Leading: Human Resource Management and Leadership Specialization
Get ready for the Future of Work. Leading people and organisations to adapt, compete and succeed in a complex, global environment.
Offered By
What you will learn
Analyse how to motivate staff with meaningful work
Understand how to enable your organisation to deliver on its strategic objectives
Examine the ways you can harness your team’s diversity and use teamwork to innovate and increase your organisation’s output
Evaluate leadership theories and develop your personal leadership skills
Skills you will gain
About this Specialization
Applied Learning Project
In each module, you will review how organisational science can help address real-life leadership and organisational challenges. Based on these reviews, you will learn how to develop and evaluate strategies that can help ensure you, your people and your organisation can adapt, compete and succeed.
Some related experience required.
Some related experience required.
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization
Organisational design: Know your organisation
How do you lead your organisation when today’s work environment is so competitive and complex? When you become responsible for leading an organisation, your most important leadership challenge will be enabling your organisation to deliver on its strategy while ensuring it remains sufficiently agile. This course will prepare you to tackle this challenge. You will examine what organisational culture is, the primary organisational structures, and what we mean by ‘systems’, before building on your foundational knowledge and taking a more strategic perspective. The structured learning activities that complement this course (video lectures, quizzes, discussion prompts and written assessments) will not only prepare you to take your organisation forward in a more strategic direction, but to make better decisions along the way.
Organisational behaviour: Know your people
Organisations have changed and now, more than ever, personnel management is crucial to organisational success. In this course you’ll explore a range of concepts, theories and methodologies that will help you navigate and optimise your work environment. Via structured learning activities (video lectures, quizzes, discussion prompts and written assessments) you will be exposed to the latest best-practice leadership strategies to enable your employees to achieve more at work. You’ll examine case studies on advanced leadership strategies and be challenged to consider how these might apply to your own workplace. And you’ll discover that your ability to manage and lead people in a flatter, more team-driven context is now the key to organisational success. As the world continues to undergo dynamic change, this course will prepare you to be the one to lead your team and your organisation into the dynamic work environments of tomorrow.
Adapt your leadership style
Why are organisational misbehaviours such as cynicism, apathy, bullying and disengagement increasingly prevalent in the workplace? This course examines these tensions and how transformational, authentic and inclusive leadership styles offer an alternative to the more autocratic, job-centred and controlling leadership styles of the past. You’ll learn how the digital revolution, along with an increased focus on projects and teamwork, has dramatically altered the perception of leadership in a way that now demands all organisational members take on some form of self-leadership. And you’ll learn how this change is causing tensions between traditional leaders and the contemporary practices vital to maintain agility in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace. This learning will be complemented by structured activities such as video lectures, quizzes, discussion prompts and written assessments.
Visionary leadership, identity & motivation: Become a meaning maker
When faced with a complex and ambiguous work environment, how do you, as a potential leader, envision the future? How can you deliver on your vision in a way that conveys meaning and drives positive change within your organisation? In this course you will explore how leaders can create a compelling vision and communicate it, and how they create meaning and make work more meaningful. You will look at the role the brain and the body play in processing meaning, and how this can inspire your employees to follow you and your vision. This course will also teach you how to develop meaningful brand identity and the role it can play in clarifying and reinforcing your leadership vision within your organisation, for your partners and for your customers. You will discover that meaning crosses into almost every aspect of management. Finally, you will better understand how social and cultural factors can influence what you can achieve and your limitations when seeking to create meaning.
Offered by

Macquarie University
Macquarie is ranked among the top one per cent of universities in the world, and with a 5-star QS rating, we are recognised for producing graduates who are among the most sought-after professionals in the world. Since our foundation 54 years ago, we have aspired to be a different type of university: one focused on fostering collaboration between students, academics, industry and society.
Start working towards your Master's degree
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the refund policy?
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Is financial aid available?
Can I take the course for free?
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
What background knowledge is necessary?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.