When you’re trying to decide where to focus your business studies, you have a number of options. Some have a clear cut career path – accounting, for example, prepares you to provide accounting services to organizations of all sizes.
Many schools offer a major in organizational leadership in addition to the traditional business school subjects, which may be best for you if you want to serve in a leadership or management position. Organizational leadership studies take a birds-eye view of business, focusing on management, leadership, decision making, analytical and communication skills. Organizational leadership programs also train future leaders in current issues facing the business world, such as corporate ethics and responsibility and diversity in the workplace.
Perhaps the best part of earning an online Masters degree in organizational leadership is the level of versatility that the degree provides. You can work virtually anywhere with this background, including nonprofit, for-profit and governmental agencies and in a wide variety of department and roles. For example:
Human Resources. In today’s business environment, human resources executives do more than manage the hiring and firing of personnel and process benefit paperwork. Human resource departments are actively involved in the management of the working environment, communicating with management and employees about policies, procedures and issues that affect the organizational operations. Human resources management is also often art of the strategic leadership or management teams, working to formulate strategic plans and providing guidance from an HR perspective. All of these tasks require someone with a strong background in organizational leadership.
Operations. Depending on the organization, operations encompasses a wide variety of tasks. In general, operations deals with anything that keeps the organization running, from the physical aspect to the day-to-day management of the company processes. A degree in organizational leadership gives you the skills you need to manage the company and keep things in track.
Consultant. Since many organizations are new, or struggling to restructure in the face of challenges, organizational development or leadership consultants can perform a valuable service. Whether you work with an established consultant group or hang your own shingle, working as a consultant allows you to work for a number of different companies and tackle multiple challenges. With your background in organizational leadership, you can help struggling organizations with developing strategic plans, building stronger teams and making changes to improve their strength in the marketplace.
Management. Management is a rather vague term, as it includes everything from high-level executive leaderships position to department manager or leader positions. A degree in organizational leadership prepares you to take these roles and lead effectively.
Specialized Fields. Some schools offer organizational leadership degrees related to a specific career or field. For example, a degree in organizational leadership in education prepares students to become school administrators, such as school principals or superintendents. Most of these positions require a graduate degree and some experience in education. Another popular area for concentration is nonprofit management. Leading nonprofit organizations presents different challenges than other types of organizations, and programs in this field offer coursework and skill-building in donor management, fundraising principles and ethics that prepare professionals for successful careers in philanthropy.
Not only does a degree in organizational leadership open the door to many career opportunities, it gives graduates a great deal of earning potential. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, positions in executive leadership or management pay, on average, between $92,000 and $160,000 annually. Management positions in financial services firms pay even more, with average salaries in the $200,000 range. Keep in mind though, that the highest paying positions generally require a graduate degree and several years of experience.
Earning a degree in organizational leadership is a great way to improve your career prospects, as it opens the door to a wider variety of positions and industries than some other majors. With coursework including subjects as diverse a leadership theory and applications, organizational change theory, decision making and problem solving and practical skills such as organizational finance, this degree prepares you for almost anything you’ll face in a leadership role. In the end, it will make you a highly valuable and attractive candidate for almost any position.
This article was written by Justin Davis who has been pursuing his MBA online and expects to have his degree by next year.
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