Each year in Autumn, the delegates of the CMI Annual Conference travel from across the UK and gather in London. This year is set to be no different, with a plethora of experienced speakers already lined up to deliver another insightful programme of thought leadership to this years attendees. Among the numerous speakers will be inspiring leader Karren Brady (Judge on the BBCs popular serial ‘The Apprentice’), as well as Lord Eatwell (Director of CFAP and Economic Adviser to the CMI) who will deliver his expert outlook on the UK economy in his midday session at the conference.

On the 14th of October, the CMI National Conference 2010 will kick off at London’s luxurious Royal Garden Hotel at 9am. Active members, aspiring leaders and distinguished speakers will come together for a day of personal development, and reflection upon the year past. The theme of this years Chartered Management Institute conference will be a reflection upon the lessons  managers have learnt from the recession.

The conference takes the form of a daytime session running from 9:30 to 5:50. The day is filled with inspiration speakers, spaced adequately with coffee breaks and a gormet buffet lunch. This is followed by an exquisite black tie ‘Gold Medal Dinner’ in the evening with a keynote speaker. A thoroughly enjoyable and inspirational day to be had.

Not only will the Conference give you a unique opportunity to take inspiration from our exciting speakers but with the chance to debate the key issues of the day as well as maintain and expand your network, this one day conference will enable you to take away an invaluable insight on the latest management and leadership issues.

1. Bring away strategies, ideas and insight from leaders at the top of their field.

2. ‘Once-a-year’ networking opportunities

3. Be inspired by motivational speakers

4. Enjoy the finest in hospitality from a landmark hotel.

5. Meet top CMI executives and staff.

8:00 to 9:30		Registration, Coffee & Exhibition.
9:30 to 10:20		Terry Morgan CBE (President of CMI) and Ruth Spellman OBE (Chief Executive CMI) will discuss the key attributes that leaders of tomorrow need to equip themselves with.
10:20 to 11:05		Mike Southon, Political & business columnist, Financial Times. Hear why political leadership really makes a difference; what lessons businesses can learn from politics; and how political leadership helps shape economies.
11.35 to 12.15		Rob Law, CEO, Magmatic Design. After suffering Theo Paphitis breaking the strap of his ‘Trunki’ ride-on child’s suitcase on Dragon’s Den, Rob Law could have thrown in the towel. Rob explains what drove him on to success and how he made the Dragons regret their decision.
12.15 to 12.30		Lord Eatwell, Director, Centre for Financial Analysis & Policy will offer a whistle-stop tour of the fourth of our research papers examining managers’ views on the economy, looking for evidence that employee and customer engagement has contributed positively to the overall economic outlook.
12.30 to 13.30		Lunch & exhibition
13.30 to 14.10		Stephen Howard, CEO Business in the Community. There has never been a more important time to create a new era of responsible business leadership. Stephen Howard discusses how this can be done through the balancing of short-term needs, longterm- value creation and the continuing demands of a fast changing society and business environment.
14.10 to 14.50		Karren Brady, Vice Chairman, West Ham United FC and judge of ‘The Apprentice. Whether you are running a company, a department, a section or a football club, leaders and managers make decisions every day. Every decision made has an effect on others. This session looks at the importance of engagement and teamwork when making decisions, whether they are world changing or just procedural.
14.50 to 15.20		Coffee & exhibition.
15.20 to 16.20		Jo Salter, UK’s first female fighter pilot. This session looks at the drivers behind leadership. What shapes individuals into the ‘type’ of people they are, how to nurture your belief systems and how to see all challenges as surmountable.
16.20 to 17.05		Chris Moon MBE, Former army officer and motivational speaker. He’s survived kidnap, threatened execution, being blown up, losing his limbs and most of his blood. He ran a marathon less than a year after leaving hospital, and proved that the impossible is more usually the improbable. Chris will share his vision and inspire delegates to take back a new attitude to their everyday work.
17.50 to 17.30.		Daytime Conference concludes
19.00 to 19.30		President’s drinks reception
19.30 to 23.30		National Management & Leadership Awards Ceremony. Celebrating the best and brightest in management and leadership with the highest accolades awarded in our field. Enjoy a lavish meal in an exquisite environment for an unforgettable evening.

Last year’s national conference set a very high standard for this year’s organisers to compete with! The iconic calendar date was set in the London Hilton Metropole – a fabulous venue for a fabulous event. The speakers kept their slots to a 40 minute average, which kept the information concise and easy on the listeners.

The 2009 conference was also the stage for the unveiling of the new CMI Brand, which transformed the organisation from ‘The Chartered Management Institute’ to the shorter and catchier ‘CMI’ acronym. This move is part of a wider effort to increase the CMI’s presence on a national level, and facilitate the growth of awareness surrounding it’s Chartered Manager qualification.

The standard and quality of the speakers was impressive in 2009, as you can see from the video below which shows the motivational session with René Carayol we experience at last years conference.

The CMI left nothing to spare with its handouts. Upon arriving, delegates received several insight reports and note-taking materials bound within a professional portfolio case. Reports included ‘Age Isn’t An Issue‘, ‘Leadership for a Low-Carbon Future’,  and an exclusive economic report prepared by Lord Eatwell (Director, Centre for Financial Analysis & Policy). These definately left me with plenty to read and ponder over after the event had concluded!

With media attention already being drawn to this years event, the pressure is certainly on to create another rich and rewarding experience, bringing together the engaged members of a 86,000 member strong organisation, which contains over 560 Chairman and CEOs.

In conclusion, The National Conference 2010 promises to be bigger and better than any before. I’m looking forward to being inspired by the speakers on offer, and can’t wait to enjoy the annual Management and Leadership awards ceremony, an event not to be missed.

If you wish to purchase tickets for the CMI’s National Conference 2010, 14/10/10. Please contact us, detailing your request, and we will attempt to negotiate preferential rates with the CMI on your behalf.

Standard Pricing & Options (Starting from just £250)	Member (£)	Non member (£)
Full delegate	325.00	550.00
Conference day only	250.00	500.00
Gold Medal Dinner only	85.00	125.00
Gold Medal Dinner table for 10 (20% discount for non members)	850.00	1000.00

“This was a fantastic event, well organised at a superb venue with first class speakers and a tangible energy to the CMI of which I am proud to be a member.”
- Adrian Kingswell ~ Superintendent, National Policing Improvement Agency.

Thousands of business-people across the globe are looking for a way to add a career-focused qualification to their CV to allow them to progress within their organisation, or allow them to seek a better job elsewhere.

Also, business graduates who studied ‘business studies’, ‘accounting & finance’ or perhaps ‘economics’ are looking for a great way to stand out in the competitive job market, in which employers are increasingly holding ‘leadership’ as a vital trait they are looking for.

The answer for both these groups of people is a leadership masters degree.

A leadership masters degree is usually a 1 year fulltime, or 3 year part time course that can be taken by any individual with a bachelors degree or equivalent qualification. Leadership masters are offered by the traditional universities such as Manchester University in the United Kingdom. Alternatively they are also being offered as part of distance learning courses from smaller course providers.

Masters Versus Bachelors

Unlike standard bachelors degrees, masters courses are shorter and often include a dissertation or thesis as a major part of the course, (attracting up to 75% of the credits for the course, although this will vary widely depending on the university chosen.

Masters courses involve a great deal of hard work, rigorous academic intellect and a good measure of analysis. Colleges may be seen as a ‘holiday’ for some students, but masters degrees are certainly where the workload truly lives up to it’s ‘full time education’ label.

Some would argue that, given the introductory nature of the first year of a 3 year bachelors course, and a relatively low work load in the final two years – a masters degree could contain as much information as a 3 year leadership degree. It’s the most intense way to study and learn about leadership in our society.

Different leadership masters will have a different slant on the modules taught. Some course will focus on the research methodology and the science behind leadership experimentation, such as Exeter University’s Leadership Studies MSc, however some students will want to simply draw as much information about management and leadership skills as possible from their course. (Exeter also created a course for them: Leadership Studies MA).

Leadership Masters Course Requirements

Here there is a lot of inconsistency between leadership masters providers. Some universities require work experience in a management position before considering a candidate as acceptable, whereas other universities encourage business studies students to extend their degree scheme with this extra year. It would seem that universities have looked at the two user groups I identified at the beginning of this article, and tailored a course for one of them, as their needs are different. Have this in mind as you browse through leadership masters courses – ‘Is this course designed for my needs?’

It is never worth taking a course because of its title and not its real learning objectives!

Leadership Masters Course Costs

Remember earlier where I mentioned that leadership masters tend to be either research led or management skills/teaching led? Your fees will differ depending on these two types. Research led masters can actually be £’000s less than a taught course.

On a rough basis, you should be expecting to pay between £3,500 and £5,000 for a leadership masters course over its total duration, (regardless of whether this is taken full-time or part-time).

Are Leadership Masters Courses Worth It?

I personally believe that an investment in a quality, work-related degree, that will raised your overall academic level (E.g. from BSc to MSc) will always be a high-return investment. Statistics show that bachelors degrees are the best investments you can make in the UK. I believe that Masters degrees are capable of producing a similar return, but only if taken when there is a real advantage to be gained. Example: If you are working at a junior-level in an accounting firm that bases career progression heavily upon technical skill and internal networking – an MSc may not provide as clear an advantage as for someone who is changing company and is searching for a more senior management position.

Carefully evaluate your own position to work out whether a leadership masters is your perfect solution.

With leadership skills gaining prominence in the modern managers skill portfolio (alongside the tried and tested skills of organization, planning & feedback), it comes as no surprise that leadership degrees are becoming more popular than ever.

Leadership Degrees typically come in 3 different varieties:

Variety 1: ‘Pure’ Leadership Degree.

These are the rarest and most specialised forms of leadership degrees. These are created, taught and delivered by leadership specialists, with the number one learning priority being to instill leadership knowledge into students over a 3 year bachelors degree.

“Leadership is a new business major that a decade ago was not taught at graduate schools,” says Vicky Phillips, GetEducated.com’s Chief Online Education Analyst.

“Today, companies seek managers who are trained not just in business but in the complex art of human leadership“

Leadership degrees are fantastic from a personal development point of view, because the sheer amount of leadership knowledge imparted, one would hope, will ‘rub off’ onto the students. If the degree involves practical activities which reinforce these teachings, or examine the students application of them – this adds a considerable premium onto the value of the degree, and what you will draw from it.

When looking for leadership degrees, consider the balance between academic learning and physical application. Building up a substantial portion in real-world application is difficult for any degree type, so even a 10% portion is of merit.

Where Can I Research ‘Pure’ Leadership Degrees?

If you’re looking to study in the UK, try the UCAS Course Search Function.

Variety 2: Online Leadership Degree

We’ve research deeply into the world of online leadership degrees, and have revealed our results (including a great guide to spotting scam websites) on our online leadership degree page.

Variety 3: Modular Leadership Degree

This is the most common form of leadership degree. Business studies, economics and accounting & finance students will frequently be given the option to elect to be taught a leadership/entrepreneurship module within their bachelors degree. The number of credits awarded will depend upon the university in question, but these can vary from 1/16th of a degree, to 1/3rd, whereby ‘leadership’ effectively becomes a minor.

Where Can I Research ‘Modular’ Leadership Degrees?

You have an excellent choice of business-related degrees if you choose to go down this route. Therefore I’d recommend you check out the Financial Times’s European Business School Rankings to help you find a top quality business degree. Note that not all of these degrees will allow you to select leadership modules, so do remember to look into the detail!

Online Colleges have become a massive business in the past decade. Access to internet has exploded across the world, and the educational sector has finally moved with it to fill the void of quality educational material and qualifications available 100% online.

Naturally, the first ‘Online Leadership Colleges’ to setup were outfits masterminded by fraudsters in an attempt to charge people money for essentially nothing. It has taken several years, and the support of many institutions to deliver credibility and trust to an industry that was quite rightly seen as being among ‘get rich quick’ schemes and other scams run online.

Gradually though, over time, official institutions with accreditation from governmental bodies began to move into the webspace. These universities often started out with physical campuses, but eventually moved into a 100% teaching model soon after development.

Accreditation Agencies

An essential part of this trust in the large modern online colleges is the accreditation system. This will vary from country to country, and indeed some countries have no such system in place. However, such is the nature of online colleges, that you can simply choose to study at a foreign college that HAS been accredited by a governmental agency, rather than take the risk with a domestic leadership college.

UK – The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further & Higher Education.

The British Accreditation Council, or BAC formally accredit UK institutions and also international institutions for a selection of countries.

USA – While one government body does not directly accredit online leadership colleges in the US, it is required to publish a list of agencies whom it believes are reliable enough to do so. These regional accreditation agencies including the North Central Association of Colleges & Schools will be your best reference in evaluating Online Colleges.

Rest of the World – See this useful Wikipedia Article which lists many of the accreditation agencies around the world. However, due to the doubtful reliability inherent with Wikipedia articles, before enrolling in an online course, please search government websites to verify that the accreditation agency is who they say they are.

The Benefits of an Online Leadership Degree

Please visit our dedicated Online Leadership Degree article which features a detailed list of benefits, as well as drawbacks, of leadership degrees.

Fake Accreditation Websites and How to spot them.

I exposed this accreditation website several days ago, which was being used to support the fraudulent credentials of a dodgy online college offering degrees for a mere $300.

The stinger with this story though, is that the websites themselves look immaculate and very believable to the average (or even above average) internet user. Note also how this fake accreditation agency actually refers further up again to another fake agency.

Link: Fake Online Course Provider

Link: Fake Accreditation Agency

Link: 2nd Fake Accreditation Agency

Would you have been fooled by the above websites? They sure look the part – but here’s how you can train yourself to see through the design and spot a phoney.

How To Spot A Fake Accreditation Agency

1. Spelling Mistakes.

Spelling mistakes would not go unnoticed on an official website visited by thousands of web-goers per day. The 2nd Fake Accreditation Agency above actually misspells ‘accreditation’ in the navigation bar!

2. Overuse of ‘Stock’ Photography

Real institutions like to use pictures of their actual facilities or their actual staff. If a website appears to be full of models and actors with shining smiles for the camera – then the organization’s authority is only skin deep.

3. Few actual pages.

Have a click round the website for a while – does there seem to be a wealth of information, or is there in reality less than 10 pages? A scammer only has so much time to flush his pages out with content, and won’t go the extra mile. Bureaucratic and long-winded site-maps may be a frustratingly common feature of university websites, but at least they’re an good indicator of legitimacy.

4. [Key Technique] Low Google PageRank™

Google PageRank™ is a score Google assigns to each web page on the internet to show their relative importance or popularity. A website’s PageRank is displayed in the Google Toolbar if you happen to have it. For those who don’t use the Google Toolbar; visit http://www.prchecker.info/ to check the PageRank™ of the homepage of the website you’re evaluating. As a guide, Universities & Agencies have some of the highest Google PageRank™ scores in the world. As a guide; any website with PageRank™ of 7 or higher will be a legitimate institution and those with 6 are also very unlikely to be fakes. PageRank™ scores above 5 are rare, and scores of 7 or more are virtually impossible to obtain through dis-honest methods.

• Google.com has a score of 10/10
• The UK Government has a score of 9/10
• Ebay.com has a score of 8/10
• Walmart.com has a score of 7/10
• GAP (Clothing Retailer) has a score of 6/10

If your proposed online college has a PageRank™ equal to the above websites, you can be assured you’re in good hands. The USAs largest online university: the University of Phoenix has a score of 7, so I would expect other less known colleges to have a ranking of between 5-7.

Leadership-Expert.co.uk has a Google PageRank™ of 5!

5. Heavy Promotion of  ‘Contact Us’.

Ordinary agencies are extremely busy and do not have the resources to answer-in-person every query a visitor will have. Proper accreditation websites will normally feature a searchable directory of accredited insitutions, and perhaps an FAQ for other common queries. A website that seems to push you into contacting them for more information could be playing upon the human habit to trust a company more once we have spoken to a real person. This ‘real person’ could simply be the same real fraudster running the original online leadership college website.

Are Specialist Online Leadership Colleges A Better Choice?

Specialist leadership colleges online are hard to come by, and as a result – pursuing such an institution will restrict the number of options you have in selecting the course which is right for you. As such, I would recommend that you start first with the highly regarded online colleges such as the University of Phoenix and work your way down, as recognition can be one of the most important factors in the usefulness of an online degree.

An MBA is the qualification known as the Masters in Business Administration. ‘Leadership MBA‘ may be used to refer to these courses, although no MBAs focus on leadership to the detriment of the other topics that are mandatory for MBA syllabuses. As such, an MBA could be considered as a type  of leadership course.

Types of MBA Programmes

When people refer to an ‘MBA’ they are usually referring to a 15-21 month full-time course structure which will fill 2 years. However there are in reality, several types of MBAs that exist.

Fulltime – Standard MBA

This is the famous 2 year MBA course. A generous summer holiday of 3 months is given, as well as other breaks. This format of course is given by almost 100% of Universities which deliver MBA teaching. Lancaster University delivers an excellent example of a full-time MBA.

Fulltime -Accelarated MBA

This MBA is designed for those who want to obtain the MBA qualification as quickly as possible with minimal downtime. For real career hot-shots, this means fewer holidays and higher workloads. However in return, the candidate could be back in the work place up

Part time – Standard MBA

A part time MBA is usually taken on by individuals who are either financing their MBA without the help of their company, or who do not have the spare time to devote to a full time course. A part-time MBA can take around 3 years to complete.

Part time – Executive MBA

Executive MBAs are increasingly popular among the senior management of organizations. Executive MBAs or ‘EMBAs’ are created with experienced managers in mind. A minimum requirement of work experience may actually be placed upon these programs.

Part time – Distance Learning MBA

Distance learning can be helpful for people who do not live near a major city, or more specifically, near a top class institution. Distance MBAs take the geographical lottery out the picture by allowing a student to join regardless of where they live. However one could argue that the teamwork elements of the MBA course cannot be fulfilled as competently as with a bricks and mortar MBA.

Which Leadership MBAs are the Best?

Several authoritative bodies compile rankings for MBAs and EMBAs worldwide. Here is a pick of the most popular:

Financial Times 2010 Global MBA Rankings

The Economist – ‘Which MBA’ Ranking

TopMBA.com – Europe’s Top MBAs

Accredition of MBAs

In the UK, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) accredits all respectable Leadership MBAs.

Degrees have often been the most sought-after leadership courses related to leadership. The commanding ability to produce leadership research and idealogy to an international standard further strengthens universities position in this area,

Introduction: Traditional Leadership Degrees

Currently, almost all universities with an established business school will offer programmes that specifically strive to develop leadership within their students. Examples of these traditional courses at Lancaster University’s prestigious Management School include:

• MA Management Learning & Leadership
• Executive MBA
• Diploma in Public Service Leadership
• Lancaster Advanced Leadership Programme

As you can see, leadership is prominently represented at traditional Universities in the UK and internationally. However, a new breed of leadership degrees have emerged. These are Online Leadership Degrees.

What are Online Leadership Degrees?

Online leadership degrees offer similar academic learning to tradtional ‘brick-based’ university degrees, but also offer far more in the way of flexibility and value for money. There are however also drawbacks, and we’ll look at these later too.

Some online leadership degrees are 100% web based, and therefore the University can actually be based in a totally different country to the student! Some leadership degrees online are actually just part-take time degrees whereby distance learning forms the bulk (but not the total) amount of degree work.

Advantages and Benefits of Online Leadership Degrees

1. Cost. Leadership Degrees Online are substantially cheaper than offline ones.

2. Convenience. These courses allow you to pick your hours, pick your working days and often even tailor your module choices!

Disadvantages and Drawbacks of Online Leadership Degrees

1. Impersonal. Distance learning can be a lonely process, and often you can feel like there is no sense of community spirit surrounding the course, and no ‘buddies’ to keep you in the loop on whats going on. Some universities however have online hubspaces for students to interact, which in part solves this isolation-by-distance.

2. Lack of personal tuition. When the topics dealt with become technical and complicated, it is often useful to be able to ask even silly questions to just clarify points in your mind. Often this functionality is missing in online leadership degrees, which can lead to mistakes in your work or uncorrected flaws in your thinking which can persist and cause difficulties for quite some time.

However in some online degrees – telephone and even webchat support is sometimes provided which can mitigate this factor.

Directory of Online Leadership Degrees

In this section I will attempt to create a directory of online leadership degrees available. This list will not be in any particular order, and I do not specifically recommend any course. This is purely for reference only. All of these universities are officially accredited in the US.

Minor In Leadership - Nova SouthEastern University

Price: $8,625 (15 Credit hours, $575 per credit hour).

Associate of Arts in Leadership – Regent University

Price: $31,680 (64 Credit hours, $475 per credit hour).

Bsc in Business Management – Liberty University

Price: $33,000 (120 Credit Hours, $275 per credit hour).

Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program – Dickinson State University.

Obviously this list is not comprehensive, but will certainly give you an idea of what the top online universities in the USA are offering with regards to online leadership courses.

Conclusion: A Worthwhile Choice?

Are online degrees the highest quality form of leadership training? Probably not. Due to the lack of one-on-one leadership coaching, I believe that these leadership courses probably fall down when it comes to developing the leadership skills of others compared to say, a leadership development programme run in physical leadership classes or perhaps within the participants business itself.

That isn’t to say that online leadership degrees are a waste of time however. On the contrary, an online leadership course such as this will certainly enlighten you to the various leadership styles, leadership models and leadership theories out there. Your knowledge will be much fuller after partaking in an online bachelors degree. I just simply believe that a practical element is necessary to help translate this knowledge into good leadership skills.

As mentioned in our Leadership Courses guide, Online Leadership Courses are a new method of gaining accredited knowledge of leadership, without requiring the participant to physically attend a campus. This allows online leadership degrees to be flexible around the needs of the participant, such as a full time job or family life. Being able to take a leadership course online can in many cases, allow an employee to aquire the skill set needed to grab a promotion, when their company fails to deliver on leadership development needs.

This guide to online courses will contain the following topics:

1. When are online leadership courses the best option?

2. How to tell which online courses are real, and which are scams

3. What is the difference between a leadership course from University vs a College?

4. How much does an online leadership course cost?

5. Do online leadership courses require practical hands-on experience?

6. Which leadership courses online does Leadership Expert Recommend?

Before I begin this article, let me highlight that I have no connections (affiliate or other) with any of the online leadership course providers referenced in this article, and I am providing impartial advice. This applies in reverse too, as I cannot be held accountable for information held on external websites linked to in this article for which I have no control or responsibility over whatsoever.

1. When are online leadership courses the best option?

Online leadership courses are often taken because other leadership training options, such as leadership classes, leadership coaching, or leadership development programmes are too expensive or not flexible enough for the users needs. You should probably look online if you wish to spend under £1,000 for a leadership course, or if you are working full time and are not able to attend night classes in the local area.

2. How to tell which online courses are real, and which are scams

Being able to tell which online leadership courses are legitimate and reputable qualifications, as apposed to false websites created by fraudsters is becoming increasingly difficult. However as a seasoned web veteran, I’m able to pass on a few tips that will help you discover whether the dream course is in fact a worthless piece of paper.

Tip 1: Check the Google PageRank of the website. Google pagerank is Google’s measure of how important a page is on the web. A score of 0-2 suggests a page is not linked to by very many other important websites, however a score of 6-10 ensures that the site is extremely reputable. Navigate to the home page of the online course provider you seek to purchase a course from. Then enter the web address of that homepage into the field in this pagerank checker site. If the pagerank of their homepage is 2 or less, there is a very high chance that the college has little real presence on the internet. If the pagerank is 3-10, then this test is less conclusive.

Tip 2: Check the Alexa ranking of the website. Alexa ranking (A service run ultimately by Amazon.com) is an estimator of the number of visits a website has. So again, copy the homepage address of the course provider, and paste now into the sitesearch function of Alexa. This should display the worldwide Alexa traffic rank of the website. If this figure is more than #300,000 then the website probably receives no more than 2,000 visitors per day. If the website is ranked in the top 100,000 then this suggests the site receives a high volume of traffic (5,000+ per day) which suggests authenticity.

Tip 3: Verifiy accreditation with the accreditation authority. If a course provider claims to be accredited by an state-run national body, then be sure to give them a call and check. If the accreditation organisation is not government-linked, then evaluate the authenticity of that website using the same tips here, as often criminals create entire accreditation networks just to lend the aura of authenticity to their empty words.

Tip 4: Take a close look at the price. Does it appear to be suspiciously low? Keep in mind that even £500 for a course that contains several hours of one-to-one phonecalls with a tutor is a bargain. If the site promises hundreds of hours of learning, with a price tag of less than £200, you should be wary. ‘Colleges’ that price themselves like this aren’t necessarily misleading or scamming people, but their leadership degrees will often carry no real recognition.

Tip 5: Look out for warning bells in the wording. Does the course seem obsessed about the idea of certificates and being able to provide proof to anyone who calls? Does the wording highlight that “The certificate will not contain the words ‘Online’”.  These are both warning flags that suggest the product itself is simply a decent-looking fake certificate rather than a real qualification that will develop your leadership skills. People who obtain these are merely looking to artificially pad their CV in order to land a job, and are harming the community of leaders who devote time to developing their leadership qualities.

Tip 6: Scan for spelling mistakes, this is an instant hint that the website has not had much time spent on it.

Tip 7: Look for contact details, addresses and phone numbers. If the site only contains a form to fill in, be worried. If the website only contains one phone number, this is also a warning flag – and suggests that the course provider is only built to make sales and not to handle participant queries.

These 7 tips should enable even a web newbie to come to a reasonable assessment of a course provider’s validity. If you are still completely unsure, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me (via my contact page)  and I may be able to give a second opinion by either vouching for the site, or warning you to stay away. There may still be websites I cannot confidently conclude upon however.

3. What is the difference between a leadership course from University vs a College?

The key difference is recognition and employability. If you are interested in gaining a leadership qualification to aid you in performing your job correctly, there is no reason for you to discriminate between the two. However if you’re looking for a reputable course that will show a solid career development mark on your CV, then sticking with a large or medium sized university will ensure your qualification has some bite behind it, and won’t be met with cynisism.

4. How much does an online leadership course cost?

Leadership course prices range widely, from £39.99 for a 3 hours introduction to leadership theory from LearnDirect (here), to £2,000 a year for part time leadership-related bachelors or masters. It heavily depends on what level of knowledge you wish to gain from a course, and over what period of time you are prepared to study.

5. Do online leadership courses require practical hands-on experience?

Generally speaking, online courses such as diplomas make no such requirements. All work is graded based on knowledge-based learning such as essays and exams. Only courses with a physical grounding at a campus or local college will likely ask you to engage in real case studies and feedback the results. The benefit of this type of learning out-weighs knowledge alone, and this demonstrates the trade off between the conevience of online courses, and educational merits of fulltime courses.

6. Which leadership courses online does Leadership Expert Recommend?

We are currently researching the different online leadership courses available to UK and International participants, and will update this article is due course.