Leaders are not born, they are made. Leadership is not related to management, rank or seniority, it is not a title and does not refer to a person’s characteristics. Leadership can be learned and consists of a set of tools and skills that are taught and assimilated. Studying for an online MBA programme can provide the competencies needed to lead the pack within an organisation or business.
A leader can be described as someone who has the ability to communicate a vision so that it becomes a reality. Leaders are defined as having followers and having influence over those followers, being able to motivate people to achieve a common goal and have the skills to delegate and let go, managing the delivery of that vision.
Leaders are thinkers and change-makers, they have the capacity to be successful and efficient at change management, whether it be organisational or people change management.
Leaders are professionals who are determined and good at making difficult decisions that nobody else can or wants to make. This requires a secure grounding in strategic thinking, evaluation, the setting of goals, and decisive action.
Whether you are employed in the financial field or not, as a leader it is important to understand how the financial structures within an organisation work, with a background of local and global trends to help point the business in the direction of growth and expansion.
Added to this is communication. It is one of the most crucial aspects of building the skillset to lead the pack. Communication is the ability to translate the vision of a company, explaining what needs to be done in such a way that there is no doubt about the outcome, but also being able to give and receive constructive feedback.
People who are at the top of their game are proficient at assessing and taking measured risks, this includes taking risks on people in their team. Leaders are responsible for developing leadership in their teams and trusting that those people are able to do what they are tasked with.
A requirement of leadership is other people, the human capital involved in an organisation or business. Leaders have the skills and social influence to maximise team members’ efforts and to motivate action, based on strategic thinking, planning and execution. Leaders aren’t born with these abilities, they are acquired over time, and one way of acquiring these skills is to do an accredited MBA.
MBA online programmes offer a solution to leading the pack while you continue building your career. It is an opportunity to study fully online and get the leadership tools to climb the corporate ladder and make a success of any venture.
Online learning allows students to immediately incorporate in the workplace, the skills they are learning in their MBA study. The MBA programmes offer practical modules that are relevant to professionals in their fields, providing the opportunity to explore the scenarios they are experiencing in their world or work.
Further education, more especially an MBA, can be the watershed between being a middle manager and ascending the ranks to become an indispensable part of the leadership team.
What is an MBA programme? It is a higher qualification often required in a corporate environment, the general modules teach management and leadership, financial acumen, human resources, marketing, entrepreneurship, strategic thinking, economics, accounting, and research. The MBA specialisation modules focus more on specific professional sectors and provide a more targeted experience, increasing your knowledge and making you more desirable as an employee and leader.
The online MBA programmes offered by Kenyatta University are:
MBA Specialising in Accounting
MBA Specialising in Entrepreneurship
MBA Specialising in Finance
MBA Specialising in Human Resources
MBA Specialising in Management of Information Systems
MBA Specialising in Marketing
MBA Specialising in Procurement and Supply Chain
MBA Specialising in Project Management
MBA Specialising in Strategic Management
Take a look at our programme pages for more information on each specialisation.
