Practical Leadership OpenCourseWare: A Free MIT Grad-Level Class on Practical Leadership

Published Jan 28, 2009

RSS Feed

In this MIT OpenCourseWare project, 'Practical Leadership', students assess their leadership skills and practice to strengthen their weak areas in weekly role-playing. They receive feedback from their peers and the instructor. Anyone who leads teams could benefit from this free master's-level course, but a group must take it together to truly learn from it.

Practical Leadership: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Graduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
Yes Yes No

Practical Leadership: Course Description

Senior Lecturer Pat Bentley was the original teacher of this course. Students must first assess their own leadership skills. Sloan uses a proprietary form, but other leadership assessment tools can be found in a Web search. Following this step, each student creates an 'Action Plan' to improve certain aspects of their leadership abilities. Each class consists of a discussion of readings followed by role-playing and reviews offered by the other students. Readings cover such subjects as leadership traits and frameworks, communication, situational leadership, leading with influence rather than authority and decision-making.

Lecture notes for each class are included, as well as assignments. Find a group of peers and start 'Practical Leadership' by visiting its course page.

Featured School Choices:

  • UMass Global

    UMass Global responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • BA in Organizational Leadership
    • BA in Organizational Leadership (Org Administration)
    • BA in Organizational Leadership (Supply Chain Systems)
    • MBA in Business Administration
    • MBA in Business Administration (Accounting)
  • National University

    National University responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • DBA - Project Management
    • PhD - Project Management
    • PhD-BA - Global Business Management
    • MBA - Project Management
    • MSIT - Project Management
  • Liberty University

    Liberty University responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • CERT: Project Management
    More information about Liberty University
  • Purdue Global

    Purdue Global responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • M.B.A. in Project Management
    • M.S. in Mgmt - Project Management
    • Master of Science in Management
    • Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management
    • Associate of Applied Science in Small Group Management
    More information about Purdue Global
  • Wake Forest University - School of Professional Studies

    Wake Forest University - School of Professional Studies responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • Masters in Project Management
    • Project Management Certificate
  • Grand Canyon University

    Grand Canyon University responds quickly to information requests through this site.

    Suggested programs:
    • Master of Science in Business Analytics
    More information about Grand Canyon University