What do the Best Online Leadership and Management Courses Offer?

A lot of people in casual usage often conflate the terms leadership and management to mean the same thing. But if you were to speak to any management gurus or most corporate CEOs, you will quickly realize that there is a difference between leadership and management skills. In all respects, leadership and management are indeed part of the same coin – however, in many ways they represent the two opposite faces of that coin.

If you are one of those individuals scratching your head wondering what the difference between leadership and management is, don’t worry, you may not be alone. We list a few key differences between leadership and management skills that will help make the distinction clear. Leaders are visionaries who inspire others to go above and beyond. They are great motivators and coaches, always looking to develop future leadership talent. Leaders are continuously learning and adapting to changes in the marketplace. They have a much broader outlook on organizational development. Managerial skills, on the other hand, tend to be narrower in focus. Managers drive organizational growth through excellence in planning, organizing, and controlling various facets of their organizations.

The most intriguing thing that people want to learn from leadership and management courses is whether they themselves possess traits of a leader or a manager. It is remarkable if these skills are inherent in you, but the good news is that leadership and management skills are learnable. There are several free online leadership courses that can help individuals go through leadership and management training. Several other leadership and management courses are available through top institutions from around the world as part of their offering on leadership courses online.

We list out below some of the leadership and management courses that we think are amongst the best in the world. Many of these leadership courses online are offered by the e-learning branches of the world’s top business schools. As such, anyone around the world can get their hands on online leadership training from the best names in the business, without ever having to move away from their computer screen.

Harvard

When it comes to the business of business, the most revered name out there is Harvard. Harvard is a brand in itself. Most individuals would give up an arm and a leg to get admitted to this hallowed institution. Harvard offers online leadership and management ****courses as part of its outreach to candidates who are interested in leadership courses online. The program durations are flexible, ranging from 2 weeks to a year. Harvard online education also offers a few free courses. If you wish to learn from one of the top leadership and management courses in the world, check out some of the courses offered – some samples include Leadership Principles, Management Essentials, Leadership, And Ethics, Leading For Excellence and Quality, etc.

Cornell

Cornell is one of the top ranked schools that offer online professional certificate programs as part of its online learning platform, eCornell. These programs are developed by Cornell’s full-time faculty and thus employ the same kind of pedagogy that you would expect in a classroom setting. Students learn in small-sized cohorts and can immediately apply what they learn in their workplaces, making the program more effective. Cornell offers the Executive Certificate to program participants. Their Leadership Certificate Program is part of their offering under the leadership and management courses. Some sample certificates students can sign up for our Leadership Essentials Certificate, Executive Leadership Certificate, Managing Global Teams Certificate, Women In Leadership Certificate, etc.

MIT

The Sloan School of Management at MIT offers leadership and management courses via a certificate. The Management and Leadership Executive Certificate Track offers a variety of programs that can be tailored to individual preferences, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Some of the programs are offered in-person, but the school is constantly working on adding to their online offerings.

Wharton

One more name that comes to mind for most individuals when dealing with management education is Wharton. The business school at the University of Pennsylvania is a sought after destination for its MBA program. The school offers the Leadership and Management Certificate online program geared towards helping mid- to senior-level executives determined to take their careers to the next level. This is one of those exclusive 100% online leadership and management courses that makes it very attractive for super-busy executives.

New-age online providers

In the last decade, exclusive online providers like Coursera or Udemy, to name a couple, have caught the fancy of learners. These providers offer a wide spectrum of courses aggregated from different universities and individuals from around the world. A variety of these are leadership and management courses and are either free or very affordable. Often times, you only pay if you wish to get a physical certificate in hand. You could virtually get your hands on any of  world’s leadership and management courses.

The Open University

The Open University, headquartered in the UK, has been offering distance education courses for well over 50 years. They are the pioneers in the distance education space. The Open University offers everything from certificates, courses, and diplomas, to full-blown undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. Students generally work at their own pace – so much so that you could stop a course and come back after a few years to complete it. Some of their leadership and management ****courses are worth looking at.

Masterclass Management

This website offers completely free online leadership and management courses that individuals can pursue at their own pace. The topics fall under the broad umbrella of business management. A Business Management Certificate is provided on program completion.

LinkedIn Learning

Lynda.com was an online website offering different topics of interest before it got bought by LinkedIn, which itself was bought by Microsoft. The new brand LinkedIn Learning offers leadership and management ****courses that offer different eLearning paths for corporate employees.

Class Central

ClassCentral.com offers free online courses and MOOCs from different universities around the world. There are more than 100 leadership and management courses alone, besides other topics.

The Shaw Academy

The Shaw Academy is an online education provider that offers a skill-focused approach to learning. You can develop any skill that you like and turn it into a career if you so choose. Their leadership and management courses are offered as an online diploma. If you are new to the management function, these are solid foundational leadership and management courses to get you started. The course not only goes over basic management principles but also introduces you to the way leaders think.eLearning has led to an explosion of alternatives in the executive education space. Leadership and management courses are perfect offerings in this space. But you must ensure that you sign up with a genuine provider to get your money’s worth. Learn more about one such provider here.