Organizational Leadership Program

Overview

Today’s organizations need leaders who are resilient, ethical, and adaptable. At Assumption, we go beyond technical business knowledge to help you develop the broader leadership capabilities that organizations across industries demand.

Whereas an MBA builds functional expertise in areas such as accounting, finance, and marketing, the M.A. in Organizational Leadership focuses on strategic, people-centered leadership — preparing you to guide teams, lead change, and foster innovation.

Rooted in Assumption’s liberal arts tradition, the program emphasizes ethical decision-making and relationship-centered leadership. From your first course, you’ll benefit from small cohorts, direct faculty mentorship, and personalized career guidance that connects your education to your goals.

Learning Goals

The M.A. in Organizational Leadership is built around four core competencies:

  • Reflective Thinking — Developing the habits of self-awareness and ethical discernment.
  • Professional Mastery — Applying leadership theory in real-world contexts.
  • Adaptive Leadership — Guiding teams and organizations through complexity and change.
  • Systemic Awareness — Understanding organizations as dynamic, interconnected systems.

Programs of Study

Courses

MOL 610: Becoming a Leader

Credits 3
Today’s organizational leaders are called upon to lead through example, champion a compelling vision, search for new opportunities, and empower others to succeed, all while navigating a complex and uncertain environment. This course will introduce students to these leadership challenges through the context of four core leadership competencies—professional mastery, adaptive leadership, systemic practice, and reflective thinking. Against this backdrop, students will explore various roles of leadership while developing a deeper understanding of their skills, styles, and development needs.

MOL 613: Leading and Navigating Change and Innovation

Credits 3
Leaders increasingly need to understand not only how to implement and manage change inside an organization, but also how to navigate and respond to significant innovation and change occurring outside the organization. Through well-researched models and theories, this course will take a leadership perspective on how to drive and navigate change and innovation. This course gives special attention to the human dimension of change and innovation.

MOL 615: Leader as Communicator

Credits 3
Leaders, whether formal or informal, use communication to carry out the work of an organization - often without realizing the nuances of their choices. This course addresses such complexities and presents how leaders can use effective communication to positively influence an organization. Students will examine foundational and modern theories of organizational communication and address relevant challenges facing leaders, such as workplace diversity, globalization, and technological developments.

MOL 615: Leader as Communicator

Credits 3
The work of the organization is carried out through conversation and communication, but simple models of communication are not adequate in explaining the dynamics and complexity of this human interaction. This course addresses this complexity and how communication can be used to move an organization towards a preferred future. This course will address contemporary communication challenges facing the organization such as workplace diversity, globalization, and technological developments. This course will examines how a leader’s awareness and appreciation of communication helps create, sustain, and change the direction of the organization.

MOL 617: Developing the Organization

Credits 3
Highly performing organizations require leaders to constantly improve both organizational processes and people. This course will provide students with an organizational development approach to this challenge. Students will learn a full range of organizational development tools and methods which can be utilized to solve organizational problems, improve organizational processes, and develop individual workers and managers. In addition, students will learn an organizational consulting process to diagnose, develop, and implement organizational interventions.

MOL 785: Contemporary Issues in Leadership: A Case Approach

Credits 3
This course will use a case analysis approach to present current and relevant topics in today’s business environment. For each topic, students will engage in discussion and debate with peers, as well as analyze business cases using a framework that includes identification of key issues, exploration of research options, and development of supported solutions and recommendations.

MOL 786: The Leadership Lab

Credits 3
This course provides an experiential approach to exploring leadership issues and challenges. Through case studies, guest speakers, and simulations, students will engage with leaders and leadership situations. Through this experience, students will be able to reflect and assess their development as a leader. Readings, discussion, and case studies will help prepare students for their experiential learning.

MOL 801: Leadership Capstone

Credits 3
This capstone course is a culminating experience that has students engaging with an organization to analyze issues and apply the competencies developed in this program to create a plan of leadership action. The project deliverables will be a report and presentation that clarify critical strategic and leadership considerations. The project demonstrates students’ professional competencies and provides evidence of theoretical knowledge applied to “real-world” issues.