Specialist Certificate in Leadership (Professional Services) (SC-LEADPS) // Attributes, outcomes and skills

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Intended learning outcomes

Learning goal


Graduates of this program will develop individual capacity for leadership and enhanced ability to maximise the effectiveness of their teams and departments in professional services firms. Participants will acquire new or improve their existing knowledge, skills and capabilities to drive increased performance.


Learning objectives to achieve this goal


On successful completion of this certificate students will be able to:



  • Identify key issues related to leadership style(s) and team and overall firm performance
  • Explain how leadership impacts on firm performance, both positively and adversely, and the critical role frontline service employees make to service quality
  • Understand their role and personal ability to effect improvements to service processes, intra-organisational collaboration, and communication to achieve a client-centric firm
  • Understand the different behaviours and actions required of leaders, vis-à-vis individual contributors
  • Demonstrate the ability to coach and support others to maximise their service performance.

Generic skills

On successful completion of this program, students should have enhanced their skills in:

  • Critically evaluating evidence in support of an argument or proposition.
  • Problem solving in relation to leading teams and organisations in competitive environments through the application of appropriate relevant theories, principles and frameworks.
  • Communicating ideas on organisational development to colleagues and the wider community
  • Synthesizing ideas, theories and data when developing solutions to problems
  • Understanding good governance and business ethics.
  • Retrieving relevant information from a variety of sources and applying it to problems.

Graduate attributes

The Melbourne Graduate

The University of Melbourne educational experience prepares well-rounded graduates who are academically outstanding, practically grounded and socially responsible. Melbourne's graduates are distinguished by their broad outlook and openness to different perspectives.

The proposed Specialist Certificate is designed to directly address and deliver the attributes listed in the second paragraph of the Melbourne Graduate Mission:

“Melbourne's degrees develop research and reasoning skills that equip graduates to be influential citizens with high leadership potential. The University's graduates engage with national and global issues and are attuned to social and cultural diversity. They have high levels of self-awareness and value their personal integrity and well-being.”

This program will enable students to achieve the University of Melbourne graduate attributes in the following ways:

Academic excellence:

  • Faculty facilitating the courses will provide research-led course material with an applied focus.
  • The intense learning environment, small class sizes, and industry-relevant content will stimulate a high level of discussion and debate among participants.

Leaders in communities:

The focus on leadership skills in organisations will improve the self-awareness of participants which will enhance their capabilities as mentors and communicators within their organisations and the broader community.

Last updated: 18 December 2020