Degree Overview: Master’s Degree Program in Innovative Leadership
Majors Overview May 13, 2015Get information about master’s degree programs in innovative leadership and their education requirements, coursework, career choices, job and wage outlook, and continuing education choices.
Master’s Programs in Innovative Leadership
Students enrolled in master’s degree programs in innovative leadership gain the leadership tools, organizational skills and knowledge they would need to enable the efficiency and growth of the organization. Graduates become adept at improving management techniques, implementing motivational methods and changing modes of communication aimed at facilitating better leadership of an effort or a group. The program is devised to bolster students’ understanding of general business principles in management, marketing and accounting. The program also involves researching and exploring organizations’ numerous forms of guidance to accomplish the effective delivery of services and goods.
Students involve themselves in simulations and hands-on work geared toward application of these skills in real-world settings.
Education Requirements
Admission criteria typically require incoming students to hold a bachelor’s degree. However, the program is tailored to suit the needs of working business professionals with several years of business experience wishing to enhance their creative insights and skills. Schools often offer courses in online formats or through weekend and evening classes to allow professionals to continue working during enrollment in the innovative leadership program.
Coursework
Program coursework heavily emphasizes hands-on opportunities, enhancing and showcasing students’ abilities in navigating challenging circumstances and becoming better administrators. Schools often include simulated real-world work experiences, oral presentations, portfolios and projects within the program curriculum. Core coursework may include topic areas such as:
•Organizational research
•Intellectual property
•Leading with creativity
•Communication styles
•Managing for growth
•Decision-making practices
•Organizational leadership strategies
•Ethical factors in decisions
•Outcome evaluation
•Conflict resolution
Career Choices
Program graduates can apply the skills learned in a leadership graduate degree program to their current profession or to a new career path; these skills are pertinent to fields such as technology, healthcare, education and business. Students enrolled in the master’s degree program are taught about facilitating change through the use of problem-solving, effective communication and critical thinking skills. They may choose from popular career options such as:
•Project manager
•Corporate strategist
•Department director
•Management analyst or consultant
•Recruiter
•Corporate manager
•Operations, marketing, human resource, or development manager
Job and Wage Outlook
Over the 2012 – 2022 decade, a job growth rate of seven percent has been predicted for human resources specialists, including recruiters. During the same time-span, human resources managers were expected to enjoy a job growth of thirteen percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In May 2012, human resources specialists brought in an average annual wage of $55,640, while HR managers and management analysts earned respective average wages of $99,720 and $78,600.
Continuing Education Choices
Graduates seeking continuing education may choose to enroll in the executive or organizational leadership programs offered at select universities. These programs involve extensive research, in the form of further exploration of cutting-edge leadership theories and methodologies aimed at the pursuit of research and academic careers, ostensibly to equip individuals to influence others to produce change.
