Best Leadership Courses - Q2 2023
In 2022, LinkedIn ranked Leadership 6th among the top 20 skills that employers are looking for. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment in management occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all jobs, resulting in about 883,900 new jobs over the next decade. Management roles typically pay well, with a median salary that averages $103,000. Earning a reputable certificate in leadership skills is a good bet to further your career.
Our Expert Picks
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Content Coverage (4/5)
This course is structured in 3 modules comprised of video lectures, readings, and computer-graded quizzes. The course lacks a few important topics, such as ethics, the importance of financial governance, mentoring, managing conflict, competitive analysis, and strategic planning. The sequence is well-structured and allows the learner to build on concepts easily.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
The lead instructor for this course has impressive credentials, having earned his Ph.D., and has extensive practical experience. The assisting lecturers are highly professional and are very knowledgeable in their disciplines. The instructors do an excellent job in keeping students engaged in the course and the material being covered.
The instructor uses a wide variety of PowerPoint slides that help the learner follow the lecture.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Three quizzes comprised of true/false, multiple-choice, and essay questions are offered in the middle and end of each module in this course. Quizzes are automatically graded and learners receive immediate results upon submission. Learners must receive a score of 66% in order to earn credit on the quizzes but can take up to three attempts every 8 hours.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (4/5)
This course offers 3 reflection assignments that are graded by peers and not the instructor. There is an abundance of reading assignments that will help students with additional learning material in the subject matter being discussed in each module. No discussions are offered in this class but would be helpful if they were a part of the course.
Learners are also expected to review and grade submissions from their peers. For conscientious learners, this can be an excellent learning tool. However, neither the submissions nor the peer reviews are monitored by the instructor.
Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)
The course is provided by Coursera and is offered by The Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University. Northwestern is a prestigious, private university and The Kellogg School of Management is world-renowned.
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Our Expert Review
Content Coverage (4/5)
This is an advanced course regarding leading in times of crisis. The course is relatively short, with a length of only 4 modules. The scope of this course is outstanding if you are interested in the basics of crisis management. Some of the topics we consider to be important, such as compassion, empathy, coaching, innovations, strategic planning, and competitive analysis, are not covered. That said, the course is extremely well structured and is appropriate for the scope and sequence of the material covered. Many of the topics are very complex and require an in-depth understanding of management and leadership.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
The lead professor and the lecturers who assisted in the course are highly professional and are very knowledgeable in their disciplines. Having several presenters gives a wide variety of delivery and perspectives. The instructors do an excellent job of keeping students engaged in the course and the material being covered. During the videos, suggestions, and tips appear to test the learner’s knowledge of what has been covered. This breaks up the videos in an engaging way. Well-designed visuals, graphs, and animations are used consistently throughout the lectures to aid the learner on more complex topics.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Quizzes comprised of 10 true/false and multiple-choice questions are offered at the end of each module. The quizzes are computer-graded and learners receive immediate results upon submission. To pass each of the quizzes, learners must answer 80% of the questions correctly. Three attempts are offered every 8 hours. The course developers did a thorough job covering the information that was shared in each of the modules.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (3/5)
There are discussion prompts in each module where students answer assay questions. However, they are not graded by the instructor. There is an abundance of reading assignments that will help students with additional learning material in the subject matter being discussed in each module. The lack of feedback limits the quality of learning a student achieves in a course.
Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)
The course is provided by Coursera and is offered by the University of Michigan. The U of M has an outstanding reputation for the Stephen Ross Business School. The university was founded in 1817 and is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Content Coverage (4/5)
This is a beginner’s course in leading teams that includes, but is not limited to team design, diversity, demographics, setting goals for teams, decision-making in teams, and managing conflict. This is a short class with a length of only 4 modules. The scope of this course is outstanding if you are interested in the basics of leading teams. Some of the topics that you might find in a more advanced leadership course would likely include compassion and empathy, coaching, innovations, strategic planning, and competitive analysis. However, the sequence of the information delivered flows well.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
The lead instructor for this course has impressive credentials, having earned his Ph.D. and extensive practical experience. The instructors are very engaging, confident, and knowledgeable in this discipline.
There are many real-world stories and situations that are told in the video and reading materials. The course is designed in a side-by-side view, with one side showing the instructor while the other side displays slides, graphics, and code to illustrate the concepts being covered.
Most of the videos are between 2 and 10 minutes. The videos are of high quality and production.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Quizzes containing 10 true/false and multiple-choice questions are consistently offered at the end of each module in this course. The quizzes are automatically graded and learners receive immediate feedback after submitting the quizzes.
To pass each of the quizzes, learners must answer 80% of the questions correctly. Three attempts are offered every 8 hours.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (2/5)
Unfortunately, this course only offers 1 assignment that is graded by peers and not the instructor. However, there are numerous reading assignments that include links to articles and other resources.
Learners are also expected to review the submissions of their peers. For conscientious learners, this can be an excellent learning tool. However, neither the submissions nor the reviews are supervised by the instructor.
Certificate Brand Quality (5/5)
The course is provided by Coursera and is offered by the University of Michigan. The U of M has an outstanding reputation for the Stephen Ross Business School. The university was founded in 1817 and is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Content Coverage (4/5)
The course is sequenced into 6 modules, each including lectures, readings, exercises, and computer-graded quizzes. The course structure is appropriate for the scope and sequence for the material covered but lacks a few important topics such as safety in the workplace, leading with compassion and empathy, ethics, adapting to change, competitive analysis, and managing conflict. The sequence of the information delivered flows well.
Lecture Quality (3/5)
The lecturer for this course has impressive credentials, having earned his Ph.D. from Copenhagen Business School, and has extensive practical experience. The speaker is an average speaker, but not exciting or enthusiastic. The course is designed in a side-by-side view, with one side showing the instructor while the other side displays slides, graphics, and code to illustrate the concepts being covered. Lectures in this course tend to be between 2 and 5 minutes and are separated into logical points to allow the learner many breaks as they learn.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Quizzes are consistently offered at the end of each module in this course. The quizzes include true/false and multiple-choice questions to test the learner’s knowledge of the course content. The quizzes are computer graded. You can retake the quiz in order to pass. The quizzes are not timed. There were more than enough questions in each quiz to test the learner’s knowledge of the material covered in the module.
There are 5 questions per quiz. In order to pass a quiz a student must receive at least 80%. You can retake the quiz to pass.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (2/5)
The developers of the course included several links to many useful sites and reading resources that are directly related to the topics covered in the class. This course also includes case study analysis assignments, but the cases are not graded by the instructor or peers. There are discussion prompts in each module where students answer essay questions. However, they are not graded by the instructor. There are no written assignments or exercises in this course.
Certificate Brand Quality (4/5)
This course is offered by Copenhagen Business School through Coursera. Copenhagen Business School is accredited and well-respected, though not ranked particularly high among business schools internationally. Coursera is one of the most well-known online learning platforms.
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Our Expert Review
Content Coverage (5/5)
This course thoroughly covers all of the aspects that we believe are critical for training in Leadership. In addition, the course has useful and nuanced segments for any manager, such as dealing with a bad boss, getting a team unstuck, managing introverts, and many others. The sequence of topics is presented in a way that allows learners to build concepts nicely.
Lecture Quality (5/5)
Lectures in this course consist of the instructor addressing the learner accompanied by presentation slides with useful graphics, text, and animations. The scripts for each section are well-organized and the graphics and animations are well-designed. Each lecture is brief (less than 4 minutes) to accommodate learners who have shorter periods of study time.
Quiz Quality (5/5)
Each module ends with a quiz containing multiple-choice questions that test the learner’s knowledge of all topics covered in the module. The questions are all well-written with plausible answers and the number of questions is appropriate for the material covered. Learners are presented with one question at a time and provided immediate feedback upon submission of the question. When the learner answers a question incorrectly, this feedback includes links back to the lecture covered by the question. Learners must answer all questions to earn credit for the quiz, but there is no minimum grade required. Learners can retake the quiz as often as they wish.
Assignment/Exercise Quality (1/5)
There are no assignments offered in this course.
Certificate Brand Quality (4/5)
The certificate is offered by LinkedIn Learning. Formerly Lynda Learning, this is a very well-respected corporate learning platform. LinkedIn Learning certificates can be automatically added to Learner’s LinkedIn profile. Given the notoriety of Lynda Learning and LinkedIn, this certificate is likely to impress employers.
Topics to Look For in a Leadership Course
- Influence, persuasion, and building consensus
- Safety and creating safe workplaces
- Leading with compassion and empathy
- Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
- Ethics in leadership
- Resilience and adapting to change
- Developing trust and relationships
- Fostering employee and team engagement
- Having a growth mindset
- Strategic planning and decision-making
- Competitive analysis
- Identifying areas for innovation
- Developing effective partnerships
- Navigating corporate politics and bureaucracy
- Managing conflict
- Mentoring and coaching
- Understanding the importance of financial governance
The Major Online Learning Platforms
Each online learning platform is unique. Some specialize in certain types of content, some partner with major universities or corporations to develop content, and some have special learning features. While not exhaustive, the list below includes the major online platforms whose courses we feature.
Pros / Cons
Pros: Certificates often are offered from major universities or corporations.
Cons: The quality of course content and features available varies dramatically between courses.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Courses are very similar to those offered in colleges.
Cons: The quality of content and features offered varies dramatically between learning programs.
Cost
$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: A focus on microlearning with consistently high-quality content. Consistent use of quizzes throughout all courses.
Cons: Pricing is skewed toward annual subscriptions, which is far more content (and cost) than most learners need within a year.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Labs offer a means of gaining practical experience in technical skills.
Cons: There are no incremental quizzes or ways to test learners on specific topics.
Cost
$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Udemy tends to be one of the more affordable options for individuals looking to learn specific technical skills.
Cons: Highly inconsistent quality between courses.
Cost
$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Consistent, high-quality micro-content that focuses on practical exercises.
Cons: The catalog is somewhat limited compared to other vendors on this list.
Cost
$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Many free online classes are offered. Live online classroom experiences are offered for some of their courses.
Cons: Variable quality of courses, with some courses having relatively low quality.
Cost
$$$$$
Pros / Cons
Pros: Skillshare has a large library of courses related to creative skills.
Cons: Most courses are just a series of lectures with no interactivity, quizzing, or opportunities to practice concepts.
Cost
$$$
For more information, check out our detailed post on the best online course platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are leadership and management the same?
No. Leadership is about inspiring and guiding people towards a shared vision or goal, while management involves organizing and supervising people and resources to accomplish specific tasks or objectives. Leadership is a key skill for most managers, however.
Can leadership be taught?
Yes. Leadership can be taught to some extent through training, mentoring, education, and practical experience. Some individuals may have inherent traits that lend themselves to effective leadership, such as emotional intelligence, charisma, decisiveness, and a strong moral compass. Additionally, the development of leadership skills is an ongoing process that requires continuous self-reflection and growth.
What are leadership qualities?
Some common leadership qualities include:
- Visionary thinking
- Emotional intelligence
- Good communication skills
- Honesty and integrity
- Decisiveness
- Empathy and compassion
- Adaptability
- Confidence
- Strategic thinking
- Inspiring and motivating others
How do you become a leader?
There is no one path to becoming a leader, but below are a few practices that can help you on your journey:
- Developing self-awareness and self-confidence.
- Gaining experience and knowledge in your field.
- Communicating effectively and building strong relationships.
- Demonstrating a positive attitude and strong work ethic.
- Embracing change and showing adaptability.
- Inspire and motivate others through your actions, communications, and decisions.
- Setting clear goals and consistently making good decisions.
- Leading by example and holding yourself accountable.