Fundamentals of Leadership Certificate Program, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies

Program Overview:

Fundamentals of Leadership

In this program, students learn both the skills of leadership as well as their personal leadership strengths. Each course is designed with a self-assessment module and then continues with practical ways to implement the leadership strategies discussed. This setup allows students to learn to be effective leaders and to be able to explore leadership and management either on-the-job or in an additional certificate or graduate program. To achieve these results, students will be taught by industry leaders, experienced coaches and change management professionals who will cover topics including leading organizations, managing change, mentoring emerging leaders and building effective teams.

Program Goals

After completing the program, students will be able to:

Describe their strengths and blind spots
Determine leadership behaviors that align with business strategy
Explain the benefits of creating a “learning from mistakes” culture
Evaluate the success of change case studies according to a change model or framework
Recognize conflict resolution styles in themselves and others

Joint/Custom Certificate

Earn a joint certificate by combining this certificate with any other Professional Development Program offered by SCS. Students who select this option should let the PDP academic coordinator know of their intent early before they complete their first certificate by emailing pdp@northwestern.edu. Some examples of the joint certificate may be:

Project Management Leadership
Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizational Leadership
Museum Leadership

Who Should Attend

The program targets new managers who have recently been promoted and want to groom themselves for further advancement. Corporations may wish to send groups of new managers to the program in order to foster a consistent leadership culture in their newly emerging directors and managers. Mid-career and long-time managers are also welcome to take these courses and will benefit from both the foundational knowledge and interacting with a diverse array of leaders at all levels in their career.

Certificate Requirements

The Fundamentals of Leadership certificate consists of three required courses that may be taken in any order.

Core Courses:

LEAD_ART 200-0 Leadership and Org Strat
Fundamental to leadership effectiveness are the ability to think strategically, and understanding of your own leadership style, strengths, and areas for development. This course addresses both areas in a practical way so that you will be able to apply concepts immediately to your current work situation. The course includes basics in strategic planning, scenario planning, systems thinking, and culture awareness; And integrates awareness of your own leadership style into a basic development strategy for your improvement.

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LEAD_ART 202-0 Leaders as Change Agents

The only constant is change, so how can leaders prepare for and execute sustainable change in their organizations? This class will introduce students to change models and focus on designing, leading and influencing change. Modules will include designing change with people in mind, communicating through the change process, and change agents as influencers.

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LEAD_ART 204-0 Developing People and Teams

Organizational leaders do not achieve their goals by themselves. Effective leaders develop people in a way that promotes individual growth, while improving business outcomes. Students will look at individual development including coaching, mentoring and motivation theory. Team development will be explored through the topics of facilitation and collaboration. Participants will also have the opportunity to assess their personal style of conflict resolution.

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Elective Courses:

LEAD_ART 206-0 Tech Planning for Leaders
This course will teach leaders planning, analysis and communication techniques for use in developing strategic plans in increasingly uncertain, dynamic and complex operating environments where quantitative analysis may not work well. Topics include implications of Big Data (and associated analytics), emerging and converging technologies, ecosystem/value chain changes, stakeholder management, and the growing importance of standards management. Students will learn largely through hands-on exercises and by integrating a set of tools including mindmapping, domain mapping, roadmapping and scenario planning.

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LEAD_ART 207-DL Sustainability Leadership

Sustainability efforts in the workplace are a growing field, but many times, businesses don’t always see the benefit to the bottom line. This course is designed to help translate sustainable practices into clear, usable and profitable business strategies. Techniques to lead change and promote sustainable initiatives to company leadership and key stakeholders will be explored in both for-profit and non-profit settings.

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Northwestern University SCHOOL OF CONTINUING STUDIES