Leadership For Dummies

Instructors: Dummies for Wiley

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Analyze what leadership requires beyond authority, and define the roles, missions, and responsibilities you accept as a leader.
Evaluate your leadership skills and expectations, and apply the axioms of leadership including when you hold no authority.
Apply leadership in voluntary, everyday, and coaching settings, and construct a vision people can understand, repeat, and act on.
Construct and sustain a capable team, and lead through resistance, deteriorated situations, and cultural difference at work.

Details to know

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Assessments

13 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 6 modules in this course

Leadership is not a title, and it is not something conferred by an organization chart. It is a process, made up of missions you accept, responsibilities you carry, skills you build, and a vision other people can see well enough to follow. The people who lead well are rarely the ones who waited to be appointed; they are the ones who understood the job before anyone handed it to them.

Across four thematic modules and eight focused lessons, you will start with what it actually takes to lead, covering the difference between authority and leadership, the roles a leader plays, and the missions and responsibilities that define the work. You will then build the art of it, covering the core leadership skills, harnessing your own strengths and weaknesses, managing expectations, the axioms leaders operate by, managing as a leader, and leading when you hold no formal authority. From there you will take leadership outside the office, into volunteering, everyday life, coaching, and community organizing, and into vision, covering what a vision is and how one is developed. The course closes on teams, covering why they matter, how a winning one is built, how teams learn and share knowledge, and what to do when followers will not follow, a situation looks unsalvageable, or you are leading across cultures. Each lesson opens with two five-minute topic videos followed immediately by applied practice, and every module closes with a hands-on lab, a roleplay, a discussion prompt, and a graded assessment, so nothing stays theoretical for long. Whether you have just been given a team, are leading without the title, or want to lead well outside work as much as inside it, this course gives you the frameworks, self-assessments, and worked scenarios that turn leadership from an aspiration into a practice. By the end, you will be able to define your own leadership mission, articulate a vision, build a team around it, and lead through the situations where most people stall.

Provides a starting-point assessment that helps learners understand their current readiness across the leadership skills developed throughout the course. It evaluates understanding of leadership versus authority, clarity of leadership missions and responsibilities, confidence in core leadership skills, experience leading without formal authority, ability to articulate a vision, and team-building capability. Results generate a personalized readiness profile and recommended learning path while keeping every module accessible.

What's included

1 video4 readings1 assignment

1 videoTotal 4 minutes

Welcome to the Course4 minutes

4 readingsTotal 27 minutes

How to Use This Course: Navigation, Pacing, and the Pathway Gate5 minutes
Meet Your Toolkit: A Visual Overview of the Course Framework2 minutes
Before You Begin: About The Self-Assessment10 minutes
Recommended Learning Path10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 20 minutes

Pre-Course Leadership Readiness Diagnostic20 minutes

Establishes the foundation for understanding what leadership requires beyond formal authority. Learners explore the difference between authority and leadership, examine how leadership capability can be deliberately developed, and identify the different roles leaders play depending on the situation. The module then focuses on the decision to take the lead, helping learners define their leadership missions, clarify the responsibilities that follow, and understand the actual work involved in leading others.

What's included

4 videos2 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 20 minutes

Leadership Potential and the Limits of Authority5 minutes
Building Capability and Choosing Your Role5 minutes
Deciding to Take the Lead5 minutes
The Missions and Responsibilities of a Leader5 minutes

2 readingsTotal 10 minutes

Authority Against Leadership and the Role Set5 minutes
The Mission and Responsibility Worksheet5 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 38 minutes

Practice Check on Leadership and Authority4 minutes
Practice Check on Missions and Responsibilities4 minutes
Leadership Potential, Roles, and the Work Itself30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Your Leadership Mission Statement10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 5 minutes

The Responsibility Nobody Owns5 minutes

Develops the practical skills and behaviors needed to lead effectively. Learners assess their core leadership skills, identify strengths and weaknesses, and explore strategies for working around capability gaps. The module also examines expectations between leaders and teams, introduces the axioms of leadership, and shows how to balance management responsibilities with leadership. Learners then develop approaches for influencing others and leading effectively when they have responsibility but no formal authority.

What's included

4 videos2 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 20 minutes

The Core Skills of a Leader5 minutes
Setting and Managing Expectations5 minutes
The Axioms of Leadership and Managing as a Leader5 minutes
Leading When You Are Not the Leader5 minutes

2 readingsTotal 10 minutes

The Leadership Skills Self-Assessment5 minutes
The Axioms and the Influence Moves5 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 38 minutes

Practice Check on Skills and Expectations4 minutes
Practice Check on Axioms and Influence4 minutes
Skills, Expectations, Axioms, and Influence30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Skills and Expectations Audit10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 5 minutes

The Change You Cannot Order5 minutes

Extends leadership beyond formal workplace roles into volunteering, everyday situations, coaching, and community settings. Learners explore how to create commitment when authority is unavailable, use purpose and recognition to engage others, and develop people through coaching. The module then examines community organizing principles and focuses on creating a meaningful vision that people can understand, repeat, and act on rather than simply publishing a statement or slogan.

What's included

4 videos2 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 21 minutes

Volunteering and Taking the Lead as a Volunteer5 minutes
Everyday Leadership and Leading as a Coach6 minutes
Organizing a Community Around a Cause5 minutes
Defining and Developing a Vision5 minutes

2 readingsTotal 10 minutes

Leading Without Compulsion5 minutes
The Organizing Lessons and the Vision Sequence5 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 38 minutes

Practice Check on Voluntary and Coaching Leadership4 minutes
Practice Check on Organizing and Vision4 minutes
Leading Without Compulsion and Building Vision30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Vision Draft and Test10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 5 minutes

The Vision Nobody Can Repeat5 minutes

Focuses on building capable teams and leading effectively through challenging situations. Learners explore why leaders depend on teams, how to build teams around complementary strengths and shared purpose, and how team learning and knowledge sharing strengthen long-term capability. The module also develops approaches for diagnosing resistance, determining whether deteriorated situations can be recovered, and adapting leadership behaviors when working across different cultures.

What's included

4 videos2 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt

4 videosTotal 20 minutes

The Case for Teams and the Building of Winning Ones5 minutes
Team Learning and Spreading Knowledge5 minutes
When Followers Will Not Follow5 minutes
Salvage Situations and Leading Across Cultures5 minutes

2 readingsTotal 10 minutes

The Team Building and Knowledge Sharing Guide5 minutes
The Resistance Diagnosis and the Cross-Cultural Guide5 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 38 minutes

Practice Check on Team Building and Learning4 minutes
Practice Check on Resistance and Cultural Difference4 minutes
Teams, Resistance, and Leading Across Boundaries30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 10 minutes

Hands-On-Learning: Team Development Plan10 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 5 minutes

The Person Who Will Not Follow5 minutes

Construct a leadership plan that integrates leadership missions, skills development, vision building, team development, and approaches for handling resistance.

What's included

1 video2 readings1 peer review

Instructors

Dummies for Wiley

1 Course1 learner

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