Leadership and followership

Leaders are all around us – we encounter them at work and in our spare time, we read about them in the press – but have you ever wondered what makes them good or bad at their role? You might be considering a leadership role as your next career step, or maybe you’re in a leadership position already and finding it difficult to move your team forward. If you’re interested in finding out more about leadership, from the perspective of a leader or a follower, then this free course, Leadership and followership will help you. Working through this course will help you to explore what makes a good leader, recognise common leadership challenges, and identify the skills you need to develop if you want to enhance your own leadership experience.TranscriptYou’ll start this course by considering your own leadership experience and learning more about different leadership styles. As you progress, you’ll focus on key leadership skills and how you might develop them yourself, exploring elements of both good and bad leadership and looking at possible solutions to problems that can arise. Followership has an important connection with leadership and you’ll find out more about what makes a good follower and how leaders can develop their followers to create more productive relationships and encourage them to consider leadership roles in the future. You’ll look at common leadership challenges and the future of leadership in this changing world. Finally, you’ll identify how you want to develop your own leadership skills and devise a plan to build your experience. Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation. Please tell us more about your Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and personal skill development!We would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to complete this survey and tell us about yourself and your experiences of CPD and lifelong learning.The Open University is working in collaboration with the CPD Standards Office in a national study to understand more about individual professionals' experiences, perceptions and practice for adult skill development. Find out more here: cpdstandards.com/research.By participating in this high profile research, you will be contributing to scientific knowledge about adult skill development and how we can develop successful future careers. Participation is confidential, voluntary and we will not pass on your details to others.