If you want to advance your leadership skills, you may turn to watching videos, listening to podcasts, attending workshops or reading books on leadership. While these resources are helpful tools, earning a Master of Business Administration provides in-depth education and training to help you take your career to the next level.
Boise State University’s Online Master of Business Administration focuses on building your leadership skills and creating long-term value as you learn about strategic leadership and collaborative decision-making from an in-depth curriculum taught by nationally recognized faculty.
Our Online MBA can be completed in as little as 12 months, so you can continue working full-time while taking asynchronous classes that fit your schedule. You can also immediately apply the skills you learn in the program to your career.
Why is MBA Leadership Important?
The core of any MBA program is building leadership skills to empower aspiring high-level managers, executives or entrepreneurs.
Strong leadership and interpersonal skills are the two most important skills for jobs after business school, according to MBA alumni. When managers possess those qualities, it clears the path for them to better leverage employee potential and understand company culture to engage and motivate them.
Effective leaders also evaluate market trends and drive the company’s competitive position, which is part of the strategic element of leadership.
There are two basic aspects of influence in leadership: formal and informal.
- Formal: Although formal leadership stems from being in charge because of a position of authority, it mainly involves transactions, coercion and cooptation. In order for employees to work effectively, they need to believe in formal authority and see benefits and incentives for themselves.
- Informal: The far more important form of leadership, informal, relates to the interpersonal element of management. Employees follow leaders because they believe in them and find intrinsic value. With MBA leadership skills, students can develop informal influence through experience, coaching and feedback.
The most well-rounded leaders combine these two areas effectively to maximize their results and those of their employees.
An MBA Leadership Program Will Set You Apart
Students who apply to Boise State’s Online MBA indicate that leadership is the first skill they want to develop. Boise State’s program will help you hone your leadership skills and transcend the basics of executive management. Develop new problem-solving, people management and decision-making skills to become an effective, ethical leader who affects positive change.
Leaders are also responsible for communicating the company strategy to all stakeholders, so you need to have strong communication, the ability to bring out your best performance, resilience and financial literacy.
Gaining these valuable leadership skills is the best way for you to lay the foundation to become more effective and advance in your career.
By teaching business management from a people-centered perspective, Boise State recognizes that you will rely on motivating and interacting with others to further your organization’s goals and meet the needs of your customers and staff the higher you progress in an organization.
Students can also earn a general Online MBA or tailor their degree to match their interests by choosing an emphasis area in business analytics, construction management, cyber, finance, healthcare leadership management or marketing.
Are you ready to earn an MBA and enhance your leadership skills?
Attend an online information session or connect with a student success coach to learn more about Boise State’s Online MBA.