The Certificate in Leadership Excellence is offered fully online, with three required courses totalling 108 hours of learning. The three courses focus on leadership, ethics and strategy. Each course takes a minimum of 36 hours to complete over 12 weeks. The certificate is issued in partnership with the Business Excellence Institute, an international organization specializing in leadership and strategy. The certificate provides a robust foundation for current and aspiring leaders to develop an authentic, flexible and adaptable leadership style for today's complex, dynamic organizations and landscapes. Take one course or more to upskill your leadership competencies and build confidence in your leadership capabilities. Take all three courses to earn the Certificate in Leadership Excellence.
The Certificate in Leadership Excellence is applicable to individuals in a leadership role or aspiring to a leadership role in any type of organization, be it non-profit, for-profit or public sector. The knowledge, strategies and skills in the certificate courses are foundational to building confidence in your personal leadership style and being authentic as a leader. Assessments in the courses allow you to apply what you learn to your organization and your leadership journey.
What Will You Learn?
As a result of successfully completing the Certificate of Leadership Excellence you will be able to:
- Craft an authentic personal leadership style based on current theory and practice applied to your personality and experience.
- Flexibly adapt your leadership choices to different complex dynamic contexts and situations.
- Apply a deep understanding of ethics to your daily decision-making.
- Manage your organization strategically drawing upon multiple theories and practices of strategy to lead with excellence.
- Combine your understanding of leadership, ethics and strategy to lead with excellence.
Who Should Take This Certificate?
You should take this certificate if:
- You are new to or aspire to a leadership role and want to build a solid foundation of knowledge and practice around leadership.
- You are currently in a leadership capacity in your organization and want to build your confidence in your personal leadership style and your leadership choices.
- You are an experienced leader who wants to increase your knowledge and application of the theory and practice in leadership, ethics and strategy.
How Will You Benefit?
The Certificate in Leadership Excellence can help you:
- Discuss and analyze leadership challenges using current theories and frameworks.
- Explore yourself as a leader through multiple theoretical and practical lenses.
- Identify leadership characteristics and styles that speak to you as a person and that fit into your authentic leadership style.
- Apply a variety of approaches to strategy to your decision-making and learn to manage strategically.
- Evaluate your actions and decisions as a leader through an ethics lens.
- Fill in foundational knowledge, approach and skill gaps in your leadership repertoire.
- Integrate key concepts on leadership, ethics and strategy into your daily behaviours, decision-making and choices.
Certificate Requirements
The certificate consists of three required courses totalling 108 hours of learning. The three required courses of the certificate, each 36 hours long, are:
- OLCD-PALS0012 Leadership Dynamics
- OLCD-PALS0013 Ethics in Action
- OLCD-PALS0014 Mastering Strategy
Fees and Schedule
The courses run in September, January and April. At least two of the three courses are offered each term.
The courses are 12 weeks long and require a minimum of 36 hours of learning engagement each. You should expect to spend a minimum of 3 hours per week engaged in learning the course material. Many participants choose to spend more than the minimum of 3 hours per week in order to dig into the material and assessments more deeply. There are live sessions throughout the courses.
The courses can be taken individually, without completing the certificate. All three courses must be completed with a grade of 70% or higher to earn the Certificate in Leadership Excellence.
For assistance or more information, please contact openlearning@dal.ca.
Recognition of Prior Learning
It may be possible to receive advanced standing in this certificate based on your prior learning from work or life experience. We provide two types of recognition of prior learning:
- Prior Certified Learning: Assessment of prior coursework or training through a provider, that is neither a university or college, for the purpose of advanced standing. Examples of certified learning may include military courses, accredited certificates, workplace training programs, etc.
- Prior Experiential Learning: Assessment of previous work and life learning that may be equivalent to learning outcomes of university courses / programs, for the purpose of advanced standing. Relevant prior learning may come from work or volunteer experience, participation on committees or boards, independent study, etc.
To discuss how to use your prior learning to apply for advanced standing, please contact rpl@dal.ca.