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Leadership

Explore leadership as influence, learning, communication, teamwork, change, and ethical responsibility.

For: Learners at different starting points, including people without formal leadership roles.

After this page you can: Choose a learning path and use reflection, evidence, and practice to improve a leadership action.

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Part of: Business › Management

About Leadership

Leadership can be studied as the work of influencing people toward shared purposes and examining how that influence happens in practice. MIT’s Practical Leadership course frames it around increasing leadership capacity through feedback, reflection, and practice.

A useful way to learn is to connect concepts with real situations: study a case or communication skill, try an action, invite feedback, and reflect on what to adjust. MIT course materials use cases, exercises, role plays, observation, and reflection to link leadership ideas with practice.

Start here

route

I’m new to leadership

Start with an introductory course that treats leadership as learnable through practice and reflection; it does not require a formal position of authority.

Start with: Practical Leadership

route

I’m returning to study leadership

Use a team-focused course to connect leadership concepts with theory, practice, and reflection.

Start with: Building and Leading Effective Teams

route

I have a specific communication goal

Choose a communication course with practice and feedback on writing, presentations, and interpersonal communication.

Start with: Communication for Managers

Learn the foundations

1.Build leadership through reflection and practiceMIT’s Practical Leadership course uses feedback, reflection, and practice to develop leadership capacities.

MIT’s Practical Leadership course uses feedback, reflection, and practice to develop leadership capacities.

  • Leadership Lab

    The course connects leadership learning with observation, sense-making, and creating.

Try it

Recall a moment when you tried to influence a group. Write what you did, what response you noticed, and one change you would try next time.

Example: I stated the decision I wanted the group to make, but did not ask for concerns. Next time I would invite questions before proposing a next step.

2.Connect direction with implementation and changeMIT’s implementation course is a case-driven introduction to developing strategy, managing operations, developing talent, measuring results, and leading adapti…

MIT’s implementation course is a case-driven introduction to developing strategy, managing operations, developing talent, measuring results, and leading adaptive change.

  • Organizational Processes

    The course examines organizational structure, power, culture, and change through multiple perspectives.

Try it

Choose a small change you want a group to make. Name one action, one sign of progress, and one assumption you would revisit if progress stalls.

Example: For a shared meeting agenda, I would ask the group to try a written agenda, check whether decisions are recorded, and revisit whether everyone can access it.

3.Practice communication and influenceMIT’s communication course develops writing, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills through practice and feedback.

MIT’s communication course develops writing, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills through practice and feedback.

Active listening

Listening attentively and showing interest in another person’s comments or questions.

Persuasive communication

Communication that presents a recommendation with relevant evidence and context.

Try it

Write a two-sentence proposal for a group decision: state your recommendation, then name one piece of evidence or a question that would help the group assess it.

Example: I recommend that we test a shared agenda for our next meeting. What information would help us decide whether it made the meeting easier to follow?

4.Lead teams and shared workMIT’s team course explores leadership, teamwork, and organizational change and combines practice with theory.

MIT’s team course explores leadership, teamwork, and organizational change and combines practice with theory.

  • Communication for Managers

    The course includes team presentations, practical exercises, and opportunities to practice communication skills with feedback.

Team building

Practice aimed at developing how a team works together.

Shared leadership

Leadership may be enacted by an appointed leader or by a team member who rises to the occasion.

Try it

For a group task, name one responsibility that could be shared and one check-in question that would help the group notice who has had a chance to contribute.

Example: We could rotate the note-taking responsibility. At check-in, we could ask, “What perspective have we not heard yet?”

5.Consider ethics, authority, and responsibilityMIT’s Literature, Ethics and Authority course examines the ethics of leadership and the principles appealed to by executive authority when questions arise abou…

MIT’s Literature, Ethics and Authority course examines the ethics of leadership and the principles appealed to by executive authority when questions arise about its sources and legitimacy.

  • Leadership Lab

    The course includes multi-stakeholder dialogue and social responsibility among its leadership themes.

Authority

A basis for executive action whose sources and legitimacy can be examined.

Try it

Consider a group decision that affects people beyond those in the room. List one value at stake, one affected perspective to seek, and one question to ask before deciding.

Example: If changing a team schedule, I would consider fairness, ask people affected by the change how it would affect their work, and ask what constraints the proposal has not considered.

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Books

Glossary

Every free Leadership course and book on RedLectern

Free Leadership online courses

  1. Advanced Communication for LeadersMIT 15.281 · Browse materials
  2. Communication for ManagersMIT 15.280 · Browse materials
  3. Cross-Cultural LeadershipMIT 15.996 · Browse materials
  4. Dynamic Leadership: Using Improvisation in BusinessMIT 15.969 · Browse materials
  5. Facilitative Leadership in the Public SectorMIT RES.11-004 · Browse materials · Video
  6. Gender, Power, Leadership and the WorkplaceMIT WGS.150 · Browse materials
  7. Gender, Power, Leadership, and the WorkplaceMIT WGS.S10 · Browse materials
  8. Getting Things Implemented: Strategy, People, Performance, and LeadershipMIT 11.958 · Browse materials
Show all 22 coursesShow fewer courses
  1. Leadership DevelopmentMIT IDS.910 · Browse materials
  2. Leadership DevelopmentMIT IDS.910 · Browse materials
  3. Leadership LabMIT 15.974 · Browse materials
  4. Leadership Stories: Literature, Ethics, and AuthorityMIT 15.269 · Browse materials
  5. Practical LeadershipMIT 15.974 · Browse materials
  6. Strategic Management IMIT 15.902 · Browse materials
  7. Strategic Management IIMIT 15.904 · Browse materials
  8. Systems Leadership and Management PraxisMIT ESD.S51 · Browse materials
  9. The Art and Science of NegotiationMIT 11.011 · Browse materials
  10. Leadership Tools and Teams: A Product Development LabMIT 15.978 · Open on OCW
  11. Management Communication for UndergraduatesMIT 15.279 · Open on OCW
  12. Organizational Leadership and ChangeMIT 15.317 · Open on OCW
  13. Special Seminar in Communications: Leadership and Personal Effectiveness CoachingMIT 15.277 · Open on OCW
  14. Team ProjectMIT 15.328 · Open on OCW
How these courses are chosen

Listed as Leadership courses:

  • those whose title contains “Leadership”, or
  • those tagged “Leadership” as one of at most 2 topic tags, or as the first of 3.

Free Leadership textbooks and books

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