When you want to get ahead in the corporate world, a degree in leadership can put you in a position to excel.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for managers is about twice the average annual wage for all occupations with chief executives raking in $189,000 and general managers earning an impressive $101,000.
If you are ready to give your career a boost and raise your pay grade, these online leadership degree programs can help you reach your goal.
1. Organizational Leadership
An organizational leadership degree focuses on organizational management, teamwork, human resources, public relations, marketing, and even government administration. Courses focus on critical and ethical thinking, while also giving you the tools to effectively resolve conflicts and promote a collaborative team environment.
Organizational leadership graduates go on to careers in management, typically at higher levels within corporate businesses. However, this degree can apply to management in any field, so it’s best to partner it with a minor specialization to help advance your career.
Some of the positions available for organizational leadership graduates include upper management, sales manager, project coordinators, insurance underwriters, human resource managers, business administration, and health administration.
2. Project Management
Businesses depend on highly organized project managers that know how to guide and analyze to achieve the best results. With a project management degree, you’ll learn about managing all the factors that go into making a project successful, including monitoring, collaborating, and managing risk in a team environment.
While leadership and management are components of this degree program, there are additional courses that utilize management and scheduling tools to move projects forward, as well as quality control processes and principles of project leadership.
Project managers tend to pick specializations to work in different industries. For example, you may be the project manager at a marketing agency, which means that you’ll need leadership skills as well as knowledge of how to organize different media assets. You’ll also need to work with several different departments, bringing teams together to collaborate and produce a successful, finished product.
3. Management
Are you currently in a career and want to move up corporate ladder? Management degrees enhance your capabilities in managing business operations, leading a team of people, and thinking critically about business solutions.
The management curriculum offers a well-rounded foundation in business statistics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, marketing, computer applications, data analysis, e-commerce, business law, and ethics. You may also have the option to specialize in a field like finance, marketing, or healthcare administration.
Since management degrees are a springboard to a wide-range of managerial positions, you also have the option to pursue graduate studiesin business administration to advance your career even further.
With a degree in management, you will be prepared for managerial positions such as account manager, marketing manager, sales manager, financial analyst, business analyst, or operations manager.
Conclusion
The degree plans for each one of these leadership programs requires a similar foundation in core business courses like accounting, finance, economics, marketing, human resources, and ethics.
So, how do you know which degree program is right for you?
To answer this question, you should have a clear idea of the role you want to play in your organization. Do you want a degree that focuses mainly on managing projects? Do you prefer a well-rounded degree that touches on all areas of management?
Whether you select organizational leadership, project management, or general management, you will gain the necessary skills in leadership, ethics, team management, human resources, and business analysis principles to prepare you for a leadership role in your organization.
