Business Leadership
The success and profitability of a business hinge on the ability of its leadership to govern well. The people in charge of a company ideally possess a mix of business skills and leadership skills, along with knowledge and experience regarding how best to run a business operations and manage employees.
The main difference between a degree in business and a degree in business leadership is that the latter caters more toward career positions in management. Someone with this degree will have learned how to enhance survival and growth for a company, as well as boost productivity and manage conflict resolution. He or she will have studied group dynamics, power, culture, decision-making, structure, design, and development. He or she will be competent at assessing risk and evaluating change, and will have the skills to implement decisions for the betterment of the business.
In the curriculum of business leadership, you can expect to find courses like accounting, organizational behavior, law, marketing, human relations, management, leadership, and policy, and many more. Upper-level classes are more specialized, and include topics such as:
- Integrating Personal and Organizational Success
- Value Driven Decision Making
- Strategic Planning
- Aligning Goals, Strategies, and Budgets
- Leadership Roles, Attributes, and Skills
- Fixing Dysfunctional Teams
- Managing the Workforce
- Financial Analysis
Skills: People who feel they were born to lead tend to thrive in a career with this degree. Interpersonal and communication skills are crucial to success here, as are excellent time management and organizational abilities. Employees will often turn to you for guidance as their manager, so you must be supportive, objective, and a good listener who genuinely seeks fair solutions to problems. Above all, a business leader should be able to plan, envision, take charge, delegate, inspire, and follow through.
Salary: While salaries for people with this degree vary depending on the job, the pay is quite good because the positions are leadership positions in management. For example, an Education Administrator can earn anywhere from $54,931-$158,000 a year, and a Medical and Health Services Manager anywhere between $71,190 and $87,040 (statistics from May 2008).
Careers: Every business needs a leader of some sort, so career opportunities abound for those with degrees in the field. You can go to work for a specific organization, or work as a consultant, helping companies develop and implement better operations. This degree is also good preparation for a career in government, politics, education, administration, facility management, sales, military, nonprofit work, human resources, analysis, and essentially any business that needs someone with excellent interpersonal skills and a solid knowledge of organizational behavior.
Article Resources:
Gonzaga University
Southern New Hampshire University
University College, Denver University
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics