Find your voice
Practice explaining your ideas, asking better questions, and speaking up when you see a problem, even when someone more experienced is in the room.
Lead among peers
Learn to guide a group project, handle disagreement, and help teammates follow through when no one reports to you.
Stand by every decision you make
Work through situations where your values, friendships, and responsibilities pull you in different directions. Decide what matters, explain your choice, and take ownership of the outcome.
About the Pathway
Built for the leadership decisions you face in college Your group is presenting tomorrow. One section still needs work, and the teammate responsible says they’ve had a difficult week. Do you quietly redo it yourself, bring it up with the whole group, or speak with your teammate first? How do you support them and still hold the group to its commitment? The College Leadership Pathway gives you practice with decisions like this across five courses. You’ll examine your habits, strengthen how you communicate, and learn to lead classmates and teammates through disagreement. You’ll also explore how those skills carry into internships, service, mentorship, and your early career.
John “Trey” Kailunas III, MS (Doctoral Candidate)
In sales leadership and coaching, I’ve learned to pay attention to what happens after a leader gives direction. Can someone make the next decision on their own? Will they bring bad news forward while there is still time to act? What do they see the leader do when a commitment is missed? I founded the American Institute of Leadership on the belief that Leadership is for Everyone. My graduate work in management, strategy, and leadership at Michigan State University helped shape this pathway. I designed it to give experienced leaders room to examine their own decisions and the conditions they create for others to lead.
Explore the Curriculum
Across five courses and 30 lessons, you’ll practice leadership in situations you face on campus, at work, and in your community. You’ll start by examining your own habits and finish with a personal leadership development plan you can put into practice. 1. Personal Leadership & Self-Awareness Identify the values, strengths, and habits that shape how you lead. Examine how you respond when a commitment slips or someone sees a situation differently. Use those insights to define the kind of leader you want others to experience. 2. Communication & Influence Practice listening before you respond, expressing an idea with confidence, and giving feedback a peer can use. When a group project gets off track, learn how to start a difficult conversation and influence what happens next, even when no one reports to you. 3. Teamwork & Collaboration Learn how trust, clear roles, and followership help a group work together. Practice deciding when to step forward, when to support someone else’s lead, and how to work through disagreement so the team can make a decision together. 4. Ethical Leadership & Decision-Making What do you do when speaking up could put you at odds with a friend or teammate? Work through ethical scenarios that challenge you to weigh competing responsibilities, act on your values, and own your part when a decision goes wrong. 5. Leadership in Action Apply what you’ve learned in student organizations, athletics, internships, and community service. Explore how to find mentors and build professional relationships. Finish with a leadership development plan that names one skill to practice, where you’ll practice it, and whose feedback you’ll seek.
What Your Enrollment Includes
Five courses you can apply on campus and at work Thirty lessons combine readings, college scenarios, reflection, and practical exercises. Choose a group project, campus role, team, or internship as your point of reference so the lessons stay connected to decisions you actually face. A community board for leadership questions Bring a question to other students working through the pathway. A question such as “How do I hold a friend accountable without embarrassing them in front of the team?” gives you a concrete starting point for comparing approaches and deciding what to try. Your personal leadership development plan Identify a strength you can build on, a habit you want to change, and an opportunity to practice. Use your plan to decide what you’ll do next, whose feedback you’ll seek, and how you’ll recognize progress. Put one leadership habit into practice. Choose something you can try this week. If the same two people do all the talking in your student organization, ask a quieter member for their perspective before the next decision. Notice whether their contribution changes what the group decides.
College Leadership Pathway
Enroll today and put your first lesson to work in your next group project, team meeting, or shift at work.