Leadership Skills | Kellogg School | Northwestern

Leadership skills are honed over a career, and they’re developed over a lifetime. As Kellogg Dean Sally Blount '92 wrote, the business community — and through it, the world — needs leaders who “deeply understand markets, [the markets'] connection to the public sector and the philosophical, cultural and social implications of business’ growing global influence.” In addition, leaders must realize that “markets, while highly efficient, are not fair, kind or wise.”

The most effective leaders are made, trained and tested, not born. Leaders understand that the health of their company extends well beyond the boardroom to employees, partners and, most importantly, the customer.

The leaders who oversee thriving organizations today and those who will do so in the future must have a thorough command of areas ranging from collaboration and negotiation to finance, strategy and data analytics. At minimum, they must have enough of a grasp of these topics to effectively manage the experts who report to them.

Kellogg’s expert faculty offers insight, research and training to help executives perform at their best and sharpen their leadership skills, from managing a small team to governing multinational corporations.

Find an Executive Education Program

Use the Program Finder to sort and compare programs by:

Topic Area
Start Date
Management Level
Business Challenge
Professor

Filter Results

Battle Rhythm: Leading in Times of Crisis

During a crisis, nothing is business as usual. Implement a battle rhythm to help you and your organization adapt to the situation at hand.

Difficult Conversations in Family Business

Mastering the art of difficult conversations is important in family enterprises, since it can impact your personal and professional lives.

Learning Leadership from Life Experience

Experience is the best teacher. Look to your past to gain insights into how to manage present-day situations and build resilience to new challenges.

The Dark Side of the Drive for Flawlessness

Take care when striving to be perfect. There is a big difference between embracing high standards and harboring a crippling desire for perfection.

Leading Family Business Across Generations

Family businesses need to communicate their vision to ensure the next generation of leaders buys into the organization's future.

Advanced Marketing: Once Made, Connections Seem Obvious

To drive real growth with your marketing strategy, use the power of connections to link concepts and capabilities.

How Do You Unleash Your People's Potential? Blank Checks

Give your people blank checks—figuratively—and get out of their way so they can make big growth happen.

Hiring? Time to Get Personal

Employers searching for employee commitment and performance are going to have to go beyond the basics and start getting personal.

Looking for Growth? Go Deep, Not Broad

When seeking growth, bigger isn't always better. Sometimes going deep into a more attainable market is the right move.

Creating Your Leadership Philosophy

A leadership philosophy creates a personal North Star for yourself—you always have something to guide you when you are unsure of where to go.

The Two Questions to Ask About Any Marketing-Technology Initiative

With the multitude of marketing technologies available, the best way to determine which ones are right for you are to ask the right questions.

Increase Your Learning Power via the Noah's Ark Method

When organizations send teams to executive-development programs, attendees are more likely to implement learnings than they would have if they'd flown solo.

What Makes an Awesome Product Manager?

Professor Mohan Sawhney breaks down what it takes to make successful product managers who are able to overcome challenges.

Asking for Feedback: Do You Have a Plan?

Asking for feedback is one of the most important and overlooked things leaders do. Pursue getting feedback to show your team that you have a growth mindset.

What to do With Your Problem Team Member

Don't try to "fix" a problem team member. Instead, look at the bigger picture, and see where you can fine-tune and recalibrate your team's internal dynamics. We gain influence by building political capital.

Leading in Times of Uncertainty: AI and Teams

Just when you think you know what "normal" is, a new disruptor comes along. The good news is you can always develop your team to roll with the changes.

Video: How brainwriting can neutralize the loudmouths

Video: While leading brainstorming sessions, do your dominant team members silence everyone else? Try brainwriting. Leigh Thompson explains.

The Ever-Changing Nature of Leadership

The nature of leadership constantly changes. Clear the path forward for you and your team by making bushwhacking part of your toolbox.

The Dual Mindset of Supply Chain Risk

Professor Sunil Chopra explains that there are two kinds of general supply-chain risk — recurrent and disruptive — and lays out how to manage them.

Three Key Things for New Leaders to Do

You may be nervous to step into a new leadership role, but your team is nervous, too. Create a good first impression to win their support.

The Role of Advocates in Change Management

Change advocates need sponsors in order to be successful. What do those who succeed have in common? They're influencers.

Three Ways for Companies to Avoid Becoming Too Complex

Companies don't become bogged down in complexity on purpose. Be aware of the risks so you can avoid overcomplicating your organization.

Understanding Your Career Motivation

You may have the skills to be successful in your position, but if you're in the wrong context you could face career derailment.

Is Your Company Culture Too Strong?

The diversity of ideas that take place in a flexible corporate culture can provide the best opportunities for growth within the organization.

Taking Control: Mastering Emotions When Making Decisions

It's okay to have emotions, but they shouldn't affect your judgment. Take control so thinking wins out over feeling when making a decision.

Why Bad Bosses Sabotage Their Teams

Power-hungry bosses can decimate teams. Seek leaders who value prestige over power to keep teams—and organizations—operating efficiently.

Data Analytics for Leaders

It's not enough for leaders to hire top-notch data scientists. Leadership means understanding the basics in order to make sound decisions.

Data Analytics for Leaders

Florian Zettelmeyer discusses how leaders can use data analytics' power to transform organizations.

What to do With Your Problem Team Member

Don't try to "fix" a problem team member. Instead, look at the bigger picture, and see where you can fine-tune and recalibrate your team's internal dynamics.

Serving Billions

The head of the world's most popular fast-food chain talks career choice, franchisees, his company's fries and other lessons from his CEO tenure.

Grow your skill set with Kellogg School of Management

Kellogg Executive Education

Executive Education

Hone your branding and brand-management skills with Kellogg Executive Education's expert faculty.

executive-education

EMBA student

Executive MBA

Stay in the working world as you improve your personal branding with the Kellogg Executive MBA.

executive-mba

Kellogg Fulltime MBA

Full-Time MBA

Kellogg's full-time MBA: when you've decided that the most important brand you manage is you.

full-time-mba

Load More

Image Credits

torbakhopper under a Creative Commons license, Paxson Woelber under a Creative Commons license, Keith McDuffee under a Creative Commons license, Angie Harms under a Creative Commons license, Theodore Scott under a Creative Commons license, Jesus Solana under a Creative Commons license, sari_dennise under a Creative Commons license, Tony Webster under a Creative Commons license, Leon Riskin under a Creative Commons license.

Related Executive Education Programs