Organizational Leadership

Master of Science Degree

Are leaders born or made? This degree is designed to help you leverage your own inherent leadership capabilities, and acquire knowledge and skills necessary for success in a variety of leadership roles. Discuss, critique, and apply leadership theories, advanced organizational behavior, team dynamics, and strategic leadership. Delve into the social psychology of leadership and how leader-follower interactions are affected by social psychology. The program culminates in a final project where you apply what you've learned to a real-life issue in leadership.

Through this program you will:

Gain workplace experience in an executive coaching internship.
Design, implement, and present an applied project or thesis.
Earn an additional Certificate of Completion in Executive Coaching.

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Courses in the major include:

MLC 640 Leadership Theories and Research

This course explores the field of leadership through classic readings and research on such topics as the history of leadership, leader disposition, motivation, charismatic leadership, transformational leadership, and servant leadership. Emphasis will be placed on critiquing contemporary leadership research that addresses current leadership challenges for individuals, groups, and organizations.

MLC 641 Developing Leader Effectiveness

Are leaders born or made? For the purposes of this course, the answer is "yes" - leaders are born and made. To this end, this course presents research and techniques that can be used to leverage one's own inherent leadership capabilities. Individuals will learn to lead through developing readiness and self-awareness. Leadership development topics such as overcoming personal hardships, self-assessment and awareness, and giving and receiving feedback will be discussed in terms of formal leader development programs.

MLC 642 Leadership and Team Dynamics

This course presents theories and models for practicing effective leadership at the team level by identifying stages of teams development and roles in a team structure, how to avoid group think, avoid barriers to the team communication, and determine the source of team conflict barriers. Topics such as group formation, cohesion and development, structure and power will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on evaluating the effects of individual and organizational influences on team processes and performance.

MLC 643 Social Psychology of Leadership

This course examines several major social-psychological theories and experiments that have informed the study of leadership. Classic experiments on obedience, conformity, social influence, and impression management will be critiqued to analyze how situations influence leader and follower behavior. Students will also learn how attributions, social perception, attitudes, personality, and social behavior affect leader- follower interactions.

MLC 644 Leadership and Organizational Performance

Leaders are often viewed as the driving forces of performance in organizations. Throughout this course, students will review the various roles of leaders and how effective leadership impacts performance at different levels of the organization. Students will conduct an assessment and critique of leadership and organizational performance metrics.

MLC 650 Ethical and Professional Principles of Executive Coaching

This course covers the ethical guidelines for professional coaches and professional practice standards. Topics covered include record keeping, dual relationships, and the current professional context and dynamics of the coaching field. Requirement - Must be taken concurrently with 1 credit hour of either MCL 654, 655, or 656.

MLC 651 Executive Coaching Communication Skills and Assessment

This course addresses the academic theories upon which executive coaching is founded. These include the coaching relationship process and associated communication skills. It will also cover various assessment tools utilized in executive coaching. Requirement - Must be taken concurrently with 1 credit hour of either MCL 654, 655, or 656.

MLC 652 The Role and Relationship Dynamics of Executive Coaching

This course will cover the role of executive coaches, as well as coaching relationship dynamics. A general model of executive coaching will be introduced and utilized throughout the course. Requirement - Must be taken concurrently with 1 credit hour of either MCL 654, 655, or 656.

MLC 654 Executive Coaching Internship Performance

This course provides an opportunity for students to expand their learning by gaining guided executive coaching performance development in the actual workplace. The learning performance objectives and specific program of study must be developed in consultation with and approved by the course instructor and the site supervisor of the intern prior to the start of the internship. Requirement - One credit hour must be taken concurrently with one of these three courses: MCL 650, 651 and 652.

MLC 655 Executive Coaching Internship Skills

This course provides an opportunity for students to expand their learning by gaining executive coaching skill development experience in the actual workplace. The learning skills objectives and specific program of study must be developed in consultation with and approved by the course instructor and the site supervisor of the intern prior to the start of the internship. Requirement - One credit hour must be taken concurrently with one of these three courses: MCL 650, 651 and 652. Prerequisite: MCL 654.

MLC 656 Executive Coaching Internship Competencies

This course provides an opportunity for students to expand their learning by gaining guided executive coaching competency development experience in the actual workplace. The learning competencies objectives and specific program of study must be developed in consultation with and approved by the course instructor and the site supervisor of the intern prior to the start of the internship. Requirement - One credit hour must be taken concurrently with one of these three courses: MCL 650, 651 and 652. Prerequisite: MCL 654 and MCL 655.

MLC 660 Strategic Leadership

This course analyzes principles of strategy for leading organizations. Students will conduct an assessment and analysis of existing strategic initiatives, leadership development issues, and strategic positioning of the organization. Emphasis is placed on alignment of strategic resources with organizational goals.

MLC 661 Leading Change in Organizations

Purposeful change is part of an organization's overall strategic plan. In this course, students analyze the roles of leaders in relation to implementing and facilitating changes within their organizations with a focus on motivating individuals through mentoring and coaching.

MLC 680 Applied Leadership Project

This is the culminating course in the MLC program. Students will design, implement, and present an applied project or thesis that focuses on a real-life issue in leadership. Prerequisite - 21 credit hours completed in the MLC program.