LEADERSHIP MBA &
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE
Our mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.
We can help you to achieve your professional goals and maximize your leadership impact.
You don't have to wait until you've completed your program, or even your first course, to experience an impact. Our courses are designed and taught by our Business Leader Faculty® -- successful leaders who incorporate their real-world experience to enable you to take what you learn in class and apply it the next day.
Our live video conferencing format provides you the flexibility to join class from anywhere while still benefiting from our interactive classroom environment.
Graduate Program Overviews

Leadership MBA
• Core Courses (12 including Capstone) Core courses consist of table stakes business leadership competencies designed to address today's essential leadership opportunities and challenges. Our Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership consists of three of these courses. • Elective Courses (4 courses) Lake Forest provides you the opportunity to customize your degree by choosing four electives. Our academic team will work with you to build a schedule tailored to your interests. • Capstone Course During the Capstone course, all of your coursework is tied together to build a comprehensive personal leadership brand and portfolio of work.
Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership
• Effective Leadership
This course is the starting block to developing your unique skills as an effective leader. You will discover LFGSM’s five Leadership Attributes and what it means to create a followership. As you engage in this personal journey, you will create your leadership philosophy, grow in your self-awareness of how you relate to others, and identify opportunities to develop as a leader worth following. With a Personal Leadership Plan to guide your development and growth, you will be on your way to becoming a strong leader who excels at rallying, connecting, and supporting others to uphold the organization’s vision and achieve results.
• Strategic Thinking
Learn to apply strategic concepts to the fundamental functions and processes necessary to lead a business in a dynamic, highly competitive environment while demonstrating your ability to convert initial analysis into logical, persuasive recommendations. Challenge yourself to improve your ability to resolve complex business issues, identify underlying problems, be open to new ideas that lead to innovative but feasible alternatives, and take actions that will meet the needs of your organization’s stakeholders.
• Leading Organizational Change
Learn how to lead organizational change and effectively execute change strategies in dynamic environments. You will be introduced to the frameworks and competencies required to identify change opportunities and determine the problem that needs to be solved. Prepare yourself to lead small, medium or large-scale change initiatives with or without formal authority. You will also have an opportunity to create a comprehensive change management action plan and establish timelines for executing change initiatives.
Program Structure & Student Network

Program Structure
To make sure you get the most practical, impactful business education experience, our live courses are discussion-based and enable you to learn and network with fellow working professionals. Courses are held one weeknight per week, via live videoconferencing. This structure allows you to interact and learn directly from your peers and our Business Leader Faculty in real-time, while maintaining the flexibility to join class from wherever is most convenient for you.
Student Network
Academic Calendar

Academic Calendar
To learn more about our upcoming course schedule or to inquire about how your own schedule might look within this structure, please schedule a quick 15-Minute Chat or use the Information Request Form below to email us your question.
UPCOMING TERM DATESSpring 2 | April 28, 2025 - June 21, 2025
Fall | August 25, 2025 - October 16, 2025