The Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL) is a fast-track degree for working professionals that develops the knowledge, skills, and self-insights to lead others with confidence and impact.

Designed for working professionals, the master’s program in leadership is designed to advance careers within a profession, rather than providing entry to a new profession. Typically, students will have 5-20 years of work experience and will be seeking additional credentials to advance into more senior leadership roles. The MA in Leadership is a professional degree that is completely focused on leadership skills rather than the broad business training found in an MBA program. Our unique cohort+ model provides the network and mutual support of a learning cohort, with optional electives that allow learners to take advantage of the graduate liberal arts education that is unique to CGU.

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Program Highlights
  • Enjoy a hybrid program that is primarily online, with in-person classes held one weekend per month.
  • Study Drucker principles integrated with positive psychology to develop both leadership skills and self-insight.
  • Address leadership at levels of self, team, organization, and society along dimensions of people, purpose, and performance.
  • Personalize your degree with elective offerings from throughout CGU.
  • Increase personal growth through leadership assessments, coaching, applied experiences, and an international trip.

Program at a Glance

UNITS
30 units

ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME*
12-16 months

*Actual completion times will vary and may be higher, depending on full- or part-time course registration, units transferred, and time to complete other degree requirements.

COURSES BEGIN
Fall | Summer

DEGREE AWARDED
MA in Leadership

Featured Courses

MGT 380
Drucker Philosophy

Focuses on the key principles of Peter F. Drucker, from leading self, organizations, and businesses to the broader functioning of society itself.

Leading Change & Innovation

Harness the creativity and capacity for growth through techniques for fostering innovation and overcoming resistance to change.

MGT 537
Executive Mind

Combines case studies with mindfulness theories to provide trailblazing thought leadership and resources for the practical inner development of executives.

MGT 379
Leadership Practicum

Presents leadership as a skill to be practiced through field work and reflective assignments.

Effective Leader Story Telling

Learn how effective leaders communicate with stories through examples of storytelling by historic, political, and contemporary business leaders.

TNDY 305
Global Leadership

Explore what global leadership means and how it is practiced in today’s world through cases and an international trip.

Curriculum & Format

Core Classes

The core classes for the MA in Leadership are taken in a combination of formats: 3-day intensives (in-person), 8-week modules (hybrid), and 16-week semesters (hybrid).

  • Drucker Philosophy
  • Executive Mind
  • Diversity & Team Leadership
  • Leadership Ethics
  • Organizational Culture & Design
  • Leading Change & Innovation
  • Effective Leader Story Telling
  • Leading Through Data
  • Global Leadership (international trip)
  • Leadership Practicum I & II

Hybrid Core Class Format

Core classes are a convenient hybrid of online learning 3 weeks of the month with intensive Friday evening and Saturday on-campus classes once a month. This format offers the flexibility of online learning with the opportunity to experience CGU’s community and culture during your monthly visits to Claremont.

Asynchronous online weeks: Weeks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7

  • 2 hours of content per week
  • Asynchronous lectures
  • Online discussion
  • Zoom-based office hour discussions (optional)

In-person weekend intensives: Weeks 2 and 6

  • 3 hours on Friday evening, 6 hours on Saturday
  • Occasional Sunday sessions
  • In-person participation expected
Join a Cohort+

In the MA in Leadership program, you’ll experience our cohort+ model. In addition to gaining the network and support of a cohort of MAL students all completing core classes at the same time, you’ll benefit from additional features not usually offered in cohort-based professional programs.

  • Your core classes allow a limited number of CGU students in other programs to enroll, thereby expanding your network of peers and adding new perspectives in class.
  • You can take electives outside of your cohort-based classes from throughout CGU.

Customize Your Degree with Electives

8 units of electives* can be used to contextualize your degree based on your career focus (e.g., healthcare leadership, public policy leadership) or personal interests (e.g., positive psychology). You can take electives from programs across CGU or take full advantage of the unique CGU transdisciplinary experience with classes such as:

  • Transdisciplinary tools for equity: Institutions, organizations, and systems
  • Integrating Arts and Sciences
  • Urban studies
  • Data analytical tools, technologies, and applications
  • Science of human flourishing

*Note that some electives may be offered as in-person classes only.

Faculty & Research

  • Stephen Gilliland profile image

    Stephen Gilliland

    University Professor

    Research Interests

    Organizational Justice, Employee Attitudes and Motivation, Leadership

  • Michelle Bligh profile image

    Michelle Bligh

    Interim Executive Vice President & Provost
    Professor of Organizational Behavior

    Research Interests

    Leadership, Organizational Culture, Charismatic Leadership

  • Katharina Pick profile image

    Katharina Pick

    Clinical Associate Professor

    Research Interests

    Organizational behavior, Teams, Organizational theory, Leadership, Corporate governance, Power and influence

  • Bernie Jaworski profile image

    Bernie Jaworski

    Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management and the Liberal Arts

    Research Interests

    Client Management, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Strategy

  • Cindi Gilliland profile image

    Cindi Gilliland

    Professor of Practice in Organizational Psychology

    Research Interests

    Social Innovation, Resilience & Well-Being, Diversity and Inclusion

  • M. Gloria González-Morales profile image

    M. Gloria González-Morales

    Associate Professor of Psychology
    Director, Center for Academic & Faculty Excellence

    Research Interests

    Work stress; work-life issues; workplace victimization and incivility; relational practices and cultures; diversity; positive organizational interventions to enhance well-being and performance.

  • Jeremy Hunter profile image

    Jeremy Hunter

    Associate Professor of Practice
    Founding Director, Executive Mind Leadership Institute

    Research Interests

    Mindfulness, Self-management, Executive mind

  • Lori Anne Ferrell profile image

    Lori Anne Ferrell

    Dean, School of Arts & Humanities
    Director, Early Modern Studies Program
    Director, Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Awards

    Research Interests

    English Renaissance and Reformation Literature; Early Modern British and European History; Reformation Studies, Protestantism, the Bible and English-language Culture; the Bible in America; William Shakespeare

  • Kristine Kawamura profile image

    Kristine Kawamura

    Clinical Professor of Management

    Research Interests

    Responsible management, Care (as a strategic resource), Values-based management systems, Leadership, Organizational strategy and culture, Cross cultural competence, Human performance and resilience

Request information about the Leadership program

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Holly Golcher

Associate Director of Admissions
T: 909-607-7151 (Direct)
T: 909-607-7811 (Central Admissions)
E: holly.golcher@cgu.edu