The Persuasive Leader (Coursera)

The Persuasive Leader (Coursera)

This aims primarily at post-baccalaureate students interested in leadership theory. This is one course in the Coursera specialization, Leadership: An Introduction. It examines current trends in leadership theory invoking several disciplines, including business, sociology, philosophy, history, and psychology.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The course has four modules. Module 1 introduces students to agile leadership as (a) a logical sequel to adaptive and team leadership, and (b) the foundation of contemporary persuasive leadership. Topics include a working definition of agile leadership, the need for agile leadership, and characteristics of the agile leader. Module 2 answers the question, What is persuasive leadership? Topics include persuasive vs. coercive leadership, conversation as essential to persuasive leadership, types of persuasion, elements of persuasion, and principles of persuasion. Module 3 answers the question, Why persuasive leadership? Topics include setting the question, benefits to the organization, benefits, to the team, and benefits to the leader. Module 4 answers the question, Persuasive leadership: How? Topics include preparing the leader, preparing the team, engaging the team in a plan, executing the plan, and assessing and improving.
To complete this course successfully students should be able to analyze college-level readings and audio/visual presentations into understandable parts, including premises and conclusions; synthesize the results of the analysis into coherent and accurate summaries; and evaluate the results for accuracy and practical applicability.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to
• Define persuasive leadership
• Explain how adaptive leadership, team leadership, and agile leadership underlie persuasive
leadership
• Assess the value of persuasive leadership to contemporary organizational leadership
• Apply techniques of persuasive leadership to organizational challenges
Course 2 of 3 in the Leadership: An Introduction Specialization.

What You Will Learn

  • The nature of persuasive leadership.
  • How to assess leadership.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Introduction; Agile Leadership
Module 1 -- Course Introduction and Agile Leadership -- includes a video introduction to the course; an audio recording and reading to accompany that video; and three lessons. Lesson 1 -- Agile Leadership-A Working Definition -- includes three readings, three videos, 11 recommended readings, and four lectures. Lesson 2 -- The Need for Agile Leadership--includes three readings, two videos, and one lecture. Lesson 3 -- The Agile Leader -- includes 1 reading and one lecture. The work you will do for this module includes watching the course introduction, the module introduction (including the accompanying audio and description), five videos from the internet, and six lecture videos; reading seven items; and taking a brief quiz after each lecture, and a longer assessment at the end of the module.

WEEK 2
What is Persuasive Leadership?
Module 2 -- What is Persuasive Leadership? -- includes a video introduction to the module and five lessons. Lesson 1 -- A General Definition-- includes one reading, one video, and two lectures. Lesson 2 -- Conversation--includes three readings, three videos, and two lectures. Lesson 3 -- Types of Persuasion-- includes five readings, two videos, and three lectures. Lesson 4 -- Elements of Persuasion-- includes one reading and one lecture. Lesson 5 -- Principles of Persuasion--includes one reading and one lecture. The work you will do for this module includes watching the module introduction (along with the video of Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize speech), five videos from the internet, and nine lecture videos; reading nine items; and taking a brief quiz after each lecture, and a longer assessment at the end of the module.

WEEK 3
Why Persuasive Leadership?
Module 3 -- Why Persuasive Leadership? -- includes a video introduction to the module and four lessons. Lesson 1 -- Setting the Question-- includes two readings and two lectures. Lesson 2 -- Benefits to the Organization--includes two readings, one video, and three lectures. Lesson 3 -- Benefits to the Team-- includes two readings, two videos, and three lectures. Lesson 4 -- Benefits to the Leader-- includes two readings and three lectures. The work you will do for this module includes watching the module introduction (along with the video of Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement address), three videos from the internet, and 11 lecture videos; reading eight items; and taking a brief quiz after each lecture, and a longer assessment at the end of the module.

WEEK 4
Persuasive Leadership: How?
Module 4 -- Persuasive Leadership: How? -- includes a video introduction to the module and five lessons. Lesson 1 --Prepare Yourself-- includes three readings and one lectures. Lesson 2 -- Prepare Your team--includes two readings and one lecture. Lesson 3 -- Engage Your Team in the Plan-- includes four readings, two videos, and six lectures. Lesson 4 -- Execute the Plan as a Team-- includes three readings and three lectures. Lesson 5 -- Assess and Improve -- includes one reading and two lectures. The work you will do for this module includes watching the module introduction, two videos from the internet, and 13 lecture videos; reading 13 items; and taking a brief quiz after each lecture, and a longer assessment at the end of the module.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

The 360º Corporation: Tools for Achieving Corporate Purpose (Coursera) Coursera
University of Toronto

The 360º Corporation: Tools for Achieving Corporate Purpose (Coursera)

If you’ve heard the terms stakeholder capitalism, or sustainability, or ESG, corporate social responsibility, CSR, conscious capitalism, sustainable development goals, shared value, corporate citizenship, or purpose-driven company but don’t know exactly what they mean—or don’t know how to make these ideas come to life—then this course is for you. Every business model and every operating decision has stakeholder trade-offs embedded in it. Profits to the bottom line are not always compatible with the interests of the stakeholders that surround the corporation.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
L'avenir de la décision : connaître et agir en complexité (Coursera) Coursera
ESSEC Business School

L'avenir de la décision : connaître et agir en complexité (Coursera)

Ce MOOC a l’intention d’affronter et traiter des problèmes que rencontrent chaque personne, chaque groupe, chaque entreprise, chaque société, de façon de plus en plus aiguë et pressante ; dans notre temps d’évolution accélérée, de transformations ininterrompues, de mondialisation incontrôlée, d’incertitudes.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Professionalism in an era of change (Coursera) Coursera
Universiteit Utrecht

Professionalism in an era of change (Coursera)

In this course we aim to provide you with an insight into how recent societal and technological developments have changed the work of professionals in a variety of professional domains and how this in turn affects professionalism. The course highlights core themes, discusses main insights and theories, raises questions and presents cases, and links insights to practical challenges in various professional domains.

Nov 1st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Researcher Management and Leadership Training (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Researcher Management and Leadership Training (Coursera)

This course is for early career researchers and mentors who believe that modern scientific careers require management skills and want to be research leaders. This curriculum gives you skills to effectively implement funded projects, thereby enhancing your career success. Research leaders take on a number of new roles, rights, and responsibilities--as scientific leaders, financial administrators, managers, and mentors. In this course, we explain how to optimize the people, teams, projects, and finances for which you are responsible.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Turning Point: Estratégia, Liderança e Gestão de Mudanças (Coursera) Coursera
FIA Business School

Turning Point: Estratégia, Liderança e Gestão de Mudanças (Coursera)

Nossas boas-vindas ao Curso Turning Point: Estratégia, Liderança e Gestão de Mudanças. Neste curso, você aprenderá sobre: estratégias organizacionais no contexto atual; abordagens adotadas pelas organizações para obter vantagem competitiva no mercado; práticas de Gestão de Mudanças organizacionais; liderança no contexto geral e em processos de mudanças organizacionais.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
Leadership Principles for Software Engineers (Coursera) Coursera
Advancing Women in Tech

Leadership Principles for Software Engineers (Coursera)

Learn real-world software engineering management skills to succeed and impress in your first (or next) management role at elite engineering organizations. NANCY WANG, Director of Engineering and General Manager of AWS Data Protection Services and Founder, Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT), shares with you the engineering skills cultivated at AMAZON (the #2-ranked company in the Fortune 500), with supplemental practices from GOOGLE and MICROSOFT. Develop the skills and mental models that the world's best engineering managers apply to attract and retain world-class engineering talent.

Oct 25th 2026
3 Weeks
High Stakes Leadership: Leading in Times of Crisis (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

High Stakes Leadership: Leading in Times of Crisis (Coursera)

This course has been designed to help leaders, like you, learn how to effectively navigate the challenges of significant organizational disruptions. As a participant in this course, you’ll discover why an understanding of various stakeholder perspectives can inform and dramatically improve a leader’s response to events that threaten an organization’s very survival. This course is also about understanding and developing individual and organizational resilience—the ability to anticipate potential threats; to cope effectively with adverse events when they occur; and to adapt to changing conditions, ensuring a viable path forward for yourself, your team, and your organization.

Oct 26th 2026
4 Weeks
How to Manage a Remote Team (Coursera) Coursera
GitLab

How to Manage a Remote Team (Coursera)

Remote management is much more than just implementing a work-from-home policy. In this course, you’ll learn and apply remote work best practices, build your remote work policy, and prepare your team for success. This course is ideal for current managers, executives, and human resources professionals who want to learn how to lead and support a high-functioning, scalable remote team. GitLab is one of the world’s largest all-remote organizations; experts from throughout the company will guide you through in-depth lessons for leaders, people managers, and HR professionals to build, manage, and scale.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Self Awareness and the Effective Leader (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Self Awareness and the Effective Leader (Coursera)

Part of being an effective leader is learning how to play to your strengths and overcome characteristics that don't lend to good leadership practices. During the course, you will examine your own strengths and learn ways to use them in a leadership role. Learn to manage stress and solve problems creatively. Throughout the course, you will also build a tool kit of useful techniques that you can begin using right away in your engineering career.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Purpose at Work: A Course for Employees and Leaders (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Purpose at Work: A Course for Employees and Leaders (Coursera)

Welcome to Purpose at Work: A Course for Employees and Leaders! Why purpose at work? Because most of us spend most of our waking hours working. Many of us spend years of effort to obtain jobs that may give us purpose. But can we find purpose in nearly any job? Are we more engaged and likely to remain in our job if it gives us purpose? Can leaders create a culture that makes it easier for people to find purpose in their work? The answers are ‘yes’ to all of the above and this course shows you how.

Oct 26th 2026
3 Weeks
Lean Management Fundamentals (Coursera) Coursera
Starweaver

Lean Management Fundamentals (Coursera)

The Lean Management Fundamentals course is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of Lean principles and practices. Lean management is a systematic approach that focuses on eliminating waste, optimizing processes, and creating value for customers. This course will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to apply Lean methodologies in their organizations, leading to improved efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction.

Oct 26th 2026
1 Week
The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work (Coursera) Coursera
University of London,Birkbeck, University of London

The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work (Coursera)

The aim of this course is to give you a practical guide to managing people at work. It does not matter whether you are a first time manager in a shop or a middle manager in an office environment; the same skills apply to every work place. In the course you will engage with some HR theories and then see how they translate into every day working life.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks