Did you know that the key ingredient to being a successful leader of high-performing teams is having an open mind to learning new things? Whether you have your own business or are running a department, you will need good leadership skills if you want to inspire teams, manage change, and influence stakeholders across a company.
However, leadership skills don’t come naturally to most people. I can see some people struggling with communication and strategic budgeting, while others with team-building and organizational planning. What do you do when you want to advance your leadership skills but don’t have the time for a formal class? You take advantage of technology!
You’ll be surprised to learn that there’s a plethora of top-rated, self-paced leadership training courses online. These leadership training programs are effective, affordable, and sometimes even free. Let’s dive into the online courses that are my personal favorite!
#1. Coursera
Companies worldwide are using Coursera to upskill their employees. This online learning platform can help you gain new knowledge in the field of leadership and earn valuable credentials from high-rated universities like Standford, Yale, and Michigan.
Here, you can find online leadership programs like:
- Leading People and Teams
- Strategic Leadership and Management
- Managing the Company of the Future
- Digital Transformation
Each leadership course resembles an interactive textbook, with pre-recorded videos, projects, and quizzes. Through Coursera, you can even connect with other learners to debate ideas, discuss courses, and collaborate.
The best part? You can watch the videos and learn in multiple languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Portuguese. What’s more, I found it very useful to be able to filter the courses by level (beginner, intermediate, advanced), job title (project manager, hiring manager), and skills (communication, planning, analytics).
Price-wise, you have two types of programs:
- Courses: they run from four to six weeks and cost from $29 to $99.
- Specializations: they run from four to six months and cost from $39 to $79 per month.
#2. Udemy
Udemy is another online learning platform that I think you might find useful in your leadership development endeavors. It offers a wide range of online leadership programs that are geared towards ambitious people of all levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced.
In my experience, Udemy is a high-quality platform for leadership training programs for managers because you get to learn at your own pace, learn from industry experts, and find online courses on almost any topic.
Here, you can find online leadership programs like:
- Practical Leadership Skills
- Managing and Leading Change
- The Emotionally Intelligent Leader
- How to Influence, Inspire and Impact as a Leader
Most online leadership courses on Udemy are priced between $20 and $200. You pay a one-time fee for any course and that course will be saved on your account forever.
#3. Class Central
If you love learning and love learning from the best, Class Central is another online learning platform you should explore. Here, you’ll discover leadership development courses from multiple universities and other educational facilities. The platform even has aggregated courses that you can find on other platforms like Coursera and FutureLearn.
The best part? You can find many high-quality free courses on any subject you wish to understand more clearly.
You can filter the online leadership programs by language, start date, and with or without a certificate.
On Class Central, you can find online leadership programs like:
- Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence
- Project Management: The Basics for Success
- Agile Leadership Practices
- Building High-Performing Teams
Price-wise, the video lessons, readings, assessments, and discussion forums are usually free, but you need to pay for other features like certificates and mentorship. However, if you want to get a certificate but cannot afford the cost, you can find many providers that offer financial aid to applicants. The leadership training courses may be available on a subscription basis or for individual purchase.
#4. FutureLearn
FutureLearn is another digital education platform in our collection of best online resources for leadership development. On this platform, you can discover a wide range of online courses and online degrees from some of the leading universities and organizations in the world.
On FutureLearn, you can find online leadership programs like:
- Managing People: Teamwork and Diversity
- Entrepreneurship in Nonprofits
- Growing as a Manager
- Modern Empowerment in the Workplace
You can choose to develop your leadership skills through a short online business course, an in-depth management training program or a full postgraduate degree.
Most FutureLearn leadership training courses are available to audit for free but you can’t get a certificate without paying. You can always upgrade your course and gain ongoing access to the course, quizzes and assignments, and a Certificate of Achievement. The upgrade costs anywhere between £24–69.
#5. LinkedIn Learning
You probably have heard about LinkedIn Learning. It’s a popular platform for online learning that features thousands of videos on a wide range of topics. Here, you can find leadership training programs, presented by industry experts from around the world. You can enroll in a course individually and there’s also an option to use LinkedIn Learning to train your organization.
On LinkedIn Learning, you can find online leadership programs like:
- Leading With Vision
- Inclusive Leadership
- Self-Awareness, Authenticity, and Leadership
- Fostering Collaboration
Price-wise, Linkedin Learning’s Premium subscription costs $29.99/month for the monthly subscription or $2499/month for the yearly subscription. The subscription includes ongoing access to all videos, personalized course recommendations, certification, quizzes and project files.
In Conclusion
These platforms for online learning can be your road to leadership success. Hopefully, with their help, you’ll grow to become an emotionally intelligent leader of high-performing teams, successfully managing and leading change.
Your career as an effective and productive leader is only one click away. Explore these leadership development courses any time of the day and become the leader you always thought you would be.
