When it comes to business and the professional world, great managers are a rare find. Even the most inspiring leaders are not born with excellent communication and interpersonal skills – they learned and developed these over time. If you are looking for a great career in a supervisory or decision-making role, you should first pursue training and education in the field. Enter, a Management and Leadership degree.

By earning a management and leadership degree, you will be well ahead of the curve. You will be gaining the skills needed to inspire innovation, organizational change, and talent development. You will also master desirable skills that employees are looking for, such as networking and communication, employee development, ethics, leadership, mentoring, supervision, teamwork, and facilitating change.

As you consider this exciting step toward landing your dream job, you may be weighing your options. One of the biggest factors to consider before diving into college is inevitably your time. How much time can you commit to class? How can the time spent in the classroom work with your current schedule, particularly if you are already working full- or part-time? If you have children, you are likely balancing work and family time. How can you add several courses on your plate? Enter, online leadership courses.

Online leadership degrees are a positive option for aspiring students in this busy world of ours. By taking leadership courses online, you are granted the freedom to study on your own schedule. Need to keep up with your 9 to 5? No problem. Do you want to enjoy your mornings and afternoon bus pick-ups with your little ones? That will work. With an online management program, you can earn your degree in any place and on your own time.

Whether you are looking to advance your career or start a new chapter, a leadership degree can provide you with the tools you need for success, while impressing your future (or current) employer. If you are wondering how an online degree might look on the old résumé, rest assured there is no cause for concern. In our digitally-driven age, many well-respected universities today offer online programs, and most employers happily welcome them as a qualifier! In fact, obtaining your online degree from an accredited, non-profit school like Goodwin College can actually impress a potential employer, showing that you are a master of time management and committed to your calling: You earned a Bachelor’s degree, while balancing work and/or family obligations, to further and fulfill your career goals.

As you consider taking your leadership classes online, you may also wonder exactly how they work. Online leadership courses will vary school to school. At Goodwin College, all classes in the online Management and Leadership program are livestreamed, so that you can tune-in, in real-time, in the comfort of your own home. These livestreamed lectures allow you, your professors, and your peers to engage remotely in class discussions through interactive online discussion boards. Can’t log in when the class is being livestreamed? That’s okay, too. In-class lectures are recorded so that you can access your leadership classes on-demand, whenever and wherever works for you.

Some of the leadership classes available online at Goodwin College include:

• Team Dynamics and Individual Skills

This course looks at team processes, development, diversity, and conflict management within the team. Students learn and practice techniques for setting group goals, creating safe work environments, managing groups effectively, and encouraging the formation of group identity. In this course, students also identify ethical concerns relating to teams, which is a key point of knowledge for aspiring leaders.

• Leadership Theory and Practice in the Organization

In this course, students explore the dynamics and responsibilities of each role of an organization – the follower, team member, and leader – as well as the situational and ethical applications that may be encountered within it. This exploration involves conducting personal inventories and assessments, to enhance self-awareness and discover one’s personal leadership style. 

• Talent Development and Performance Assessment

In this course, emphasis is placed on how leaders can affect behavior and results in a company, through a positive performance assessment process. Students learn how to develop personal development plans for career advancement, including how to develop their talent. In addition, students learn how behavior, competency, and productivity can support organizational goals. The ethical standards of performance assessment are also discussed.

• Capstone: Strategic Planning for Organizations

In this online capstone course, students examine the process of strategic planning for long-term viability of an organization, and the dynamics that drive the strategic planning process. This course offers an essential piece of knowledge for aspiring leaders, as they learn to develop a vision for an organization, define its goals in light of a mission, and how to execute a strategic plan (involving the entire organization). Developing critical, research-based, decision-making skills, as integral to the strategic planning process, is also a focal element of this course.

Goodwin College is committed to preparing students to be both productive and successful, and this level of commitment is carried over to our online leadership program. We make it possible for students from all over to earn their degrees while balancing work, family, and other responsibilities. Whether you’re looking to change careers or advance further in your current job, we can help you achieve your dream. Learn more about our online Management and Leadership program by calling 800-889-3282 or visit us online!