BUAD 417 · Smith GLS · Executives in Residence
Honors Human Centered Leadership Seminar: Executives in Residence
A senior leadership seminar built around Haslam’s Executives in Residence program. You meet founders and C-suite leaders, research them and their companies, host their visits, and learn how real executives lead people and make decisions.
About the course
BUAD 417 is part of the Human Centered Consulting Certificate, taken alongside the IB 407, BUAD 317 and BUAD 497 sequence rather than in a set order. It is taught by Lane Morris, PhD, who directs Haslam’s Executives in Residence program. For more than 50 years, the program has brought senior business leaders to campus to teach, mentor and spend time with students.
The course approaches human-centered leadership the way it is practiced: through conversations with leaders from many industries about how they lead people, build organizations and make hard decisions.
What you will do
- Meet senior executives. Learn from founders and C-suite leaders in class and in small-group mentoring sessions.
- Brief the class. Your team researches a visiting executive and their company (career, industry, strategy, finances and culture) and prepares everyone for the visit.
- Host the visit. Your team helps run the executive’s time on campus, including introducing them to the class.
- Study how great leaders lead. Teams present leadership lessons from interviews with well-known CEOs and founders.
- Interview two leaders yourself. One leader you admire and one Smith GLS alum, then share what you learned.
- Keep a leadership journal. A short weekly entry on the leadership lessons you notice in class and in the rest of your life.
Course goals
- Interact with senior executives at the founder and C-suite level.
- Learn the principles and best practices for leading people and organizations.
- See how successful leaders make important decisions in a complex, global economy.
- Learn from Smith GLS alumni about moving from college into early careers.
- Decide what these lessons mean for your own career.
Topics
Each topic explains the idea in plain language and gives you an interactive tool to practice with.
Topic 01
The Executive and Company Briefing
Research the guest and their company across six blocks, check every number, and brief the class with a clear so what.
Lab: Briefing Builder
Topic 02
Hosting an Executive and Making Mentoring Count
Plan the visit, write a 45 to 90 second introduction, handle schedule changes and bring mentoring questions worth asking.
Lab: Host Plan and Introduction Builder
Topic 03
The Leader's DNA: Learning from Great Leaders
Read great leaders through six lenses and turn their stories into lessons with evidence and a plan to use them.
Lab: Leadership Lesson Extractor
Topic 04
Interviewing an Admired Leader and a Smith GLS Alum
Nominate two leaders with a clear rationale, plan open questions and outline a 3 to 5 minute talk on what you learned.
Lab: Interview Planner
Topic 05
The Leadership Reflection Journal
Write weekly entries with a specific moment, a real lesson and one action, then look back for patterns.
Lab: Journal Entry Coach
Topic 06
Executive Presence: Showing Up Like a Leader
Break the presentation habits executives notice, then nail punctuality, attire and full engagement.
Lab: Presentation Habit Self-Check
Related Smith GLS topics: Leading Through Design, Stakeholder Interviews, Consent and Ethics and Feedback, Imposter Syndrome and Blind Spots.
Dates, deadlines and grades are in Canvas.
Frequently asked questions
What is BUAD 417 Executives in Residence?
BUAD 417 is an honors human-centered leadership seminar for Smith Global Leadership Scholars at the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business. Students learn from senior executives who visit through the Executives in Residence program, research and host those visits, interview leaders and alumni, and keep a weekly leadership reflection journal. It is taught by Lane Morris, PhD.
What is the Haslam Executives in Residence program?
The Executives in Residence program has brought senior business leaders to the Haslam College of Business for more than 50 years, since 1974. Visiting executives speak to classes, mentor students in small groups and meet with college leaders. Lane Morris, PhD has directed the program since 2023.
Is BUAD 417 part of the Human Centered Consulting Certificate?
Yes. BUAD 417 is part of the Human Centered Consulting Certificate for Smith GLS students. It is taken alongside the IB 407, BUAD 317 and BUAD 497 sequence rather than in a fixed order.