“Leadership is sometimes misunderstood as a mystical quality that some people embody and others don’t,” says Harvard Business School Professor Joshua Margolis in the online course Leadership Principles.
In reality, anyone can learn to become an effective leader, manager, negotiator, or change-maker with education and practice.
To equip you with the necessary skills, HBS Online offers seven leadership and management courses: Leadership Principles; Management Essentials; Power and Influence for Positive Impact; Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability; Negotiation Mastery; Strategy Execution; and Organizational Leadership.
Free E-Book: How to Become a More Effective Leader
Access your free e-book today.
DOWNLOAD NOWThe Value of HBS Online Courses
Online courses offer convenience, cost-effectiveness, and help you develop in-demand business skills to benefit your career and organization—and those offered by HBS Online are no exception.
HBS Online’s leadership and management courses can prepare you for leadership experience and business decision-making. A 2022 survey by City Square Associates found that 84 percent of HBS Online learners reported having more confidence making business decisions after taking a course.
Taking an online course can also pay off—literally. In response to another City Square Associates survey of HBS Online learners, 91 percent said their course had a positive impact on their careers. Not only that, 42 percent said HBS Online helped increase their salary by an average $17,000—a 10-times return on investment.
Whether you’re an aspiring manager building a foundation for success or an experienced leader striving to hone or expand your skills, there’s an HBS Online certificate for you. Here’s an overview of each course to help you decide.
Which Leadership & Management Course Is Right for You?
If You’re a New or Aspiring Leader or Manager
Do you want to lead an organization or manage teams? Have you recently earned a promotion and want to bolster your skill set? Start with foundational skills in leadership or management.
Leadership Principles is a six-week course that will empower you to unlock the potential in yourself and others. Taught by HBS professors Anthony Mayo and Joshua Margolis, this course guides you in developing your personal leadership style, provides the tools to mobilize others, and prepares you to pivot and lead in stressful situations.
Management Essentials is right if you want fresh tactics for designing organizational processes, influencing decision-making, and spearheading initiatives that enable your team and organization to be at their best.
This eight-week course is taught by HBS professors Joseph Fuller and David Garvin, who equip you with everything from broad perspectives on management to tools for guiding organizational change.
Related: 5 Critical Steps in the Change Management Process
Power and Influence for Positive Impact is the right course for you if you’re interested in the role power and social influence play in enacting positive change.
Taught by HBS Professor Julie Battilana, this six-week course offers a detailed framework for understanding how power works, guidance for gaining power and influence no matter your role, and how to harness it to positively impact others, your organization, and society at large.
If you’re navigating leadership’s ethical, legal, and economic responsibilities, Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability is the course for you. Taught by HBS Professor Nien-hê Hsieh, this six-week course can help you define and act on your responsibilities to various stakeholder groups, create a culture of ethics and accountability in the workplace, sharpen your ethical decision-making skills, and empower you to lead with integrity.
Related: Ethical Leadership: What Are Your Social and Ethical Responsibilities?
If You’re an Experienced Leader or Manager
If you’re a seasoned leader or manager, consider taking Leadership Principles, Management Essentials, Power and Influence for Positive Impact, or Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability to bolster your foundational skills and gain new perspectives from HBS faculty and business experts from leading companies.
If your goal is to deepen or expand your existing skill set, explore one of our other three courses.
Organizational Leadership is our second course taught by Mayo and Margolis. It can be taken as a follow-up to Leadership Principles or on its own. This seven-week course is right if you’re an experienced team leader who wants to prepare for expanded leadership roles.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to elevate your personal leadership style to apply it to larger teams, influence through other managers, and create organizational alignment by effectively communicating purpose and vision.
Related: 4 Organizational Leadership Skills for Aspiring Executives
If you aim to hone your negotiation skills, Negotiation Mastery is the right choice. Over eight weeks, HBS Professor Michael Wheeler will teach you how to analyze negotiation dynamics, prepare an agile negotiation strategy, de-escalate tensions before they become conflicts, and maximize value in agreements.
Finally, Strategy Execution rounds out our leadership and management offerings. This eight-week course taught by HBS Professor Robert Simons prepares you for what many managers call the strategy process’s most challenging aspect: implementation.
You’ll learn the skills to tackle common execution challenges, create an organizational culture that fosters successful strategy execution, and apply frameworks for managing risk, allocating resources, and measuring your strategies' success.
What to Expect from an HBS Online Leadership & Management Course
No matter which leadership and management course you take, there are several hallmarks of HBS Online's learning experience you can expect:
- World-class faculty
- Self-paced online coursework with deadlines
- Engaging, interactive content
- Social interaction with fellow learners
- Real examples of business challenges faced by experts
- The HBS Online Community, a global network of business professionals
- Career growth and a positive return on investment
Select the course that best aligns with your experience level and goals, knowing you’ll build knowledge that can make you a better leader or manager.
If you still aren't sure which HBS Online leadership and management course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals. If multiple programs interest you, consider pursuing a Learning Track, which enables you to take three courses within the leadership and management subject area.
This post was updated on October 4, 2023. It was originally published on August 12, 2022.
