Here Are Free Online Leadership Courses Hosted By Top Universities

A major debate in learning leadership is whether leadership is a natural skill or learned. While the question may never be answered, taking a leadership course can still prove to be an effective career booster. This type of course can help you assess your effectiveness as a leader, learn management skills, and get feedback from other experienced leaders, according to Tim Stobierski, a contributor to the Harvard Business School’s Online Business Insights Blog.

Many leading colleges, educational establishments, and corporations provide leadership skills training—and the demand for, and spending, for these courses is steadily increasing, according to learning from market research firm Technavio. Depending on the style of leadership training you choose, the process can be expensive. Executive coaching can cost hundreds of dollars per hour and some organizations spend more than tens of thousands of dollars annually to train their employees in leadership.

That said, leadership training has a decent return on investment (ROI). According to a Training Industry study by ROI expert Paul Leone, rookie managers who complete a leadership development program offer an annual ROI of 415%, which means that each company generates $4.15 for every $1 spent on skills training.

“What we want to prove by studying this issue is that leaders can’t afford not to attend leadership training and that the sooner they leave, the sooner they can add more value to their organization’s bottom line,” Leone, founder of MeasureUp Consulting, an ROI consultant, wrote in his study findings. “This is what our study of issues proves: New leaders add more value to the business the sooner they join the training.”

If you’re not sure where to feel from where to come with leadership training or your company doesn’t offer courses, many top colleges offer free online classes. Fortune has listed eight leadership courses that could be great starting areas for your training.

Harvard University: Coaching Leadership: Basic Principles

In this four-week introductory level course offered by Harvard University, participants learn leadership strategies in a world that is consistently changing. Coaching Leadership: Fundamental Principles taught by Ronald Heifetz, founder of the Center for Public Leadership and senior lecturer in public leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, the world’s most popular school of leadership and public policy. Course topics include identifying and tackling complex challenges, being aware of authority, identifying stakeholder perspectives, building relationships, and approaching conflict. Independent courses require approximately two to three hours of work per week.

Northwestern University: High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation

Northwestern University’s free online course High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation supports participants in learning more about their leadership type through self-assessment. This course is part of the school’s Organizational Leadership Specialization, which includes courses in leadership communications, social influence, and leadership through marketing and design. High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork and Negotiations is the first course of the specialization and takes approximately 14 hours to complete. Recurring course sessions are held every Monday.

University of Washington: Speaking to Inspire: Ceremonial and Motivational Speeches

Public speaking skills are absolutely essential for “all professionals in all fields who seek leadership, because the power to change others is an essential part of leadership,” according to the Study The Benefits and Needs of Public Speaking Education. The University of Washington is offering the free online course Speaking to Inspire: Ceremonial and Motivating Speeches to support professionals learn how to prepare and deliver effective speeches. This beginner’s course explores the skills of storytelling, appropriate tone, and speech delivery. It takes approximately 16 hours to complete and students will record speeches and give and receive feedback on peer-to-peer presentations.

For more info please check https://greenwoodleadershipacademy.org/