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Think Like a Leader

In this course, you'll learn how to evaluate and support your company’s financial health, business model, and competitive strategy. You'll find out how to make good business decisions—and avoid decision-making pitfalls—by using a smart, structured process. You'll learn how to lead effective group decisions and how to improve decisions with data. As you build these skills, you’ll develop your ability to think, act, and speak like a leader.

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What's inside

Syllabus

Sharpening Your Business Acumen

How can you best help your organization thrive? By developing your business acumen—knowledge of how organizations operate, create value, and gain competitive advantage. Take your career to the next level by learning business and finance basics, and developing an enterprise mindset.

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Career center

Learners who complete Think Like a Leader will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Entrepreneur Founder

An Entrepreneur Founder conceptualizes, builds, and leads a new organization, taking on the full responsibility for its vision, strategy, and execution. The "Think Like a Leader" course is an exceptional fit for an entrepreneur, as it cultivates every essential skill required to establish and grow a successful venture from the ground up. An entrepreneur must possess an acute enterprise mindset, understanding how to operate, create value, and gain competitive advantage in dynamic markets. The ability to evaluate financial health, design a robust business model, and define a competitive strategy are core to survival and growth. Moreover, making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls, leading group decisions, and using data are pivotal for navigating constant challenges and achieving audacious goals. This course helps build the leadership capabilities essential for an entrepreneur.

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Director of Strategy

A Director of Strategy is responsible for developing and implementing an organization's long-term competitive strategy, ensuring it aligns with overall business goals and market dynamics. The "Think Like a Leader" course directly prepares individuals for this demanding role by sharpening their business acumen and enterprise mindset. Learners gain expertise in evaluating and supporting an organization’s financial health, business model, and competitive strategy. The emphasis on making smart business decisions, avoiding common pitfalls, and improving choices with data is fundamental to a Director of Strategy's daily work. This course helps foster the ability to think, act, and speak like a leader, enabling strategic guidance that helps the organization outperform rivals and achieve ambitious goals. Roles in this field often prefer candidates with an advanced degree, such as a Master of Business Administration.

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Management Consultant

A Management Consultant advises organizations on improving performance and efficiency, often tackling complex business challenges related to strategy, operations, and finance. The "Think Like a Leader" course is exceptionally relevant for this path, as it cultivates the enterprise mindset crucial for identifying value creation opportunities and competitive advantages for clients. By learning to evaluate financial health, business models, and competitive strategy, consultants can provide insightful recommendations. The course's focus on structured decision-making, avoiding pitfalls, and leveraging data for group decisions directly enhances a consultant's ability to guide clients toward smart choices and achieve strategic goals. This course helps build a foundation for becoming a trusted advisor who can think, act, and speak like a leader to drive organizational success. An advanced degree, such as an MBA, is often preferred for entry into this career role.

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Corporate Development Manager

A Corporate Development Manager identifies and executes strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and divestitures to drive organizational growth and competitive advantage. The "Think Like a Leader" course is highly beneficial, as this role requires an acute enterprise mindset and deep business acumen. Individuals in this role must critically evaluate a company's financial health, business model, and competitive strategy to identify suitable targets or partners. The course's focus on making smart business decisions, avoiding common pitfalls, and improving choices with data is directly applicable to complex deal structuring and negotiation. This course helps develop the leadership skills needed to critically assess opportunities, create value, and contribute significantly to an organization's long-term strategic success.

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General Manager

A General Manager oversees the overall operations of a business unit, product line, or small company, holding accountability for profit and loss and strategic direction. The "Think Like a Leader" course is ideal for aspiring General Managers, as it provides a holistic understanding of how organizations operate, create value, and earn profits. Developing an enterprise mindset is central to this role, requiring the ability to think critically about every aspect of the business. The course's teachings on evaluating financial health, business models, and competitive strategy are vital for making smart choices and achieving goals across various functions. Furthermore, mastering decision-making processes, including group decisions and data utilization, is critical for effective leadership in this comprehensive management role.

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Investment Analyst

An Investment Analyst researches companies, industries, and markets to provide data-driven recommendations that guide investment decisions for individuals or institutions. The "Think Like a Leader" course is highly relevant for aspiring Investment Analysts, as it sharpens the business acumen necessary to evaluate potential investments. Analysts must possess an enterprise mindset, understanding how organizations operate, create value, and achieve competitive advantage. The course's focus on evaluating financial health, business models, and competitive strategy is foundational to assessing a company's prospects. Furthermore, the principles of making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls, and improving choices with data are directly applicable to rigorous due diligence and crafting informed investment strategies. Roles in this field often prefer candidates with an advanced degree, such as an MBA or a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

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Senior Business Analyst

A Senior Business Analyst investigates business problems, evaluates processes, and recommends solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, often bridging the gap between business needs and technical capabilities. The "Think Like a Leader" course aligns well with the analytical and strategic demands of this role. It helps a Senior Business Analyst develop a strong enterprise mindset, enabling them to critically assess how an organization operates, creates value, and gains competitive advantage. The ability to evaluate financial health, business models, and competitive strategy is paramount for delivering impactful recommendations. Furthermore, the course's emphasis on making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls, and improving decisions with data directly enhances an analyst’s capacity to support smart choices and achieve organizational goals.

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Innovation Manager

An Innovation Manager drives the development and implementation of new ideas, products, or processes that create value and foster competitive advantage for an organization. The "Think Like a Leader" course is highly beneficial for an Innovation Manager, as it cultivates the enterprise mindset essential for identifying opportunities to operate differently and improve. Innovation requires a deep understanding of how to create value and gain competitive advantage through new business models. The course's focus on making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls with a structured process, and improving decisions with data is critical for evaluating new concepts and guiding their development. This course helps build the strategic thinking and leadership capabilities needed to champion novel solutions that contribute to an organization's financial health and future success.

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Product Manager

A Product Manager leads the strategy, roadmap, and feature definition for a product or product line, ensuring it delivers value to customers and meets business objectives. The "Think Like a Leader" course helps build a foundational understanding crucial for a successful Product Manager, particularly in developing an enterprise mindset focused on creating value and competitive advantage. Product Managers must constantly evaluate their product's business model and competitive strategy within the market. The course's lessons on making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls, and improving decisions with data are indispensable for prioritizing features and making tough trade-offs. This course helps individuals develop the ability to think strategically and lead cross-functional teams effectively, contributing to the organization's financial health and goals.

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Marketing Director

A Marketing Director leads an organization's marketing strategy, brand management, and demand generation efforts, focusing on achieving business objectives and market share. The "Think Like a Leader" course helps build crucial capabilities for a Marketing Director by fostering an enterprise mindset focused on creating value and outperforming rivals. Marketing leaders must deeply understand competitive strategy and how their efforts contribute to the organization's financial health and business model. The course’s emphasis on making smart choices, avoiding decision-making pitfalls, and improving decisions with data is vital for effective campaign planning, resource allocation, and market analysis. This course helps Marketing Directors develop the strategic thinking and leadership needed to align marketing initiatives with overall organizational goals and drive profitable growth.

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Data Analytics Manager

A Data Analytics Manager leads teams in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting complex data to provide insights that inform strategic business decisions. The "Think Like a Leader" course is highly relevant for this role, particularly its emphasis on improving decisions with data. A Data Analytics Manager benefits from developing an enterprise mindset, understanding how data analysis contributes to an organization's ability to create value, earn profits, and outperform rivals. The course's focus on business fundamentals, including financial health, business models, and competitive strategy, ensures that data insights are framed within a strategic context. This course helps develop the leadership acumen to guide teams in making smart choices, avoiding decision-making pitfalls, and presenting findings that drive measurable improvements and achieve organizational goals.

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Operations Manager

An Operations Manager optimizes an organization's processes, systems, and resource allocation to ensure efficiency, productivity, and the achievement of organizational goals. The "Think Like a Leader" course provides highly relevant skills for this career, particularly by enhancing business acumen and an enterprise mindset. Understanding how an organization operates, creates value, and gains competitive advantage is fundamental to improving operational performance. An Operations Manager directly benefits from learning to make good business decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and apply smart, structured processes, especially when leading effective group decisions to streamline workflows. This course helps in developing the strategic decision-making capabilities needed to contribute to an organization's financial health and overall success through optimized operations.

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Supply Chain Manager

A Supply Chain Manager oversees the entire process of product flow, from sourcing raw materials to delivery, ensuring efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. The "Think Like a Leader" course is highly relevant for this role, as it sharpens business acumen and an enterprise mindset crucial for optimizing operations. A Supply Chain Manager directly impacts an organization's financial health, value creation, and competitive advantage through strategic decisions on logistics, procurement, and inventory. The course's emphasis on making good business decisions, avoiding pitfalls, and using a smart, structured process for decision-making is vital for managing complex global networks. Learning to improve decisions with data and leading effective group decisions helps ensure that the supply chain effectively supports and achieves organizational goals.

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Project Lead

A Project Lead is responsible for guiding a project from initiation to completion, ensuring it meets objectives, stays within scope, and delivers desired outcomes. The "Think Like a Leader" course may be useful for a Project Lead, as it sharpens an enterprise mindset by emphasizing how projects contribute to organizational value, profit, and competitive advantage. While focused on execution, a Project Lead benefits significantly from understanding business fundamentals and how their work supports the company’s strategic goals. The course's teachings on making good business decisions, avoiding common pitfalls, and leading effective group decisions are directly applicable to managing project teams and navigating challenges. Furthermore, improving decisions with data can enhance project planning and risk management, helping to achieve goals efficiently.

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Human Resources Business Partner

A Human Resources Business Partner aligns HR strategies with business objectives, acting as a consultant to leaders on talent management, organizational development, and employee relations. The "Think Like a Leader" course may be useful for an HR Business Partner by fostering an enterprise mindset, which is crucial for understanding how HR contributes to overall value creation and competitive advantage. HRBPs need to comprehend business fundamentals, evaluating how people strategies impact financial health and business models. The course’s focus on thinking critically, making smart choices, and leading effective group decisions is directly applicable to advising leadership and developing talent initiatives that achieve organizational goals. This helps in developing the ability to think, act, and speak like a leader within the HR function.

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Reading list

We've selected 50 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Think Like a Leader.

Exploring Strategic Change

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This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of organization development, covering theory, research, and practical applications.

Think Like a Leader

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What's inside

Syllabus

Save this course

Career center

Reading list

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