Development as a leader (5cr)

Evaluation scale

Pass/Fail

Content scheduling

Autumn 2025 – 2 ECTS
1 ECTS Competence Assessment and Learning Objectives
1 ECTS Self-awareness and Leader Identity

Spring 2026 – 3 ECTS
1.5 ECTS Leadership Theories and Ethical Leadership
1.5 ECTS Self-leadership, Agency, and Career Development for Leaders

Objective

Purpose of the course
Leadership is a key competence in contemporary working life. In this course, you will deepen your understanding of your own leadership, strengthen your self‑awareness, and identify your strengths and areas for development. You will learn to analyse and evaluate your leadership from the perspectives of self‑leadership, people leadership and task leadership, and to develop your leadership approach systematically. You will also expand your knowledge of ethical and responsible leadership and learn to promote these principles within your organisation through reflective practice and role‑modelling. Through reflection, you will gain insight into your leadership career opportunities and be able to plan your professional development purposefully.

Developing as a leader is a process that requires time and self- and peer reflection to grow. Considering this development, the course lasts for a semester/year.

Competencies of the course
Learning to learn: You can evaluate and plan your leadership career in a versatile and goal-oriented way.
Ethics: You can promote the realisation of ethical principles in work communities and organisations with your leadership.

Learning Outcomes
Through a structured reflection process, you deepen your self‑awareness and are able to analyse and evaluate your leadership from the perspectives of self‑leadership, people leadership, and task leadership. You can apply key leadership theories and perspectives to strengthen your own leadership identity. You are able to promote the implementation of ethical principles in your work community and/or organisation by reflecting on your ethical leadership and acting as a role model. Through self‑reflection, you are also able to plan the development of your leadership career.

Content

In this course, you will learn about self-awareness, leadership identity, leadership theories and conceptions, ethical leadership, agency, self-leadership, and the development of a leadership career.

Location and time

Course Schedule
The course begins on September 1, 2025, in the Moodle learning environment.

Webinars:
1. Wed, September 3, 2025, 16:30–18:00: Introduction Webinar
2. Wed, February 11, 2026, 16:30–18:00: Leadership Theories
3. Wed, April 15, 2026, 16:30–18:00: Agency and Leadership Career

You can find the detailed schedule in the Moodle learning environment. The course ends on May 20, 2026.

Attendance will be checked three weeks after the course start date. Participation in the course requires that you submit Learning Task 1 by September 30, 2025.

Scheduled Online Course
Development as a Leader is a multidisciplinary course conducted entirely online. Your studies will follow the schedule provided in Moodle.

Materials

During the course, you will utilize various learning materials available in Moodle, such as videos, online lectures, and articles.

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Anttila, K. (2023). Johtajana kasvamisen ytimessä on johtajaidentiteetin kehittyminen. Finnish Business Blog. https://blogit.jamk.fi/fbb/2023/02/01/johtajana-kasvamisen-ytimessa-on-johtajaidentiteetin-kehittyminen/

Goller, M., & Harteis, C. (2017). Human agency at work: Towards a clarification and operationalisation of the concept. Ed. M. Goller & S. Paloniemi. Agency at work: An agentic perspective on professional learning and development. Cham: Springer, 85–103.

Eteläpelto, A., Vähäsantanen, K., Hökkä, P., & Paloniemi, S. (2013). What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational research review, 10, 45–65.

You will utilize your chosen scientific article and other materials based on independent information gathering.

Teaching methods

In the course Development as a Leader, it is important to understand that leadership is not a destination, but a journey that can take years. You can consciously develop your leadership skills through continuous learning and self-reflection. You will reflect on your leadership development together with fellow students and a workplace mentor, which will broaden your thinking and enable your leadership growth. You will define the levels of development for your leadership identity and thinking, learn about leadership theories and ethical leadership, and develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence, agency, and self-leadership. Additionally, you will plan your leadership career.

The course Development as a Leader is a multidisciplinary online course. Due to the nature of the subject matter, your studies will last for a semester/year. Your studies will take place in the Moodle learning environment, where you will find course instructions, schedules, assignments, and study materials. You will also participate in webinars. Webinars will feature expert presentations, and you will reflect and share your learning through collaborative learning methods. Participation in webinars is a requirement for completing the course. You will need a camera, headphones, and a microphone. You will compile your learning and assignments in the Development as a Leader workbook.

Guidance
Guidance will be provided in the Moodle learning environment (question and answer forum) and webinars, as well as by contacting the teacher via email. You will also receive guidance from peers and through mentoring.

Feedback
You will receive feedback on your learning assignments. You will provide feedback on the course (mid-term and final feedback on the implementation).

Employer connections

Your student group will form a work-life-oriented peer learning network.

In the course assignments, you will utilize the organization of your choice.

Exam schedules

There is no exam for this course.

International connections

In this course, you will utilize international research literature and reflect on the cultural dimensions of leadership.

Completion alternatives

You cannot complete this course through any alternative methods, such as studification.

Student workload

Your recommended time allocation for a 5 ECTS course is 135 working hours, distributed as follows:
Online lectures and webinars 6 hours
Studying course materials 27 hours
Individual assignment 90 hours
Collaborative learning 6 hours
Mentoring 6 hours

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

Pass: You are able to assess and analyse your own leadership by drawing on key leadership theories. You identify your strengths and areas for development and set well‑justified development goals based on them. You demonstrate advanced self-awareness and use reflection to strengthen your leadership identity. You are able to apply the principles of ethical and responsible leadership in your own actions and to evaluate the realisation of ethical practices within your work community. In addition, you recognise realistic career options and develop a goal-oriented plan for enhancing your leadership competence and advancing your leadership career.

Fail: The student does not achieve the competence goals of the course

Qualifications

No prior knowledge required.

Further information

Assessment Methods
Your learning in the course will be qualitatively assessed based on the learning objectives using various methods: feedback and mentoring from the teacher, self-assessment by the student, and peer feedback received during webinars. The assessment of learning is developmental.

The assessment is based on learning objectives, qualitative, criterion-referenced, and self-assessment by the student plays an important role.