Unlock Your Potential with Business Leadership Skills

BY Office of Marketing and Communications | 6 MIN READ

Success in today’s business world hinges on a host of factors that are in a constant state of flux—evolutionary leaps in technology, employee-employer dynamics, governmental edicts and regulations, and geopolitical events, to name a few. However, across all industries, one ingredient consistently remains essential: executives with superior business leadership skills.

Great leaders display adaptability, emotional intelligence and strategic thinking. This is a marked change from the top-down, do-what–I-say leadership style of previous generations. Today’s leadership development programs cultivate and nurture the qualities that best position you for career growth.

Why Effective Leadership Qualities Are Vital in the Global Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic taught us many things, including that the world’s economies are closely tied to one another and that their fortunes can turn in an instant.

Since then, businesses have accepted that they must be more globally minded, collaborative and technologically driven. That requires leaders to be adaptive, emotionally intelligent and strategic thinkers. Professionals who possess these business leadership skills can go far and are more likely to achieve their goals. Here are a few ways that focusing on leadership development programs in business school makes it possible:

Professionals who go back to school for business leadership training are three times as likely to work in management positions than those who don’t.¹
Professionals with a business or management degree earn an average of 25% more over the course of their careers than peers without similar education.¹
Professionals who assume first-time management roles see an average annual earnings increase of $20,000 and significantly expanded opportunities for future promotions.¹

Today’s Top Business Leadership Skills

At some point in your career, your hard skills—the specific, measurable abilities you need to perform a job or task—will no longer be enough to advance to leadership positions in your field. You’ll also need soft skills and qualities that companies look for in their leaders. The Harvard Business Review calls these skills “foundational” in recent research that proclaims “soft skills matter now more than ever.” So, what are these skills? Here are three important ones:

Adaptability: What’s the secret sauce of leadership? Adaptability, Forbes says. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid adoption of AI have been two seismic events in the business world in a span of just a few years. Adaptable leaders have the flexibility and versatility to guide themselves and their teams through disruptive times like this. If the recent past is precedent, adaptability will be paramount in the coming years.
Emotional intelligence: With AI and automation increasingly assuming an outsized role in industries worldwide, the ability to connect on a human level is atop the list of essential business leadership skills. Emotional intelligence gives you the power to perceive and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others, bolstering your conflict resolution skills. It has four main components, according to Daniel Goleman, psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.
Strategic thinking: In a Management Research Group study, 97% of senior executives indicated they value strategic thinking above any other leadership attribute. Strategic thinking is critical for today’s leaders because it enables them to see a brighter tomorrow. These leaders think beyond short-term problem-solving to a more comprehensive, forward-looking approach. Instead of reacting to challenges, they analyze market trends, anticipate obstacles ahead and identify untapped opportunities to create a clear vision for an organization’s future.

Business Leadership in Action

The professionals who dedicate themselves to learning new concepts and embracing new challenges today will be rewarded throughout their careers. Attaining these skills is one thing. Deploying them successfully in the real world is another. How might that look?

A marketing manager doesn’t just oversee campaigns but uses emotional intelligence to build trust with clients and inspire a creative team to produce its best work, utilizing conflict resolution skills when needed.
A supply chain leader relies on strategic thinking and adaptability to navigate unpredictable global logistics and geopolitical pitfalls, ensuring smooth internal operations despite external disruptions.
A health care administrator must rely on adaptability to respond to rapid changes in patient care technology, industry regulations and federal mandates while maintaining a compassionate approach.
A nonprofit director needs a clear vision to inspire staff and donors to achieve a shared mission.

No matter the industry or role, adaptability, emotional intelligence and strategic thinking provide a sound foundation for successful business leaders now and into the future. Leadership development programs in business school enable you to build these valuable skills.

How Elmhurst Develops Business Leadership Skills

Leadership development in business school can get you to your goals faster, and the Elmhurst Management Program (EMP) caters to working professionals who want to further themselves personally and professionally, with minimal interruption to their already busy lives.

Leadership-focused courses: The EMP curriculum includes focused courses like BUS 386: Management, which covers core principles of business leadership, including decision making and goal setting. Other courses provide the tools to build a foundation of modern business leadership skills. You’ll study management, conflict resolution and strategic decision making, preparing you to lead teams through complex challenges.
Change management, cyber security and innovation seminars: Many of our EMP students take advantage of our portfolio of one-day Saturday seminars focused on the most cutting-edge competencies needed to lead today’s organizations. These interactive seminars combine the best of hybrid learning, engaged hands-on application and critical skill building to address the challenges today’s business leaders face.
Professional networking: You’ll learn alongside other working professionals in a cohort model throughout the 18- to 24-month program, building a strong network with your peers. This helps you learn how to become a business leader through the examples and experiences of fellow professionals. Students also will form relationships with our faculty members, who are not just academics. They bring comprehensive professional knowledge to the classroom, providing practical context and serving as reliable mentors.
Capstone project: Bridging the gap between theory and practice, the capstone course provides hands-on experience. Serving as the program’s finale, this course gives students the chance to apply their knowledge to solve real-world business challenges. This ensures you not only understand the concepts but also can execute them.

Ready to Lead? Take the Next Step at Elmhurst

If you’re ready to advance your career and acquire the skills to be an effective leader in your field, get started with the Elmhurst Management Program. In just two years, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to lead with confidence and purpose.