Leadership MBA

Our program is focused on providing working professionals with the business skills and acumen required of today's leaders - taught by today's leaders - so you can navigate your career with the confidence and competence you need to succeed.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM 

(Click here to download MBA core and elective course details)

• 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 Leadership Foundations Graduate Certificate 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.

Overview

Our Leadership Foundations Graduate Certificate consists of three 8-week courses. This program provides a firm foundation from which you can guide your team and company in the contemporary business ecosystem. Dive deep into your own leadership style using the Hogan Leadership Assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses, and then take a fresh look at business strategy and learn how to navigate complex, shifting landscapes. As a certificate student, you will be commingled with degree seeking students and all three certificate courses (Effective Leadership, Strategic Thinking and Leading Organizational Change) may be applied to our MBA Program.

Certificate Courses

• 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.

To make sure you get the most practical, impactful business education experience, our course format is designed to reflect today's business landscape. Courses are held one weeknight per week, primarily via live video-conferencing. 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. To supplement this format, most courses also hold optional in-person class sessions on campus (Lake Forest, Ill.) once or twice per 8-week term.

Our student body is a network of career-oriented professionals with years of experience in real-world businesses. Students that thrive at LFGSM are determined, focused and driven professionals looking to grow into or branch out into the world of business strategy within their existing organizations or career paths.

Bringing smart, strong, and ambitious leaders together in a classroom adds even more value and insight within each course and group of classmates. In addition to the support of their classmates, our students receive one-on-one support, career planning concierge services, subject matter tutoring, access to mentors within our network, and multiple resources that are a phone call away. We are steadfastly committed to making each student's MBA experience successful, inspiring, and impactful.