New certificate program to fill critical gap in leadership training

We’re proud to launch a new leadership program in January 2021, one that marks a significant departure from traditional leadership training. The Leadership Essentials Certificate program is designed for emerging and aspiring leaders navigating a rapidly changing work environment.

According to Shanthi Besso, director of Leadership and Community Building programs at SFU Continuing Studies, leadership programs have long tended to focus on technical management skills. Yet organizations across all sectors remain in urgent need of emotional and social intelligence, and an ability to understand the systems in which they are operating. This program, she says, will help to fill that critical gap.

“The pandemic really demonstrated the need for leaders with the skills to enable their teams and organizations—and their communities—to navigate radical uncertainty and complexity,” says Besso.

Aside from challenges brought on by the pandemic, there is an increasing global awareness of the impacts of white supremacy and the need to decolonize our historical leadership practices. The Leadership Essentials program will help new and aspiring leaders apply a socially just, decolonizing and critical thinking approach to their leadership practice, and empower them to shift their workplaces towards healthier, more equitable and inclusive cultures.

The new program joins a growing portfolio of certificate programs created to help professionals become effective leaders and changemakers, including our Executive Leadership and Dialogue and Civic Engagement programs.

The first of four Leadership Essentials courses will begin online on January 20, 2021. Applications for the certificate program are now being accepted. To learn more, join our online info session on October 7, 2020.