Online Leadership Principles Course | HBS Online (2024)

$1,850

Next 6-week session starts July 24

This course earns you a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online. What you earn.

Overview

Syllabus

Enrollment

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"I found the content of the course to be extremely informative and applicable to the real challenges of being a leader. I loved the frameworks and the case study model of the course, and I thought the course was very manageable on top of a full-time job."

Abby Katz
Senior Marketing Manager at Mavrck

"Leadership Principles has helped shape my unique leadership style. One of the most influential lessons for my leadership development was the HBS four-step process for delivering effective feedback and coaching—a process that I now apply on a daily basis."

Dr. Patricia Hewston
Post-Doctoral Fellow at GERAS Centre for Aging Research, Department of Medicine, McMaster University

I'm now more mindful of how my colleagues are experiencing me, and less averse to having difficult conversations.

Juliana Casale
Head of Marketing at Crazy Egg

Certificate of Completion

Boost your resume with a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online

Earn by: completing this course

Certificate of Specialization

Prove your mastery of leadership and management

Earn by: completing any three courses within this subject area to earn a Certificate of Specialization

Prework

360° Emotional and Social Competency Inventory

Module 1

Taking Charge

Module 2

Leading Your Team

Module 3

Unleashing Potential in Yourself and Others

Module 4

Your Network

Access Your Free E-Book

Stay active by engaging in a new activity every three to five minutes, including self-assessments and 360-degree feedback from colleagues and peers before, during, and after the course.

Stay active by engaging in a new activity every three to five minutes, including self-assessments and 360-degree feedback from colleagues and peers before, during, and after the course.

Description of silent animated video above: Learner completes an interactive question by dragging and dropping choices into two different categories

Get social by collaborating with a global community of peers before, during, and after your course. Learners who successfully complete an HBS Online program will be added to the HBS Online Community's Official Networking Group and gain exclusive access to events and other networking opportunities.

Get social by collaborating with a global community of peers before, during, and after your course. Learners who successfully complete an HBS Online program will be added to the HBS Online Community's Official Networking Group and gain exclusive access to events and other networking opportunities.

Description of silent animated video above: Learner types an answer in the discussion board in response to a peer's question

Immerse yourself in real-world, case-based examples brought to life by industry-leading experts from companies like Amadeus North America, Udemy for Business, and M33 Growth

Immerse yourself in real-world, case-based examples brought to life by industry-leading experts from companies like Amadeus North America, Udemy for Business, and M33 Growth

Description of silent animated video above: Learner scrolls through video interviews from prominent business leaders

Corina Cristea Lavoie
Corporate Services Manager at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Aranzazú Martínez Galeana
Senior Project Coordinator, Social Performance Division at ERM

Leadership Principles begins with a two-week prework period in which you’ll be asked to complete a self-assessment and invite colleagues, such as managers, peers, and direct reports, to complete a survey rating you on dimensions of emotional and social intelligence. The prework will take approximately one hour of your time and roughly 30 minutes for each colleague who participates. Your colleagues’ ratings will be kept confidential and anonymous.

The goal of this 360° assessment—and one of Leadership Principles’ primary learning objectives—is to help you gain greater self-awareness and insight into how peers and direct reports experience you along certain dimensions and how to adjust behavior along those dimensions for desired outcomes.

The 360° assessment is called the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI), and it is administered by Korn Ferry. The assessment provides insight into core interpersonal competencies that can be observed and assessed by others, and has been taken by more than 160,000 executives. These competencies can be developed and enhanced with practice, coaching, and feedback. Please note that, in response to recent sanctions, Korn Ferry will no longer provide services to individuals in Russia, starting in July 2022. If you take Leadership Principles from Russia, you won't be able to complete the ESCI or Personal Values Questionnaire. However, you'll still be eligible to complete the course successfully. Please contact the HBS Online Support Team for more information.

Upon successful completion of the prework—which requires obtaining ratings from at least two colleagues in addition to the self-assessment—you’ll receive a detailed report that provides insight into your emotional intelligence and how you’re perceived by others. Emotional intelligence is a central theme of the Leadership Principles course, and successfully completing the prework will greatly enhance your knowledge of both the course materials and your personal leadership.

Upon enrolling in Leadership Principles, we will provide more information on the prework process.

The two-week prework period begins on the first day of the course. You don’t need to do anything to prepare prior to then, but you may wish to begin thinking about which colleagues you’ll ask to participate in the assessment. When you log in for the first time, you will be provided with the prework instructions.

The course begins with a two-week prework period in which you’ll be asked to complete a self-assessment and invite colleagues to rate you on dimensions of emotional and social intelligence. The prework will take approximately one hour of your time and roughly 30 minutes for each colleague who participates.

The course content is delivered over a four-week period after the prework concludes. You should expect to spend approximately seven to nine hours per week on the course content during the last four weeks of the program.

Participants in Leadership Principles are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online.

Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner. This will mean meeting each week’s course module deadlines and fully answering questions posed therein. This helps ensure participants proceed through the course at a similar pace and can take full advantage of social learning opportunities. In addition to module and assignment completion, we expect you to offer feedback on others’ reflections and contribute to conversations on the platform. Participants who fail to complete the course requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the course.

More detailed information on course requirements will be communicated at the start of the course. No grades are assigned for Leadership Principles. Participants will either be evaluated as complete or not complete.

At several points in Leadership Principles, you'll be presented with scenarios and asked to video record yourself reacting to various leadership challenges. These exercises have been developed to let you step into the shoes of decision-makers, gain insight into your leadership style, and practice techniques taught in the course. In these exercises, you'll have an opportunity to watch and reflect on your approach. For some of these exercises, you'll also participate in peer assessment, which will enable you to see how two fellow learners approached the same challenge and how two others viewed your leadership style. You can record yourself on a phone, computer, or other video recording device and will be asked to upload the video to the course.

You will have access to the materials in every prior module as you progress through the program. Access to course materials and the course platform ends 60 days after the final deadline in the program.

Once you've earned your Certificate of Completion, list it on your resume along with the date of completion:

Harvard Business School Online
Certificate in Leadership Principles
[Cohort Start Month and Year]

List your certificate on your LinkedIn profile under "Education" with the language from the Credential Verification page:

School: Harvard Business School Online
Dates Attended: [The year you participated in the program]
Degree: Other; Certificate in Leadership Principles
Field of Study: Leave blank
Grade: Complete
Activities and Societies: Leave blank

For the program description on LinkedIn, please use the following:

Leadership Principles is a 6-week, 25-hour online certificate program from Harvard Business School. Leadership Principles is designed to help individuals thrive as leaders, unleash the capabilities of others, and cultivate high-performing teams. This course leverages self-assessments, 360° feedback from colleagues, and the perspectives of fellow learners to enable participants to build greater self-awareness and enhance the versatility of their leadership style and approach. The program was developed by leading Harvard Business School faculty and is delivered in an active learning environment based on the HBS signature case-based learning model.