leadership and management techniques essay

• How to Structure a Leadership Essay (Samples to Consider)

Leadership is a complex concept, but it’s essential for boosting your career. That’s why a leadership essay focuses on applying the theoretical models and concepts of successful management to real-life situations. 

If you don’t know where to start writing such a paper, please read on for professional tips!

What Is Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a paper that analyzes leadership concepts and their application to real-life situations that may involve everyday business management, crisis situations, and other scenarios. 

Every essay on leadership is about defining a concept. Then, it’s either comparing it to similar management tools or proving that it’s useful (or not).

While some students enjoy writing such papers, other learners hate them. The below samples will come in handy, no matter which group is yours.

What Does Leadership Mean to You? (Essay Sample)

It is one of the most popular topics for a leadership essay. If you need to write a paper like that, ask yourself:

• Who is a good leader?  
• What style do they use?  
• What are the situations when they might switch styles?

You may take a more personal approach to such an essay if your professor allows you to. In the example below, you will see the academic approach to this topic. It analyzes three leadership styles to discover which one corresponds to the meaning of leadership if one thinks of it as guidance and support.

Why I Want to Participate in a Leadership Program (Essay Sample)

It’s another example of a popular topic. Such papers often have a meaning beyond the classroom since they may decide whether you plan to participate in a specific program. It’s critical to make them as effective and compelling as possible.

A personalized approach is the best when it comes to essays like this. In the example below, you will see the paper that relies on individual beliefs and a personal life story to explain why it’s so important for the specific student to participate in the chosen program.

How to Write a Leadership Essay

Like every other essay, this paper has an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion summarizing your thoughts. (1) The most important part of the introduction is the final sentence,  aka  a thesis statement. That’s where you state your claim to prove or develop in your leadership essay.

Each body paragraph should correspond to the purpose of your essay. To ensure you don’t stray from the aim you’ve established in the thesis statement, write the topic sentences for all your paragraphs in the outline . In simple words, write the first sentence of every paragraph to define its development in advance and see if you cover everything you need.

And now, to the conclusion:

Its most essential element is thesis restatement or the first sentence of that paragraph. It’s not just paraphrasing your thesis; it’s also considering the new information you’ve discovered while writing the essay.

Structure :

• Introduction (End it with a thesis statement.)
• Body paragraphs (Each one starts with a topic sentence.)
• Conclusion (Start it with a thesis restatement.)

Understand the purpose of a leadership essay

When starting to write, think about why you’re creating this paper. Before you sit down and type the words, think about the ideas you want to convey and their meaning in your life:

Can this essay teach you to take responsibility? Or maybe will it help you understand how to be a leader in crisis situations? When you’ve answered the “why” question, begin outlining.

Build a strong thesis

Always start with your thesis statement. It will help incorporate your answer to that notorious “why” question into your essay. Once done, you can plan out the rest of the paper and start working on the body paragraphs as soon as you finish the introduction.

There’s another important tip —don’t rush into writing the conclusion before you finish everything else!

It might seem like a good idea to create a thesis statement and thesis restatement right off the bat. However, you’ll find yourself with more refreshing ideas after completing all the research and thinking necessary for the introduction and each body paragraph.

Decide on a structure; format accordingly

Even if your essay about leadership seems not so formal, and you can use personal pronouns, you still need a clear structure.

The best way to write any academic paper is to keep your introduction and conclusion as short as possible. (But no shorter than three sentences and four lines of text). 

Another important tip is to try making all your body paragraphs equal in length. That way, you’ll give the same attention to all the vital points of your essay.

Ready to Write Your Essay on Leadership Now?

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the most critical elements of a leadership essay. 

Remember the structure, grammar, and appropriate academic style to create a top-level paper. Please don’t forget to answer the “why” question and remember  why  you’re writing. Then you’ll impress everyone with your results!

References:

• https://lsa.umich.edu/onsf/news-events/all-news/directors-blog/writing-leadership-essays.html
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• Essay writing
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How to Write Leadership Essay in College

Table of contents

If there is one skill that is revered across educational institutions and organizations, it is leadership.

Being the boss or in a position of power is not enough to make you a good leader. Effective leadership comes from the impact you have on people, the respect you garner, and how you manage to walk the talk.

Owing how important the role leadership plays in our personal and professional life, it’s no surprise that students are asked to write leadership essays in college.

The purpose of this assignment is to get them to understand the concept of leadership, reflect on their own experiences, or even assess the leadership style of a prominent leader. Apart from writing skills, this assignment also puts students’ critical thinking skills to the test.

This article will tell you what goes into a good leadership outline, along with 12 practical essay writing tips.

12 Tips on How to Write a Good Leadership Essays

If you think you can go ahead and write an essay on your favorite leader, you are mistaken - grade 5 is long gone.

Leadership essay writing is a lot more layered. It requires you to demonstrate your understanding of the concept excitingly and back it up with solid examples and research.

Don’t panic. Here are 12 tips to help you write powerful and effective leadership essays.

Brainstorm interesting topic ideas

If you are fortunate, you will be given a specific leadership essay topic to write on, but most of the time, students are given the flexibility to come up with a topic of their choice.

Leadership essays need to be personal. By the end of it, the reader needs to understand your leadership abilities. Now you can throw light on that aspect of yourself by recounting your leadership experiences, relating it to the leadership style of a prominent leader, or even comparing two leaders. Regardless of your chosen topic, it’s important to connect it back to yourself.

So, start with enlisting potential topic ideas that would help you throw light on your leadership abilities. Don’t rush through this step - take your time to pick a suitable topic.

Think out-of-the-box

Surprise your audience by thinking of innovative topics and ideas for your leadership essay.

Plain and dull essays are predictable and can get boring after being overused by multiple students for their multiple essays. Your professors can also feel that you are trying to play it safe by not thinking outside the box and giving you an average grade for your essay.

Extraordinary and new ideas get the attention they deserve, and your readers are more likely to find them interesting and get hooked on your essay right at the beginning.

Hook the reader

The introductory paragraph is a crucial one as it lays the foundation for the rest of the essay. Does your introduction entice the reader to know more, or does it induce yawns? It all depends on how you choose to begin your essay.

It’s essential to start with a bang and write an interesting hook from the first sentence. A good hook is written in 1 - 2 sentences and manages to get the reader interested. You can start with a funny experience, raise a startling question, or state an interesting fact - there are various ways to begin your leadership essay and capture the reader’s attention.

Use active voice

“I performed the task with great precision” vs. “The task was performed with great precision” - what is more impactful in the context of leadership essays? The former one.

Unlike an essay or any other academic paper, leadership essays are meant to be personal. They are supposed to be about you. As you share your perspective or experiences, you should use an active voice to make a more significant impact and ensure your message reaches the reader.

Follow the format

Adhere to your academic institution's standards for formatting and styling your leadership essay because, first and foremost, your professors would want to see that you have tackled how to format your essay.

Secondly, it is always good practice to format your essays for an excellent structure and a good presentation of the content in the essay. Some institutions are very strict about their formatting standards and can choose to cancel or give unsatisfactory grades to students who do not follow their specific formatting guidelines.

Avoid cliches

Generally, in leadership essays, cliches are most commonly used to describe the person in the essay at large. Avoiding these set cliches will do you and your essay good.

Cliches like “leaves no stones unturned,” “ahead of the curve,” etc., have been used so much by students that they have become weak, lost their meaning, and have minimal effect on the essays.

Your professors are looking for originality and creativity, whereas an essay full of cliches will appear lazy and uncreative.

Select good references

Leadership holds a variety of sub-topics that addresses the quality of leadership, the style and attitudes that leaders have, historical references of the lifework of distinguished leaders, or how certain leaders influenced events.

That’s why researching is key for a thorough leadership essay. With credible sources and references to take inspiration and quotes from, your leadership essay will gain authority and stature. Each method, skill, or event can be further detailed through helpful resources such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, etc.

Ask questions

Ask yourself questions while re-reading your essay to identify any missing pieces you may have overlooked.

Asking questions also address your essay's efficiency and will help you figure out what your readers could ask while reading your essay. You can then confront each of these questions and create a more precise understanding for your readers.

Share anecdotes

Another element that can really strengthen your leadership essay and take it from good to great is anecdotes.

Yes, don’t shy away from sharing anecdotes and personal experiences related to leadership. It adds credibility to your writing and justifies the points you have made. It can be humorous or life-changing, but sharing anecdotes helps keep readers invested and adds immense value to the essay.

Here’s a helpful video by Matthew Singleton on how you can use anecdotes while writing essays

Focus on key qualities

We know how effective leadership constitutes certain key traits and qualities such as empathy, collaboration, good listener, visionary, ownership, decision-making capabilities, delegation, communicator, and more.

Your essay needs to reflect some of these traits. Instead of choosing to enlist all these traits and not focussing on either of them well, it’s important to first choose which are the traits you want to explore in your essay and then work towards highlighting them while writing.

Get feedback

It is always better to have more than one pair of eyes to read and evaluate your essay. Getting feedback on your writing is crucial for the betterment of your essay, as the limitations and problems that you may not have realized while writing your essay can be identified by a fresh set of eyes or a new perspective.

These errors or misses can be rectified, resulting in a quality, no-error leadership essay.

Edit and proofread

A leadership essay requires attention to detail, a set organized structure, and a logical flow of sentences. Editing your essay and proofreading it will overcome any misses that may come your way.

As you proofread, you can double-check the leader’s name and designation, dates, sources, factual, spelling, and grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors, out-of-place references, and transition flows.

So, now you know that leadership essays are not as ‘vanilla’ as they sound. They need to be descriptive and logical while capturing your leadership abilities.

If you don’t have the time to write a compelling leadership essay or doubt your writing skills, don’t worry. We at Writers Per Hour are pleased to write an essay for you that will get you noticed.

From choosing a suitable topic to outlining and writing a thoughtful leadership essay from scratch, our writing experts promise to deliver precisely what you need - high-quality essays that meet your budget and deadlines.

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What is leadership?

All leaders, to a certain degree, do the same thing. Whether you’re talking about an executive, manager, sports coach, or schoolteacher, leadership is about guiding and impacting outcomes, enabling groups of people to work together to accomplish what they couldn’t do working individually. In this sense, leadership is something you do, not something you are. Some people in formal leadership positions are poor leaders, and many people exercising leadership have no formal authority. It is their actions, not their words, that inspire trust and energy.

Get to know and directly engage with senior McKinsey experts on leadership

Aaron De Smet is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office, Carolyn Dewar is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, Scott Keller is a senior partner in the Southern California office, and Vik Malhotra and Ramesh Srinivasan are senior partners in the New York office.

What’s more, leadership is not something people are born with—it is a skill you can learn. At the core are mindsets, which are expressed through observable behaviors , which then lead to measurable outcomes. Is a leader communicating effectively or engaging others by being a good listener? Focusing on behaviors lets us be more objective when assessing leadership effectiveness. The key to unlocking shifts in behavior is focusing on mindsets, becoming more conscious about our thoughts and beliefs, and showing up with integrity as our full authentic selves.

There are many contexts and ways in which leadership is exercised. But, according to McKinsey analysis of academic literature as well as a survey of nearly 200,000 people in 81 organizations all over the world, there are four types of behavior that account for 89 percent of leadership effectiveness :

• being supportive
• operating with a strong results orientation
• seeking different perspectives
• solving problems effectively

Effective leaders know that what works in one situation will not necessarily work every time. Leadership strategies must reflect each organization’s context and stage of evolution. One important lens is organizational health, a holistic set of factors that enable organizations to grow and succeed over time. A situational approach  enables leaders to focus on the behaviors that are most relevant as an organization becomes healthier.

Senior leaders must develop a broad range of skills to guide organizations. Ten timeless topics are important for leading nearly any organization, from attracting and retaining talent  to making culture a competitive advantage. A 2017 McKinsey book, Leading Organizations: Ten Timeless Truths (Bloomsbury, 2017), goes deep on each aspect.

How is leadership evolving?

In the past, leadership was called “management,” with an emphasis on providing technical expertise and direction. The context was the traditional industrial economy command-and-control organization, where leaders focused exclusively on maximizing value for shareholders. In these organizations, leaders had three roles: planners (who develop strategy, then translate that strategy into concrete steps), directors (who assign responsibilities), or controllers (who ensure people do what they’ve been assigned and plans are adhered to).

What are the limits of traditional management styles?

Traditional management was revolutionary in its day and enormously effective in building large-scale global enterprises that have materially improved lives over the past 200 years. However, with the advent of the 21st century, this approach is reaching its limits.

For one thing, this approach doesn’t guarantee happy or loyal managers or workers. Indeed, a large portion of American workers—56 percent— claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic , while 75 percent say dealing with their manager is the most stressful part of their workday.

For 21st-century organizations operating in today’s complex business environment, a fundamentally new and more effective approach to leadership is emerging. Leaders today are beginning to focus on building agile, human-centered, and digitally enabled organizations able to thrive in today’s unprecedented environment and meet the needs of a broader range of stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, in addition to investors).

What is the emerging new approach to leadership?

This new approach to leadership is sometimes described as “ servant leadership .” While there has been some criticism of the nomenclature, the idea itself is simple: rather than being a manager directing and controlling people, a more effective approach is for leaders to be in service of the people they lead. The focus is on how leaders can make the lives of their team members easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally. Research suggests this mentality can enhance both team performance and satisfaction.

In this new approach, leaders practice empathy, compassion, vulnerability, gratitude, self-awareness, and self-care. They provide appreciation and support, creating psychological safety so their employees are able to collaborate, innovate, and raise issues as appropriate. This includes celebrating achieving the small steps on the way to reaching big goals and enhancing people’s well-being through better human connections. These conditions have been shown to allow for a team’s best performance.

More broadly, developing this new approach to leadership can be expressed as making five key shifts that include, build on, and extend beyond traditional approaches:

• beyond executive to visionary, shaping a clear purpose that resonates with and generates holistic impact for all stakeholders
• beyond planner to architect, reimagining industries and innovating business systems that are able to create new levels of value
• beyond director to catalyst, engaging people to collaborate in open, empowered networks
• beyond controller to coach, enabling the organization to constantly evolve through rapid learning, and enabling colleagues to build new mindsets, knowledge, and skills
• beyond boss to human, showing up as one’s whole, authentic self

Together, these shifts can help a leader expand their repertoire and create a new level of value for an organization’s stakeholders. The last shift is the most important, as it is based on developing a new level of consciousness and awareness of our inner state. Leaders who look inward  and take a journey of genuine self-discovery make profound shifts in themselves and their lives; this means they are better able to benefit their organization. That involves developing “profile awareness” (a combination of a person’s habits of thought, emotions, hopes, and behavior in different circumstances) and “state awareness” (the recognition of what’s driving a person to take action). Combining individual, inward-looking work with outward-facing actions can help create lasting change.

Introducing McKinsey Explainers : Direct answers to complex questions

Leaders must learn to make these five shifts at three levels : transforming and evolving personal mindsets and behaviors; transforming teams to work in new ways; and transforming the broader organization by building new levels of agility, human-centeredness, and value creation into the entire enterprise’s design and culture.

An example from the COVID-19 era offers a useful illustration of this new approach to leadership. In pursuit of a vaccine breakthrough, at the start of the pandemic Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel increased the frequency of executive meetings  from once a month to twice a week. The company implemented a decentralized model enabling teams to work independently and deliver on the bold goal of providing 100 million doses of vaccines in 12 months. “The pace was unprecedented,” Bancel said.

What is the impact of this new approach to leadership?

This new approach to leadership is far more effective. While the dynamics are complex, countless studies show empirical links among effective leadership, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability.

How can leaders empower employees?

Empowering employees , surprisingly enough, might mean taking a more hands-on leadership approach. Organizations whose leaders successfully empower others through coaching are nearly four times more likely to make swift, good decisions and outperform other companies . But this type of coaching isn’t always natural for those with a more controlling or autocratic style.

Here are five tips to get started  if you’re a leader looking to empower others:

• Provide clear rules, for example, by providing guardrails for what success looks like and communicating who makes which decisions. Clarity and boundary structures like role remits and responsibilities help to contain any anxiety associated with work and help teams stay focused on their primary tasks.
• Establish clear roles, say, by assigning one person the authority to make certain decisions.
• Avoid being a complicit manager—for instance, if you’ve delegated a decision to a team, don’t step in and solve the problem for them.
• Address culture and skills, for instance, by helping employees learn how to have difficult conversations.
• Begin soliciting personal feedback from others, at all levels of your organization, on how you are experienced as a leader.

How can leaders communicate effectively?

Good, clear communication is a leadership hallmark. Fundamental tools of effective communication  include:

• defining and pointing to long-term goals
• listening to and understanding stakeholders
• creating openings for dialogue
• communicating proactively

And in times of uncertainty, these things are important for crisis communicators :

• give people what they need, when they need it
• communicate clearly, simply, and frequently
• choose candor over charisma
• revitalize a spirit of resilience
• distill meaning from chaos
• support people, teams, and organizations to build the capability for self-sufficiency

Learn more about our People & Organizational Performance Practice .

Is leadership different in a hybrid workplace?

A leader’s role may look slightly different in remote or hybrid workplace settings . Rather than walking around a physical site, these leaders might instead model what hybrid looks like, or orchestrate work based on tasks, interactions, or purpose. Being communicative and radiating positivity  can go a long way. Leaders need to find other ways to be present and accessible, for example, via virtual drop-in sessions, regular company podcasts, or virtual townhalls. Leaders in these settings may also need to find new ways to get authentic feedback. These tactics can include pulse surveys or learning to ask thoughtful follow-up questions that reveal useful management insights.

Additional considerations, such as making sure that in-person work and togetherness has a purpose, are important. Keeping an eye on inclusivity in hybrid work  is also crucial. Listening to what employees want, with an eye to their lived experience, will be vital to leaders in these settings. And a focus on output, outcomes, results, and impact—rather than arbitrary norms about time spent in offices— may be a necessary adaptation in the hybrid era .

How should CEOs lead in this new world?

Just as for leadership more broadly, today’s environment requires CEOs to lead very differently. Recent research indicates that one-third to one-half of new CEOs fail within 18 months.

What helps top performers thrive today? To find out, McKinsey led a research effort to identify the CEOs who achieved breakaway success. We examined 20 years’ worth of data on 7,800 CEOs—from 3,500 public companies across 70 countries and 24 industries. The result is the McKinsey book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest (Scribner, March 2022). Watch an interview with the authors for more on what separates the best CEOs from the rest .

Getting perspective on leadership from CEOs themselves is enlightening—and illustrates the nuanced ways in which the new approach to leadership described above can be implemented in practice. Here are a few quotes drawn from McKinsey’s interviews with these top-level leaders :

• “I think the fundamental role of a leader is to look for ways to shape the decades ahead, not just react to the present, and to help others accept the discomfort of disruptions to the status quo.” — Indra Nooyi , former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
• “The single most important thing I have to do as CEO is ensure that our brand continues to be relevant.” — Chris Kempczinski , CEO of McDonald’s
• “Leaders of other enterprises often define themselves as captains of the ship, but I think I’m more the ship’s architect or designer. That’s different from a captain’s role, in which the route is often fixed and the destination defined.” — Zhang Ruimin , CEO of Haier
• “I think my leadership style [can be called] ‘collaborative command.’ You bring different opinions into the room, you allow for a really great debate, but you understand that, at the end of the day, a decision has to be made quickly.” — Adena Friedman , CEO of Nasdaq
• “We need an urgent refoundation of business and capitalism around purpose and humanity. To find new ways for all of us to lead so that we can create a better future, a more sustainable future.” — Hubert Joly , former chairman and CEO of Best Buy

What is leadership development?

Leaders aren’t born; they learn to lead over time. Neuroplasticity refers to the power of the brain to form new pathways and connections through exposure to novel, unfamiliar experiences. This allows adults to adapt, grow, and learn new practices throughout our lifetimes.

When it comes to leadership within organizations, this is often referred to as leadership development. Programs, books, and courses on leadership development abound, but results vary.

Leadership development efforts fail for a variety of reasons. Some overlook context; in those cases, asking a simple question (something like “What, precisely, is this program for?”) can help. Others separate reflections on leadership from real work, or they shortchange the role of adjusting leaders’ mindsets, feelings, assumptions, and beliefs, or they fail to measure results.

So what’s needed for successful leadership development? Generally, developing leaders is about creating contexts where there is sufficient psychological safety in combination with enough novelty and unfamiliarity to cultivate new leadership practices in response to stimuli. Leadership programs that successfully cultivate leaders are also built around “placescapes”—these are novel experiences, like exploring wilderness trails, practicing performing arts, or writing poetry.

When crafting a leadership development program, there are six ingredients to incorporate  that lead to true organizational impact:

• Set up for success:
• Focus your leadership transformation on driving strategic objectives and initiatives.
• Commit the people and resources needed.
• Be clear about focus:
• Engage a critical mass of leaders to reach a tipping point for sustained impact.
• Zero in on the leadership shifts that drive the greatest value.
• Execute well:
• Architect experiential journeys to maximize shifts in mindsets, capabilities, and practices.
• Measure for holistic impact.

A well-designed and executed leadership development program can help organizations build leaders’ capabilities broadly, at scale. And these programs can be built around coaching, mentoring, and having people try to solve challenging problems—learning skills by applying them in real time to real work.

What are mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship?

Mentorship, sponsorship, and apprenticeship can also be part of leadership development efforts. What are they? Mentorship refers to trusted counselors offering guidance and support on various professional issues, such as career progression. Sponsorship is used to describe senior leaders who create opportunities to help junior colleagues succeed. These roles are typically held by more senior colleagues, whereas apprenticeship could be more distributed. Apprenticeship  describes the way any colleague with domain expertise might teach others, model behaviors, or transfer skills. These approaches can be useful not only for developing leaders but also for helping your company upskill or reskill employees quickly and at scale.

For more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s insights on People & Organizational Performance . Learn more about McKinsey’s Leadership & Management  work—and check out job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced include:

• “ Author Talks: What separates the best CEOs from the rest? ,” December 15, 2021, Carolyn Dewar , Scott Keller , and Vik Malhotra
• “ From the great attrition to the great adaptation ,” November 3, 2021, Aaron De Smet  and Bill Schaninger
• “ The boss factor: Making the world a better place through workplace relationships ,” September 22, 2020, Tera Allas  and Bill Schaninger
• " Leading agile transformation: The new capabilities leaders need to build 21st century organizations ," October 1, 2018, Aaron De Smet , Michael Lurie , and Andrew St. George
• " Leading Organizations: Ten Timeless Truths ," 2017, Scott Keller  and Mary Meaney
• “ Leadership in context ,” January 1, 2016, Michael Bazigos, Chris Gagnon, and Bill Schaninger
• “ Decoding leadership: What really matters ,” January 1, 2015, Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol, and Ramesh Srinivasan

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Anyone Can Learn to Be a Better Leader

• Monique Valcour

You just have to put in the work.

Occupying a leadership position is not the same thing as leading. To lead, you must be able to connect, motivate, and inspire a sense of ownership of shared objectives. Heightening your capacity to lead others requires being able to see how you think and act, and how your behavior affects others. Leading well requires a continuous journey of personal development. Yet people in leadership roles often eschew the long and challenging work of deepening self-insight in favor of chasing after management “tools”— preferably the “quick ’n’ easy” kind, such as personality type assessments that reduce employees to a few simplistic behavioral tendencies. Tools can be handy aids to good leadership. But none of them can take the place of fearless introspection, feedback seeking, and committed efforts to behavioral change for greater effectiveness and increased positive impact on others.

When you’re an individual contributor, your ability to use your technical expertise to deliver results is paramount. Once you’ve advanced into a leadership role, however, the toolkit that you relied on to deliver individual results rarely equips you to succeed through others. Beware of falling into the logical trap of “if I can do this work well, I should be able to lead a team of people who do this work.” This would be true if leading others were akin to operating a more powerful version of the same machinery you operated previously. But it’s not; machinery doesn’t perform better or worse based on what it thinks about you and how you make it feel, while humans do .

• MV Monique Valcour is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and management professor. She helps clients create and sustain fulfilling and high-performance jobs, careers, workplaces, and lives. moniquevalcour

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Feb 15, 2023

Essays on Leadership for Students | 200 - 500 Word Essays

Are you writing an essay about leadership? Check out these examples!

Leadership is often defined as "the action of inspiring others to act in concert to achieve a particular goal." It signifies the harmony in actions that lead to a common objective. A genuine leader not only exudes confidence but also paves the way for their followers towards triumph. Over the years, various leadership styles have been identified and discussed by psychologists.

 Qualities such as intelligence, adaptability, extroversion, innate self-awareness, and social competence often emerge as the hallmarks of impactful leaders. There's a consensus that these traits mold an individual into an effective leader. Interestingly, some theories suggest that extraordinary situations can thrust an ordinary individual into the spotlight, bestowing upon them the mantle of leadership. It's also believed that leadership isn't a static trait but an evolving journey. It underscores the belief that with dedication and the right resources, anyone can hone their leadership abilities.

 True leadership goes beyond merely advocating for a cause. It involves taking responsibility, igniting motivation in others, and differentiating oneself from just being a 'boss'. A leader's essence lies in their ability to inspire and propel people towards grand visions, whereas a manager typically focuses on oversight and operational aspects.

What Is a Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay falls under the category of student application essays and serves to provide student admissions officers with insight into your past leadership experiences. Despite appearing to be very specific, this type of essay acknowledges that the nature and perception of leadership can vary significantly depending on the individual and the context.

 If you find yourself in need of further insights or a unique angle for your leadership essay, consider exploring an expert essay-writing tool designed to assist students in crafting compelling narratives by analyzing vast data and generating fresh ideas within minutes. In this article, we'll also delve into various leadership essay examples to offer a clearer understanding of the genre and inspire your writing journey.

4 Examples of Leadership Essays

Qualities of a good leader, introduction.

Confidence is the most important attribute first of all. One of the most important qualities in a leader is confidence in one's own abilities. A lack of self-assurance is fatal to a person's leadership potential. If you want others to follow you, you need to exude self-assurance. It's imperative for a leader to have faith in his own judgment and actions. How can people want to follow him if he doesn't even know what he's doing?

Every effective leader knows that they need to be an inspiration to their followers. A leader needs to set an example for his team. In addition, he ought to inspire them whenever feasible. A leader must also maintain optimism in trying times.

What qualities a good leader must have?

Leadership is the ability to influence and guide individuals or groups toward a common goal. A leader must possess several qualities to be effective, including:

Communication skills: A leader must be able to communicate their vision and goals clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. This requires excellent listening skills, empathy, and the ability to adapt to different communication styles.

Emotional intelligence: A leader must be able to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as those of their team members. This includes being able to understand and respond to the emotions of others, and handling conflicts in a constructive manner.

Visionary: A leader must have a clear and inspiring vision of the future, and be able to articulate this vision in a way that motivates others to work towards it.

Strategic thinking: A leader must be able to think critically and creatively to identify and solve problems, make decisions, and develop plans and strategies to achieve their goals.

Flexibility: A leader must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and be open to new ideas and perspectives. This requires the ability to embrace change, be innovative, and continuously learn and grow.

Integrity: A leader must have strong ethics and values, and be willing to make difficult decisions that are consistent with their beliefs. This requires honesty, transparency, and accountability.

Decisiveness: A leader must be able to make tough decisions quickly, without undue hesitation or procrastination. This requires courage and the ability to take calculated risks.

Empowerment: A leader must be able to delegate responsibilities, give team members the resources they need to succeed, and foster a sense of ownership and accountability among their team.

Conclusion 

These qualities are essential for effective leadership, and when combined with hard work, determination, and a commitment to excellence, can help leaders to achieve great things.

How one can be a Great Leader?

Leadership is the act of performing the duties of a leader. In the business world, for instance, it is essential to have someone in charge of a team to ensure everything runs well. Effective leadership is essential for any group that wants to maximize its prospects of success.

Leadership Comes from Experience

As we've shown, leadership can be innate in some cases but is more often learned through practice and exposure. Sometimes the best traits of a leader must be learned over a lengthy period of time, so that one can become a notable one, proving that leadership is not always about a person's innate qualities. Leaders should continuously be on the lookout for opportunities to grow their leadership skills.

Nobody can disagree that experience is a key component of leadership. Numerous examples exist to back up this claim, such as:

Instance 1:

Our school's head boy or girl has traditionally been an older student who has been around for a while and thus has a better grasp of the ins and outs of school politics.

Instance 2:

When there is a vacancy for a team leader, it is common practice for the employee who has consistently put in the most effort and attention to the office job to receive a higher number of votes than their coworkers. 

“The best teacher for a leader is evaluated experience.” - John C. Maxwell

How one can be a Great Leader/Skills to be a Great Leader?

Effective leadership is a skill that develops through time. Developing into a leader with all the qualities that are needed takes a lot of hard work and potential. Being a prominent leader calls for a wide variety of traits. Some of these characteristics are addressed in further detail below:

One should be a Good Communicator

To be an effective leader, one must be able to convey his thoughts clearly to his/her/its subordinates.

Should have Confidence

The individual should have faith in what he says and does.

Give Credit to other Team Members too

A leader not only needs to impose his viewpoints and opinions instead he must also hear to the suggestions of other members of the team and offer them credit if their concept is appropriate.

Good Bond with the Team

A leader's ability to command respect from his team members depends on his ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with them.

Leads with Responsibility

A leader needs to be completely committed to his position. It's important that he takes on responsibility so that he can effectively deal with the various challenges he will inevitably face.

Any group or organization needs a leader above all else. Leadership development takes time and effort. One needs to have lived through a lot to be an effective leader. It's not enough to simply have years of experience in the field; one must also have the traits that make one an effective leader. You can't be a great leader unless you possess certain traits.

What makes a Good Leader?

Trying one's hand as a leader appears easy when viewed through this lens. Is that so tough? Of course not; leading is difficult, and not everyone aspires to be a leader. The vast majority of us have settled into well-established careers where we report to superiors and make a living. Still, not everyone is content to go along with the crowd. They become leaders in whatever field they pursue. A leader is an example to followers and will prioritize the needs of those around them.

Some Unique Qualities of a Leader

Many individuals resort to their leaders to vent their frustrations, therefore it's important for them to be good listeners.

A leader ought to be completely forthright; they can't play favorites or give anyone preferential treatment. One of the most essential qualities of a strong leader is the ability to make decisions with integrity.

They need to be aware of the bigger picture and understand what makes an individual stand out or become a leader. It's their expertise in addition to other distinguishing traits. Their awareness of current events and the results of recent studies is essential. In many ways, this is helpful, and it's the leader's responsibility to stay current.

Since some might not understand them, they should utilize straightforward, easily comprehended language. Leaders need to be able to communicate effectively at all times. In reality, what sets them apart is their exceptional communication skills. Adolf Hitler was such a gifted orator that his followers believed every word he said.

No matter how you're feeling or what's going on in the world, if you listen to a leader, they may make you feel energized. Since leaders are in charge of inspiring confidence in their followers, they can't afford to be wary or unsure of themselves. People tend to blindly follow their leaders.

Whether you're a leader or a doctor, you should devote yourself completely to your chosen field. Everything we do is for the benefit of others; engineers, for example, spend much of their time designing and constructing buildings for other people. So, take pride in what you do, and if you possess the aforementioned traits, you are also a leader who doesn't have to rely on others to succeed. No matter what you do, aspiring to leadership positions will always benefit others.

What is Leadership in Management and what are the weaknesses and strengths of a Leader?

Simply said, leadership is acting as a supervisor or manager of a group. Different mental pictures pop up when we hear the word "leadership" used in conversation. One might think of a political leader, team leader, corporate leader, school leader, etc. Leaders facilitate order and efficiency in the workplace. Teamwork and success are fundamental to effective leadership. Leaders utilize their managerial abilities to establish courses and guide their teams to success.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Leadership

Able to express oneself more clearly

Growth of character.

Self-awareness.

Possession of teamwork skills.

Gain assurance in yourself.

Weaknesses:

Acting favorably toward one's teammates.

Having no faith in the leader.

Thinks they're better than everyone else, but act hypocritically.

Not living up to the promised standard.

Insufficient morals.

Leadership and Management

Management and leadership are inextricably linked to one another. Leadership and management are both vital to the efficient operation of an organization; but, they accomplish very different things in the process. Leadership is a necessary skill for anyone aspiring to be an effective manager. The terms management and leadership are synonymous with one another. In this manner, we are able to draw the conclusion that a manager who demonstrates the traits of a successful leader is, in fact, a manager who is effective.

Leadership in School

Leadership is essential in nearly every group, as we've seen above. That group includes one's educational institution. Every school needs an outstanding figure to serve as its head of school. Class monitor, assembly captain, cultural leader, etc. are all examples of leadership roles that can be taken on at school, but this raises the question of what makes a person a successful school leader.

Any student hoping to be chosen as a student body leader will need to demonstrate a wide range of competencies. He or she needs to be a consistent student who pays attention in class and does well in extracurricular activities. For the simple reason that no intelligent and hardworking kid would ever be considered for leadership. Student leaders are most often selected from among those who participate fully in all activities.

Leadership in Organization

Leadership in an organization, also known as organizational leadership, is the process of establishing long-term objectives that further the company's mission and help it reach its ultimate destination. This is a classic illustration of how Bill Gates often works with his team: they agree on a strategy, and Gates implements it. To the same extent, it is the responsibility of the leader in each given organization to determine what it is that the group is trying to accomplish.

Leadership in Politics

Leadership in politics, also known as political leadership, is the process of becoming actively involved in a political party in the role of a party leader. Knowledge of political processes, their outcomes, and the political agenda is central to the idea of political leadership.

An effective leader can be developed in anyone who has the determination and drives to do so. Both the strengths and the areas for improvement should be nurtured. Whether in the classroom, the workplace, or the political arena, leadership is always necessary. Therefore, one can exercise leadership anywhere they like inside their own organization.

What are the types of Leadership?

The ability to lead is a rare trait that not everyone possesses. The ability to do so is a gift, so count your blessings if you possess it. It's recommended that you hone it even more so that you can propel your career forward and serve as an example to people around you. However, it is crucial to grasp the various leadership styles before you go ahead and polish your skills.

Types of Leadership Styles

Democratic Leadership

In this style of management, subordinates are given a voice in decision-making. Although the subordinates' efforts are highlighted, the leader is ultimately held responsible for the group's actions. Many people find this type of leadership to be effective.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders motivate and inspire others to adopt new behaviors and ways of thinking in order to improve their own performance and that of their teams and organizations. A transformational leader is someone who encourages their team to strive for greater things and works to boost morale and output.

Team Leadership

A good leader fully incorporates his team into the task at hand. Members of the team are motivated to reach their goals and advance in their careers thanks to the leadership of the group.

Strategic Leadership

It requires a chief executive who doesn't restrict himself to brainstorming sessions with his superiors. He contributes on every level of the team. He is well-liked for his ability to unite the need for fresh ideas with the necessity of grounding them in reality.

Autocratic Leadership

The leader in a command and control structure is the center of attention. The chief executive has absolute power in this setting. He decides things on his own, without polling his staff. He relays this information to his staff and stresses the importance of swift action. The buck stops with him, and he alone must answer for his actions. Not much room for negotiation exists. It's no secret that this method of leading has its detractors.

Visionary Leadership

This kind of leader appreciates the abilities and requirements of his team members. He describes his ideal outcome and the teamwork that will be necessary to attain it.

Coaching Leadership

Leaders who coach their teams do so regularly in an effort to raise output. He inspires his employees to do better and works to keep them motivated. This approach to leadership has been much praised.

Facilitative Leadership

With occasional guidance, a facilitative leader ensures that the process runs smoothly for his team. As a precaution in case his team is ineffective. If the team is highly effective, the leader will take a hands-off approach.

Cross-Cultural Leadership

The leadership of this type is necessary when interacting with people from various cultural backgrounds. Because of the wide variety of cultures represented in the workforce across the United States, many managers and executives hold cross-cultural positions.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

The members of the team are given responsibility in this style of management. They are free to choose how they spend their time at work, with minimal oversight from the boss. It's not a good way to lead, according to experts.

Transactional Leadership

An interactive approach is integral to this kind of leadership. When team members successfully implement their leader's ideas and choices, they are rewarded with immediate, material benefits.

Charismatic Leadership

In order to bring out the best in his followers, this kind of leader makes the effort to change their attitudes, values, and actions.

This article should dispel the notion that leadership qualities can't be further subdivided. It should also assist you in pinpointing your own personal brand of leadership so you can perfect it over time.

Final Words

In conclusion, leadership is a complex and multifaceted concept that involves various qualities and skills. Effective leaders possess traits such as integrity, vision, empathy, decisiveness, and the ability to inspire and motivate others. They are able to navigate challenges, make difficult decisions, and lead their team toward success. Leadership also involves continuous learning and self-improvement, as leaders must adapt to changing circumstances and remain relevant. Effective leadership can have a positive impact on both individuals and organizations, fostering growth and creating a culture of success.

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12 Challenges Faced by Supervisors and How to Overcome Them

Not only are supervisors and managers responsible for ensuring their department or team meets their targeted objectives, they also have to help develop and grow those who report to them. Whether learning the best employee motivation techniques or developing effective performance management strategies, supervisors must focus on developing a specific set of skills that can help them succeed in their leadership roles.

A  supervision certificate program , such as the one offered by the University of Minnesota College of Continuing and Professional Studies, can help you build your resume and hone the core competencies required to build a successful and cohesive team.

1. Adapting to a Leadership Role

Finding out you have been promoted to a supervisor position is an exciting moment: you have reached a significant professional milestone! However, it also means you must make the transition from team player to team manager, which may feel awkward at times.

The best thing to do is learn about effective supervision and continue to act as a fair and respectful professional. According to  Indeed , you can help ease this transition by scheduling a team meeting as soon as you take on your new responsibilities and being clear about what everyone's roles will be moving forward. By identifying your expectations and highlighting how performance will be monitored and rewarded, you’ll be inspiring team member.

2. Effective Communication

Solid communication can help with conflict resolution in management and evaluating employee performance, but communication doesn't always come naturally to supervisors and managers. Miscommunication, lack of communication, or misunderstandings can lead to discord and discontent and make it difficult for your team to work together to reach their goals.

According to  Workleap , you can build up your communication skills as a manager by:

• making yourself available to your team and actively listening to them.
• seeking feedback.
• relying on communication technology that works best for your team. Use email, text messaging, or social media to stay in touch.
• using clear and concise language.
• delegating tasks clearly and providing your team with firm deadlines.

3. Managing Team Conflict

Team conflict is unavoidable—at some point, there will be disagreements among your team that you must address—but by being aware of common causes of team conflict and the best strategies to resolve them, you can minimize disruption from these issues.

Workleap notes that the most common causes of workplace conflict include poor communication, unclear expectations or roles, and disorganized work processes. By prioritizing communication and creating a set of clear expectations, you could significantly reduce conflict among your team members.

In the event that conflict does occur, you should address it quickly, provide all parties involved with an opportunity to share their perspective then clarify roles, expectations, and processes.

4. Delegating Tasks Effectively

New supervisors often have a hard time delegating because they want to make sure the work gets done correctly and prove themselves as the new manager. However, effective delegation is necessary, as it allows you to focus on long-term growth and development while your team reaches its short-term goals.

According to  BetterUp , some of the best task allocation techniques include:

• Set up team meetings to assign tasks so everyone is aware of their own responsibilities as well as what their team members are working on.
• Offer support and guidance if a member of your team is feeling frustrated or overwhelmed by a task.
• Monitor progress and verify that your team members are meeting their deadlines.

5. Motivating and Engaging Team Members

Lack of motivation can have disastrous consequences for your team, but sometimes you need to get creative to motivate and inspire team members. The best way to naturally motivate those who report to you is to actively work to create a positive culture within your team. When you encourage teamwork and acknowledge accomplishments, your team members feel like a valued part of the organization and are more motivated to perform.

6 .  Performance Management

Evaluating employee performance is a critical part of your job as a supervisor, and it's key to approach these evaluations with a sense of professionalism and respect. According to the  National Institutes of Health Office of Human Resources , these are some performance management strategies to use:

• Outline expectations for your employees and provide them with achievable goals.
• Communicate regularly with your employees and provide them with actionable feedback.
• Offer support if and when your team members need it.
• Provide regular progress reviews, outlining areas where the employee is succeeding in addition to areas where there is room for growth.

7. Managing Remote Teams

In today's evolving workplace, a significant number of employees across various industries are advocating for the flexibility to work remotely, at least for a portion of their schedule. A  Forbes article highlights that over 12 percent of the workforce now operates entirely from remote locations, with another 28 percent participating in hybrid models—balancing their time between the office and remote work.

As the trend towards remote work accelerates, managers are tasked with adapting their leadership approaches. Success in managing remote teams, as noted by Indeed, hinges not only on establishing a robust communication strategy and a regular meeting cadence but also on ensuring employees have ample opportunity to focus on their assignments. However, this approach only scratches the surface of effective  remote team management .

Addressing the feedback, it's clear that a more holistic view is necessary. Supervising remote or hybrid teams extends beyond simple communication strategies and meeting schedules. Effective leadership in this context requires embracing a suite of practices.

• Implementing an open-door policy, even digitally, to encourage accessibility and foster a sense of support.
• Prioritizing inclusivity to ensure that all team members, regardless of their physical location, feel valued and included in all aspects of team dynamics.
• Flexibility in work arrangements to accommodate the diverse needs and life circumstances of each team member.
• Equipping teams with the necessary tools and resources to succeed in a remote environment, thereby eliminating barriers to productivity and engagement.
• Cultivating trust and transparency, which are paramount for remote teams to thrive. This includes clear expectations, open communication, and mutual respect.
• Encouraging socialization and team bonding activities to maintain a connected and cohesive team culture, despite physical distances.

These strategies underscore the complexity and multifaceted nature of managing remote teams effectively. It's not merely about granting time for project completion or having a communication plan in place; it's about creating an environment that supports growth, productivity, and well-being for every team member.

8. Time Management

Effective time management is crucial for leaders who are tasked with balancing the diverse needs of their team while meeting their own objectives and the expectations of their supervisors. A key strategy in achieving this balance is through the thoughtful organization of one's schedule and tasks.

Creating a supervisor's time allocation calendar is a foundational step in this process. By mapping out specific time slots for different tasks, leaders can ensure a structured approach to their day, enhancing productivity. Sharing this calendar with the team is equally important, as it clarifies your availability and sets transparent communication protocols.

To elevate this strategy, leveraging advanced software solutions is highly recommended. Tools like ClickUp, Asana, Trello, and Monday.com offer robust platforms for managing tasks, projects, and teams with ease and efficiency. These tools share common features that are beneficial for time management, including:

• Task and Project Management: Assign, schedule, and track tasks and projects. These platforms allow for detailed planning, from high-level project timelines to specific task deadlines.
• Collaborative Workspaces: Create shared spaces for your team to collaborate. These platforms foster transparency and teamwork by allowing team members to see project progress and contribute in real-time.
• Customizable Dashboards: Access tailored overviews of your workload, projects, and team tasks. Custom dashboards help leaders prioritize their tasks and manage their time more effectively.
• Automation and Integration: Automate repetitive tasks and integrate with other tools. This feature streamlines workflows, saving time and reducing manual effort.
• Communication Tools: Use built-in messaging and comment features for seamless communication. This minimizes the need for external communication tools and centralizes discussions.

By integrating these software solutions into your time management and project planning, you can significantly enhance organizational efficiency. They enable a more strategic allocation of your time and resources, ensuring that both you and your team can achieve your goals with greater ease and effectiveness.

9. Navigating Organizational Change

Perhaps one of the most difficult times to be in a management position is during uncertain periods when the organization is undergoing significant change. Your team will probably look to you for guidance and solutions, and you may not be able to provide them with answers to every question. During these circumstances, be as transparent and honest as possible while trying to keep your team focused on their short- and long-term goals.

10. Developing Your Leadership Style

It is important to focus on personal leadership growth during your time in management. By exploring the various leadership styles and considering ethical standards in management, you can find an approach that suits your professional goals and your personality. Some of the  most effective leadership styles for supervisors include the transformational leadership style, democratic management style, and coaching leadership style.

11. Handling Budget Constraints

As the supervisor, you may be responsible for managing your department's budget. Handling budget constraints requires a certain amount of finesse and being as savvy as possible with the funding you have.

According to  LinkedIn , some of the best ways to manage budget constraints include:

• Being honest and upfront about the limitations of the current budget.
• Being realistic about your team's ability to reach their goals in light of the budget constraints.
• Being creative and collaborate with your team to come up with innovative solutions that accommodate the budget.

12. Ensuring Team Compliance and Ethical Standards

Striking the balance between monitoring and micromanaging can be challenging, but you must make sure your team remains compliant with organizational guidelines, industry expectations and ethical standards. Providing your team with the tools and resources they need to stay informed, as well as approaching all issues with a fair and consistent approach, will help keep your team in compliance.

Learn More, Today

At the University of Minnesota's College of Continuing and Professional Studies, we offer a wide range of programs designed to provide working professionals with opportunities to learn new skills, techniques, and strategies. The University of Minnesota  Supervision Certificate is ideal for aspiring managers or new supervisors looking to develop effective team management skills.  Enroll today.

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Acs fall 2024.

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Join us in Denver, Colorado from August 18-22 to get the latest research in chemistry, network, and attend career events. The theme of this meeting is "Elevating Chemistry" and will explore a variety of topics such as:

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Choose from thousands of oral presentations covering every area of chemistry, attend the poster session, and visit the expo hall to meet vendors and learn about new tools and processes.

Don’t miss the Keynote Events, including the Plenary and the Kavli Lecture Series, exploring the theme of the meeting, and featuring emerging leaders and innovations in chemistry.

In addition to the technical papers, ACS Fall 2024 offers several events to advance your career, explore career paths, and hone your leadership skills.

Our undergraduate student program prepares students for their next step, whether it’s exploring various careers or getting ready for graduate school. The educator events offer tips on effective teaching practices.

Explore all that ACS Fall 2024 has to offer!

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9 product management bootcamps for learners of all technical backgrounds

Are you deeply curious about how humans behave or interact with technology? If so, you might make for a great product manager (PM), according to Andrew Breen , an adjunct professor of tech product management at the NYU Stern School of Business who spent 30 years as a product manager for both startups and large corporations. 

“Whether it’s an existing product and improving in that, or you’re entering as a new product in a large company or a startup, you’re always focused on customer needs,” Breen says. In addition to keeping the customer top of mind, PMs are always searching for solutions and iterating on their approaches until they reach one. 

Yale - Accelerated Management

Product management has only become more in-demand over time. And even with talk of AI taking over tech development , “the things that are the most important to product management will remain unscathed, which are really the soft skills,” says Paul Canetti , a professor and founder of Columbia Business School’s product management curriculum who also provides training for product managers through his executive education company New Tech Business School . 

“Demand still outweighs supply,” Canetti adds. “So there’s more product management positions in the world than there are qualified product managers, which is a good place to be.”

Of course, not everyone can afford to go to school (or back to school) full time to pursue a career in product management, which is why there are now so many online or remote offerings, from bootcamps to certifications to part-time MBAs. 

Ready to explore your options? Read on for top product management bootcamps you can take from the comfort of your home—and often on your own time.

1. Product Gym’s Product Management program

Cost: $6,000

Length: About 3 months

Structure: Part-time, live or self-paced

Course Report rating: 4.95 /5 from 393 reviews

Product Gym, founded by a former technical recruiter and a product manager, is a training program specifically built to nurture product management talent. Its product management program is broken into two categories: skills development and career acceleration. 

In live or recorded sessions, you’ll be taught fundamentals including UX design and research, customer empathy and product roadmapping, and how to set investor expectations. Once that’s completed, you’ll be trained on common PM interview tactics, provided resume and negotiation coaching, and given access to a network of more than 1,500 alumni who work at companies such as Tesla, Google, and Nike.

2. Product Manager Nanodegree Program by Udacity

Cost: $249 a month

Length: 3 months

Structure: Self-paced

Course Report rating: 4.7 /5 from 626 reviews

Udacity was started by two Stanford professors and computer scientists who wanted to expand into online teaching. The product manager nanodegree compiles together the company’s catalog of product management courses, including problem identification and product vision, product design and prototyping, and testing, gathering feedback, and preparing for launch. The courses are led by two Google product managers who have worked on Chromecast, the Google Pixel phone, and its iOS app, and combine lectures with real-world problem solving. Upon completion, students earn a certificate.

3. Online Product Management Bootcamp by Fullstack Academy

Cost: $6,750

Length: 12 weeks

Structure: Part-time, live

Course Report rating: 4.79 /5 from 399 reviews

Fullstack Academy says it employs students at more than 1,500 companies including Google, Etsy, and Spotify. Its online product management bootcamp combines live instruction with workshops, and because courses take place at night, this could be a great option for those who want to keep their full-time jobs while upskilling. 

The program begins with the basics of product management and how product companies function before jumping into team management, product-market fit, agile processes, and portfolio presentation. Its multiple instructors span a variety of fields, including consulting, tech, and education. After finishing the bootcamp, graduates receive career coaching in networking, job searching, and salary negotiation.

4. The Product Management Boot Camp at UNC-Chapel Hill

Cost: Not listed, UNC online bootcamps range in price from $9,000 to $14,000. Contact the school to learn more.

Length: 18 weeks

Course Report rating: 4.83 /5 from 95 reviews

UNC’s product management bootcamp is targeted at developers, project managers, and designers who want to further advance their skills—but you don’t need a college degree or prior product management experience to apply. Curriculum topics include market analysis and segmentation, defining value propositions, product optimization and A/B testing, and sprint planning. Beyond a certification, students receive access to a network of instructors, tutors, peers, and career coaches.

5. Professional Certificate in Product Management by Kellogg

Cost: $6,950

Length: 6 months

Course Report rating: 5 /5 from 12 reviews

Under the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University’s executive education training is a product management certificate that’s incredibly comprehensive, touching on key soft and hard skills relevant to the field. In the program, you’ll master the product development process from start to finish, learning how to prototype, design a business model, manage relationships, and even implement AI and machine learning. The certificate ends with a capstone project that summarizes all your learnings and puts them into practice.

6. Professional Certificate Program in Product Management by MIT

Cost: $15,950

Length: 9 months

Course Report rating: 4.21 / from 84 reviews

MIT’s product management certificate is longer than Kellogg’s but covers much of the same material, from product strategy and research to leveraging data. The course also touches on the school’s unique design-thinking framework. Students can attend speaking and networking events with PM experts, put their leadership skills to practice in workshops, and gain professional development training. Graduates have gone on to work at Oracle, Mercer, and Credit Karma, among other top companies.

7. Product Management and Strategy by Wharton

Cost: $2,800

Length: 6 weeks

Structure: Part-time, live and self-paced

Course Report rating: N/A

The Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, offers a product management and strategy online program through its executive education portal. The short course focuses on building a product portfolio and setting key metrics for performance measurement and success. Training comes in a variety of forms, including live sessions, podcasts, and “try it activities” based on real-world scenarios. A digital certificate is available upon completion.

8. AI Product Management Specialization by Duke

Cost: $59 a month after free 7-day trial

Length: 4 months at 5 hours a week

Duke’s AI product management specialization on learning platform Coursera is specifically targeted at product managers who want to work in artificial intelligence—an increasingly popular field. As a result, some previous product management experience can be valuable. Beyond the basics of machine learning, the course also dives into AI ethics and human-centric design.

9. IBM Product Manager Professional Certificate

Length: 4 months at 10 hours a week

IBM’s product manager certificate is a partnership between IBM experts and Skill-Up Technologies , a digital learning organization. After delving into product management basics, interpersonal skills, and agile development, you’ll complete a capstone project that will evaluate your readiness to pass the AIPMM Certified Product Manager (CPM) certification exam. Coursera also offers resume and interview prep for subscribers.

Tips for breaking into product management

Product management can be a highly lucrative and rewarding career. Just think: You can help develop products that people love and can’t stop using, or that make the world a better place. Canetti adds that PM jobs exist outside the major tech companies—insurance, for example—and even more organizations are in the process of introducing the role as product becomes a priority.

Here’s his and Breen’s best advice for landing a product manager job:

Consider where you’re coming from: PMs are skilled in business, engineering, and user experience and design, among other things. When evaluating continued education, consider how it will help fill the gaps in your knowledge, or alternatively, allow you to hone a strength. For example, if you come from a finance background, maybe sign up for a bootcamp that focuses more on the technical aspects of product management. Or, if you’re an engineer making a pivot, consider a course that will touch more on business acumen.

Be strategic, curious, creative, and comfortable with change and uncertainty: Product managers need to know how to align a company’s vision with the product and execute tactically on a plan, creatively solve problems as they arise, and pivot on a dime with ease. “No one in product management ever hands you a checklist and says, ‘Go do these things and get it done.’ Basically, they say, ‘Here’s this abstract problem, please go figure it out,’” says Breen. 

Additionally, you have to know how to comfortably and convincingly speak with a variety of parties. “You have to be really comfortable in that environment making calls and making hard calls, not based on your opinion, but based on evidence, and being able to be, in some cases, in front of a pretty skeptical crowd,” says Breen.

If you don’t have these skills, an online bootcamp or MBA equivalent could help you hone them. “It’s really difficult to define what makes a great product manager because so much comes down to your intuition. And so what we’re trying to do in training people is, how do I make your intuition better by having certain parameters, frameworks, techniques, best practices so that you can make decisions,” Breen adds.

Get tangible experience beyond the classroom: Breen says he got into teaching product management because he was seeing a lot of entry-level product manager jobs that asked for several years of previous experience. Canetti, similarly, has noticed a “chicken and egg” problem in hiring where some lack experience and are unable to find roles to fill that gap in the first place. “The best people that really break into product management have found a way to break that cycle by creating their own luck,” he says.

Aspiring product managers should go beyond the classroom by taking on projects where they can get involved in product management, or starting their own projects on the side. 

“Getting this certification is not a replacement for getting real experience,” says Canetti. “It’s a good credential. And of course, more important than the credential is actually learning the skills, but there’s nothing you can do to fake experience except actual experience.”

“It gives you more stories to talk about in your interviews, but also it will make you good at product management,” he adds.

Prepare for case study interviews: Breen says a common practice for vetting product managers is case studies, where a candidate is presented with a problem they have to work through in live time. Sometimes, he would designate a “good cop” and “bad cop” to push the interviewee into different directions to see how they respond. 

But, he adds, “We’re not really that interested in the content you come up with. We’re interested in your approach and your process, but we’re also interested in how you communicate and how you deal with people, especially in adversarial environments.”

Canetti notes that product management isn’t for the faint of heart. But, “for people that really thrive on having to juggle a lot of different things and talk to a lot of different people, it’s really fun.”

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