Businesses today understand that an employee’s ability to lead others can make a massive difference to their organization.
Leadership training can mean the difference between being an average employee and an industry leader who can drive success. Whether you’re a small business owner or a project manager working with various departments, you can never go wrong with enhancing your leadership skills.
And what better place to start than from the comfort of your home? Whether you’re only starting to develop your skills or already have experience in leadership roles, these are some of the best leadership courses to consider.
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What to Expect From the Best Leadership Courses
It’s important to understand that online leadership courses aren’t about reaching a final destination, it’s about building upon the skills that make a leader great.
There is no set structure that a leadership course should follow but it’s recommended that you at least select courses that are created and lead by industry experts – they know best afterall.
The leadership courses listed below will help you learn what skills are needed to be a great leader. They’ll also teach you how to be more mindful of yourself and your surroundings.
You can also expect to connect with other leaders on the same journey and discuss your concerns or challenges with them.
Finally, a leadership course will help you learn how to become more influential. As a leader, you sometimes have to lead those not directly reporting to you. You’ll learn how to influence a broader set of individuals who you may not personally know.
Best Online Leadership Courses in 2021
1. Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization – Coursera
- Cost: $49 per month
- Duration: 8 months
- Qualification: Beginner level, shareable certificate
This popular Coursera leadership course is part of the Gies College of Business online program suite. In the Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization course, you’ll gain skills such as strategic management, negotiation, business strategy, group decision-making, managing motivation, change management, and many others. The course is 100% online, and it’s mainly suitable for beginners.
The course is part of a series of seven leadership courses, including foundations and applications of everyday leadership, designing and managing the organization, business and corporate strategy, and more. The classes are taught by Illinois University professors and after completing the program, participants receive a leadership certificate.
2. Leadership: Practical Leadership Skills – Udemy
- Cost: $84.99
- Duration: +-3 hours
- Qualification: Beginner level, shareable certificate
Leadership: Practical Leadership Skills is Udemy’s most popular leadership course. It’s designed for beginner managers and requires no prior knowledge. The course is taught by Chris Croft, a renowned author who’s been teaching core leadership skills for over 20 years.
The course covers areas such as delegating, motivating the team, exploring different leadership styles, planning the future of a business, and more. Learners can also access plenty of real-life examples and practical tools for achieving better results. The course includes video material, downloadable resources, and lifetime access.
3. Free Leadership Training for Nonprofit Professionals – Nonprofit Ready
- Cost: Free
- Duration: 3 hours
- Qualification: Certificate of completion
This three-hour online course is our best pick for free leadership courses. It offers a brief overview of the key management skills, team development, leadership plan creation, and strategies for hiring successful employees.
If you’re just entering the leadership and management field, this may be the perfect course to start off with. This program also provides over 40 online leadership resources to point you in the right direction after completing the course. Overall, Nonprofit Ready offers over 500 free learning resources for the non-profit sector and is certainly worth exploring.
4. Leadership Development Program (LDP) – Center for Creative Leadership
- Cost: $7,600
- Duration: 5 days
- Qualification: Credential credits & digital completion badges
The Center for Creative Leadership provides one of the most comprehensive leadership programs online. Their programs are suited for mid-level and senior leaders, individual contributors, frontline leaders, and C-suite executives.
The Leadership Development Program is the longest-running program of its kind in the world.
The program offers a feedback-intense, highly personal, and transformative online learning experience, allowing you to get a clear perspective of who you are as a leader. The focus is on bridging the gap between front lines and senior management, leading across boundaries, learning how to accelerate team performance and more.
5. Business Leadership by the University of Queensland – edX
- Cost: $1,347.30 for the full program
- Duration: 11 months
- Qualification: MicroMasters certificate
This course is ideal for those who aspire to become effective leaders within their organization. In the Business Leadership course, field experts deliver useful tips combined with theory to help participants go beyond classroom knowledge.
The course consists of five graduate-level modules, covering the pros and cons of different leadership styles, teaching how to lead complex modern-day organizations by building decision-making skills, team management, and more.
This program is packed with interactive quizzes and lessons, making the classes more engaging and easier to follow. Participants who complete the graded assessments and practical lessons get to earn the course completion badge as well as a MicroMasters certificate.
6. Howard Schultz: Business Leadership – MasterClass
- Cost: From $18 per month, billed annually
- Duration: +-2 hours
- Qualification: Certificate of completion
Who better to learn leadership skills from than the former CEO of a world-renowned company? Howard Schultz led Starbucks for over 20 years. In this 90-minute video series, he teaches what it takes to be a great leader.
Those eager to build their own company will find simple rules to follow to drive success. The series also tackles how to build your employees’ skills to create a valuable team.
This course offers a unique opportunity to learn about the challenges of being a leader from the first-hand experience of a world-renowned entrepreneur.
7. Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership – Emeritus
- Cost: $3,000
- Duration: 6 months
- Qualification: Emeritus Institute of Management digital diploma
The Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership is suitable for beginner and intermediate level leaders looking for a comprehensive online leadership course. With 220 video lectures, 30 assignments, 16 discussions, ten live webinars, and six case studies, you’ll get one of the most detailed leadership education available online.
The program consists of four modules covering topics such as personal leadership and success, leading people, teams, and organizations, and change management. The teacher-student ratio is 1:300 and students work on a capstone project at the end of the course to get a certificate of completion.
8. Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles – edX
- Cost: Free (no certificate), $139 (with certificate)
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Qualification: Shareable certificate of completion
This introductory course explores strategies that today’s top leaders need to be aware of. It covers how to handle high-level organizational systems and taking action on the work that affects all stakeholders.
The course participants get to learn about the diagnostic-and-action process in leadership and explore the strategies for identifying and unbundling complex challenges, understanding formal and informal authority, building and renewing trust relationships, approaching conflict, and more. The syllabus consists of four modules and is available at no cost.
9. Organizational Leadership Specialization by Northwestern University – Coursera
- Cost: $49 per month after 7-day free trial
- Duration: 7 months
- Qualification: Shareable certificate
The intermediate-level leadership specialization helps people learn how to lead in volatile business environments. The course tackles key strategies for leading organizational changes as well as leveraging different functions and roles.
Some of the skills taught include effective communication, motivating teams, influencing others, understanding customer analytics, leadership through marketing, and more. The instructors are professors from communication and management schools. All classes include video lessons, practice quizzes, reading material, as well as graded assignments with feedback.
Conclusion
Online leadership courses are an effective way to boost your leadership skills in a short time. The online leadership courses with certificates are ideal for candidates seeking management roles, and the internet is packed with great options.
Starting from short introductory three-hour courses up to six-month programs, this article covered a variety of leadership courses to suit most needs and budgets.
If you plan on taking a leadership course to kickstart your career in management, note that university-graded classes may be more relevant to future employers than the free, short-paced options.
However, you can always start with the free options and get an overview of what you can expect before investing in more comprehensive programs. Regardless of your choice, all courses on this list will provide you with valuable insights from the world of modern-day leaders.