Becoming a Leader: Motivate, Inspire, and Persuade
Effective leadership is built through deliberate action and strategic decision-making, appearing long before a formal title is earned. This course examines how professionals communicate with clarity, motivate diverse teams, and influence outcomes with integrity. By navigating real-world scenarios, you will test various approaches and refine a personal style applicable across any industry. Strengthen your professional judgment and evaluate your potential for management roles without a long-term commitment. Prepare to lead with purpose in your chosen field.
Program Dates
Multi-length courses available throughout the year
Eligibility
For students ages 18 and up
College Credit Course Fees
$3,995
Enrichment Course Fees
$1,895
What's the Difference Between Our College Credit and Enrichment Courses?
Both enrichment and college credit–bearing options feature engaging online lessons and instructional support. College credit–bearing courses include additional coursework and offer the opportunity to earn academic credit upon successful completion. Some course content overlaps across both options, so students are encouraged to choose the format that best aligns with their academic or professional goals.
College Credit Courses$3,995
Length of Course: Multi-length course options
Instruction & Activities: 128 hours
Grading: Letter grade
On Your Own Schedule: ✔️
Academic Support: ✔️
Final Project: ✔️
College Credit Hours: ✔️
Certificate of Completion: Georgetown Transcript
Enrichment Courses$1,895
Length of Course: 1-, 2-, or 4-weeks
Instruction & Activities: 20-30 hours
Grading: Pass/Fail
On Your Own Schedule: ✔️
Academic Support: ✔️
Final Project: ✔️
College Credit Hours:❌
Certificate of Completion:✔️
Develop The Skills To Lead People, Decisions, And Change
Leading With Self-Awareness
Explore how personality, values, and context shape diverse leadership styles. Understand how self-awareness and situational strengths influence authenticity, helping you lead effectively across various organizational challenges and environments.
Decision-Making When Stakes Are High
Examine how leaders navigate uncertainty and competing priorities while managing complex group dynamics. Learn to establish norms that support healthy disagreement and facilitate clear, decisive action.
Motivating People To Act
Identify why motivating others is challenging and how leaders influence behavior beyond formal authority. Study intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and goal-setting strategies to sustain long-term commitment.
Influence That Builds Trust
Analyze how leaders use influence, negotiation, and storytelling to help ideas gain traction. Determine how narratives shape organizational alignment and communicate in ways that earn trust.
Leadership For Modern Teams And Real Constraints
Investigate how leaders adapt to inclusion, ethics, burnout, and distributed teams. Emphasize the importance of evolving expectations and diverse perspectives when navigating today's complex and changing environments.
Leadership Paths And Final Capstone Project Preparation
Connect leadership tools to real initiatives while preparing for the Final Capstone Project. Evaluate how these skills translate across business, public service, advocacy, education, entrepreneurship, and community leadership.
What You Gain From This Experience
- Clearer insight into how leadership skills apply across academic, professional, and community settings.
- Decision-making tools to navigate uncertainty, disagreement, and competing priorities with confidence.
- Communication and influence strategies that build trust and move ideas forward.
- Experience applying leadership concepts through a Final Capstone Project focused on vision, teamwork, and persuasion.
- A Certificate of Completion from Georgetown University upon successful completion of the course.
What Sets This Program Apart
A Capstone Project With Real-World Relevance
- Develop and pitch a leadership campaign around an issue you care about, using clear vision and persuasive messaging.
- Create a team charter and call to action that reflect practical leadership challenges and responsibilities.
Instructional Guidance And Mentorship
- Strengthen leadership judgment and communication through feedback from course mentors.
- Refine your leadership approach as you develop messaging, team dynamics, and strategic direction.
Flexible Learning With Clear Expectations
- Engage with leadership concepts and projects on a timeline that supports steady progress.
- Balance readings, exercises, and capstone work alongside other academic or professional commitments.
Apply Now for the Next Available Course
Course Designed by Georgetown University Faculty
Rachel Pacheco, Ph.D.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Management at the McDonough School of Business
Dr. Pacheco, a Georgetown alum, serves on the board of directors and board of advisors for numerous start-ups and high-growth organizations. Her research focuses on interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, specifically on power and conflict. She is passionate about translating this work to aspiring leaders in fast-growing organizations; specifically how managers can build tactical skills that will help them become leaders of teams and top organizations.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How will you be graded? What are assignments like? How much time do you have to turn around a project? When do you find out if you’re admitted? Find answers to your questions here.
Answers to Your Questions HereScholarships
We offer need-based scholarships for participating students who exhibit high potential and an inability to pay the full tuition.
- If you haven’t applied to the program, apply here. After submitting your application, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” on the confirmation page to request a scholarship.
- If you’ve already applied to the program, sign in to your profile to check your scholarship status. If we don’t have a scholarship request on file, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” to request a scholarship.