Influential Leadership

Overview

Influential Leadership focuses on how Microsoft leaders influence outcomes through communication, feedback, negotiation, and emotional intelligence. Leadership impact depends on the ability to deliver feedback, manage conflict constructively, and drive accountability while maintaining trust. Emphasis is placed on Microsoft’s leadership ethos: growth mindset, One Microsoft collaboration, customer impact, and ownership of outcomes. You will strengthen your ability to lead difficult conversations, apply structured feedback practices, and negotiate constructively in complex environments. The course includes a portfolio project that consolidates interpersonal leadership capabilities into a reusable leadership playbook. By the end of this course, you will be able to deliver clear, growth-oriented feedback, manage conflict and negotiation constructively, apply emotional intelligence in high-stakes leadership conversations, and influence outcomes while maintaining trust and collaboration. This course completes the leadership capability arc of the Microsoft Leadership and Innovation Professional Certificate.

Syllabus

Feedback, performance and accountability

This module develops the ability to give and receive feedback in ways that improve performance and reinforce accountability. Learners practice delivering clear, growth-oriented feedback aligned with Microsoft’s performance and learning culture.

Conflict, negotiation, and emotional intelligence

This module focuses on managing conflict and negotiation constructively while maintaining trust and collaboration. Learners practice applying emotional intelligence to high-stakes conversations common in cross-functional Microsoft environments.