building

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

1. Select and participate in 2 or more kinds of workshops from the categories below, ensuring that the total participation points equal 13 or more：

For details—including schedules and languages of instruction—will be informed in the briefing session held in the beginning of the term or the "Entrepreneurship Workshops" page on the ToTAL website(https://www.total.titech.ac.jp/en/lead_innov/). Please note that workshops are subject to change, cancellation, or addition without prior notice; therefore, be sure to check the ToTAL website regularly for the latest information.

・INNOVATION:
(1) Design Thinking For Your Creative Practice (2 sessions) : 3 tutors from Stanford University/d.school are invited from the US and give us speedy and enjoyable workshop to make students understand/experience concept of "Creative Confidence" and "User Centric".
(2) Future Foresight (3 sessions) : Using methods such as back casting, horizon scanning, and forced thinking, we design the future society 10-15 years from now.
(3) EGAKU (1 session) : By creating art (abstract paintings) and appreciating the work of others, participants will develop creative communication skills, become aware of unconscious bias, and promote self-awareness
(4) Idea-Thon (2 sessions) : Creating new business ideas by utilizing Design Thinking methodology
(5) Systemic Design (1 session) : We view complex things and issues as systems, approach them from multiple perspectives, and aim to fundamentally solve problems
(6) Co-Creation Workshop with Need-Knowers (2 sessions) : This workshop will cover the fundamental theories of co-creation design and, together with Need-Knowers, will foster the generation of ideas that transform problems into value through co-creation design.
(7) AI literacy for the Future of Work (2 sessions) : In this hands-on AI literacy workshop, participants train small-scale language models from scratch as well as design their own prototypes of LLM-based agents for future professional scenarios.
(8) A Business Co-Creation Ideathon to Turn Rwanda’s "Raw Questions" into Value : Students will develop business ideas based on the challenges they identified during their short-term stay.

・INITIATIVE:
(1) Non-Violent Communication (2 sessions) : Learn practical nonviolent communication, identifying the other person's needs, making your own requests, and reaching an agreement
(2) Tsutaeru Lounge (3 sessions) : This student-led peer-teaching program uses games and lectures to cultivate logical thinking and persuasive skills.
(3) Debate Club (7 sessions) : Enjoy debating while honing foundational argumentation and diverse perspectives.
(4) Project Tuning in the AI Era (2 sessions) : A dialogue-based workshop on understanding the challenges of projects in the AI era through the lens of conflict
(5) Leadership Core Program (4 sessions) : Learn the fundamentals of leadership through dialogue, experience-based learning games, idea generation activities, and a consensus building work.
(6) Consensus Building and Compassion (2 sessions) : Improve your communication skills through role-playing in negotiation and mediation.
(7) Thinking About Money Through Dialogue and Simulation Games (1 session) : Starting from our everyday experiences with money, we will explore what matters to us and how the choices we make are connected to other people and society.

・MOTIVATION:
(1) Book Dialogue for Leadership (Japanese) (2 sessions): Participants will share the topic of books (in Japanese) and create summaries to share.
(2) Book Dialogue for Leadership (English) (2 sessions) : Participants will share the topic of books (in English) and create summaries to share
(3) Peer Coaching (1 session) : Getting to know yourself through dialogue with others.
(4) Self-Expression Workshop Starting with Creative Work (2 sessions) : In this workshop, you will create artwork based on several familiar themes, share them with other participants, and engage in dialogue. The goal is to build confidence in expressing your ideas and yourself through the creative process.
(5) Workshop on Exploring Values for Career Choice (2 sessions) : In this workshop, you will reflect on your past experiences and values. Through dialogue with others, you can explore the values that will help you choose your future career.
(6) Empower You Program (7 sessions) : A dynamic and transformative workshop series designed to foster self-discovery and personal development among university students.

2. Each workshop has a capacity limit to maximize its effectiveness, and once capacity is reached, selection will be made (if you are not selected, you can choose another workshop). Be sure to attend any workshops you plan to participate in. If you absolutely cannot attend, please consult with the instructor in charge beforehand.

3.Workshops are basically small groups where participants work together while communicating with each other. The theme and goal will be presented at each workshop.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

Textbook(s)

Course materials will be provided during class.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Course materials will be provided during class.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students will be assessed on the achievement of the learning outcomes as well as on the rationality of discussion and contribution to collaboration work.

Related courses

• TAL.W503 ： Fundamental Group Work for Leadership II
• TAL.W504 ： Master’s Practical Group Work for Leadership I
• TAL.W602 ： Doctoral Practical Group Work for Leadership I
• TAL.W612 ： Advanced Group Work for Leadership I
• TAL.W613 ： Advanced Group Work for Leadership II
• LAH.C401 ： Leadership Workshop
• TAL.W401 ： Introduction to Leadership

Prerequisites

None

Other

The Graduate Attribute of this course: GA0M, GA1M