Managing at Yale Core Courses

Core Courses Online

The Managing at Yale core courses are delivered through an online learning platform with an in-person component. Like an online college course, you can complete much of the content asynchronously—at your own pace—during times that work best for your schedule while still experiencing the benefits of live instruction when critically necessary. You are encouraged to participate in all live sessions with subject matter experts; however, you can watch most recorded sessions on your own time.

Leadership Essentials – Step One

This eight-week virtual course, which includes an in-person kickoff session, teaches new managers about managing at Yale. Participants dedicate approximately two hours/week to the program.

This comprehensive course lays the foundation for effective leadership, covering five key areas: Leadership and Management Fundamentals, Legal and Ethical Considerations, Building a High-Performing Workforce, Performance Management, and Providing Feedback and Coaching. You’ll explore managerial roles and responsibilities, Yale’s leadership expectations, business ethics, employment law, and labor relations. The course equips you with best practices in hiring, interviewing, and HR collaboration and skills in conducting performance conversations, setting goals, and providing ongoing feedback and coaching.

In this eight-week course, you will:

• Define a manager’s key roles and responsibilities in a leadership position and how they contribute to organizational success.
• Identify the fundamental business standards, ethics principles, and their importance in leadership decision-making.
• Explore the essential elements of employment law and their impact on leadership responsibilities.
• Review best practices in hiring and interviewing and how they contribute to building a high-performing workforce.
• Explain the critical components of effective performance conversations and how they contribute to employee development and success.

Leading Teams – Step Two

This virtual eight-week course continues the learning journey by giving managers a better understanding of themselves and their management style and insights into creating an influential culture for their team. Participants invest up to two hours/week into their learning, with the in-person kickoff session.

This course focuses on developing essential managerial skills to build high-performance teams and foster diversity and inclusion. You’ll explore key areas, including Creating a Positive Team Culture, Understanding Individual Differences, Developing and Influencing Others, Fostering Diversity and Inclusion, and Building Team Cohesion. The course emphasizes creating a culture of excellence aligned with Yale’s Leadership Expectations, teaching you to effectively influence others for positive change and manage diverse workforces.

Throughout the program, you will:

• Define the key elements of a positive team culture and how they contribute to team success.
• Identify the key components of the DiSC assessment and understand how individual differences can enhance team collaboration.
• Define emotional intelligence and how it impacts leadership effectiveness and team dynamics.
• Explore practical communication principles and strategies and how they support leadership influence and team performance.
• Explore the importance of diversity and inclusion in creating a positive team culture.

Driving Performance – Step Three

This final step of the initial journey continues as a virtual eight-week course, with the kickoff and the final sessions both held in person. It provides a deeper understanding of how effective managers create high satisfaction levels for customers, their staff, and themselves. Participants dedicate up to 2 hours/week to this program.

This course focuses on developing essential managerial skills to achieve business success and lead effective teams. You’ll explore key areas, including Measuring Business Performance, Communicating Effectively, Personal Effectiveness and Time Management, Delegation and Prioritization, and Leading Change and Managing Transitions. The course emphasizes data-driven decision-making, effective communication strategies, and time management techniques to enhance leadership capabilities.

In this course, you will:

• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for different departments and explain how they contribute to overall organizational success.
• Describe and discuss strategies for making data meaningful for business decisions and how leaders can effectively use data to drive performance.
• Review the importance of effective time allocation across leadership responsibilities and understand how it contributes to personal and team success.
• Explore effective delegation strategies and how they support team performance and development.
• Identify strategies for preparing employees for change and how effective change management supports organizational success.

Mid-Senior Manager Courses

Extraordinary Leader Program – Step Four

This one-day program for managers will educate, train, and motivate you to become a great leader. It provides you with new insights into what makes leaders extraordinary. A 360-degree leadership assessment, development plan, and coach are included. This recommended program is ideally taken after completion of the Managing at Yale series and is for those who have been in their current position for at least 12 months.

In today’s rapidly changing, highly competitive environment, the organizations that excel in their respective markets will be those whose people are most competent, passionate, and focused on delivering results. The Extraordinary Leader Program presents a proven framework for helping individuals make a profound difference in their organization’s results, performance, and development. The program is built on research-based principles of leadership performance. This workshop will share and help you apply this process to your organizational performance and development. Once completed, you are provided with a coach for a free 90-minute session.

Advancing the Extraordinary Leader Program – Step Five

This half-day program for managers will assess improvements in the development areas you identified during your initial experience in the Extraordinary Leader Program. It again includes a 360-degree leadership assessment, development plan, and coach. We recommend attending this training 18 months after the Extraordinary Leader Program.