Leadership is all about change—change in leaders, followers, teams, organizations, nations, and the world. The Master of Leadership Development (MLD) degree at Penn State Great Valley helps students to foster positive change and develop leadership potential in themselves and others.
The program explores leadership across the lifespan, from early career through retirement, including leadership in the corporate and not-for-profit realms, as well as parenting and community service. We employ a multidisciplinary approach stressing social responsibility and ethics, creativity and innovation, diversity and global mindset, dynamic communication and visioning, and most importantly, the value of the individual.
Our goal is to put students on the path to the C-suite – where strategic leadership skills are used to build human, social, reputational and financial capital. The cornerstones of the program focus on self and authentic leadership, transformational and transactional leadership, and critical thinking and data analysis which prepare students for this journey.
Through experiential exercises, collaborative group work, cutting-edge simulations and intellectually stimulating discussions, our program will sharpen your leadership acumen, social influence prowess, and impression management and presentation skills. Our multidisciplinary approach broadens your worldview and elevates your moral development as a leader, so by the time you graduate, you’ll be able to lead with character, articulate a vision, promote innovation, motivate colleagues, and navigate change in the workplace forging your career path to the highest level of an organization— the C-suite.
Key Details:
- Attend classes only one night per week with additional coursework held online
- Learn from premier faculty who combine their research with business experience
- Apply coursework to the workplace immediately
- Personalize your program based on results of a pre-program exercise with input from faculty
- Delve into concepts including character strengths and virtues, self-awareness and emotional intelligence, influence tactics and negotiation strategies, team and diversity leadership, cross-cultural leadership, leading with technology, and strategic thinking and argumentation
- Develop actionable personal leadership development plans that incorporate strengths, weaknesses, and feedback from others
- Engage with faculty and students in collaborative projects
- Personalize your program through elective courses in business, entrepreneurship, psychology, and engineering
- Complete the program in under two years if enrolled part-time
A Prestigious Program
The program is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, a standing earned by less than five percent of the world's business programs.
Benefits to Students
A degree in leadership development provides students with the competencies and actionable behaviors that can be readily applied in their professional and personal lives. Cutting-edge, evidence-based information is shared in an interactive, collaborative learning environment. Skill sets targeted for development include:
- Character strengths and virtues, using the tools of the Gallup Organization
- Ethical and moral reasoning
- Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
- Strategic thinking and argumentation
- Inspirational communication
- Innovation, creativity, and change
- Team building and diversity leadership, consistent with the Diversity Leadership Academy
- Coaching and mentoring
- Global mindset
- Organizational power and politics
- Critical thinking and data analysis
Benefits to Organizations
Our program provides the organizations employing our students with the benefits of transformational leadership by cultivating adaptability and responsiveness to changes in markets necessary for productivity and profitability, broadening collective skill sets for generating more creative solutions to problems, and challenging and developing people to be both professionally and personally fulfilled.