Women in Healthcare LeadershipCornell Certificate Program

Authentic leadership is a cornerstone of effective healthcare leadership, yet research shows that both women and men inherently associate leadership with stereotypically masculine traits like aggression, decisiveness, willingness to engage in conflict, and action orientation.

This course, led by Professor Elizabeth Mannix, progresses through a transformative journey of authentic leadership development. You will discover how to harness your own unique values, perspectives, and experiences as sources of leadership strength rather than obstacles to overcome. The course challenges conventional leadership models by demonstrating how authenticity creates the trust, credibility, and influence essential for driving meaningful change in complex healthcare environments.

You will begin by conducting a deep assessment of both organizational gender dynamics and your own authentic leadership identity, moving beyond surface-level traits to uncover your core leadership essence. The course progresses from self-reflection to practical application, exploring authentic leadership practices and strengthening alignment between beliefs and daily actions. Through guided reflection and purpose-driven exercises, you'll craft a personal leadership purpose statement that serves as a compass for decision making and impact. You'll complete this course with a clearer sense of who you are as a leader and how to lead with intention in today's healthcare environment.

Strategic decision making is a defining skill that elevates exceptional leaders, and every day, healthcare leaders make decisions under pressure — often with limited time and high consequences. This course equips you with practical tools to cut through complexity, focus on what matters most, and make decisions you can stand behind. Professor Sunita Sah will guide you through the nuances of how biases, assumptions, and incomplete information affect judgment and discuss how to counter these challenges using structured decision-making approaches. The course is designed to elevate decision making from reactive problem solving to proactive strategic advantage, pushing the processes to become a source of competitive differentiation and leadership credibility in healthcare organizations.

You will move step by step from diagnosing the decision context to taking purposeful action. The course begins by helping you identify hidden traps and biases that often undermine even the most well-intentioned choices, both individually and across teams. You'll then discover how to frame problems with clarity, apply root-cause analysis techniques, and develop robust solutions tailored to complex healthcare environments.

Finally, you will master strategies for championing your recommendations, driving implementation, and tracking impact to ensure lasting results. By completing this course, you'll be equipped to make confident, well-supported decisions that strengthen your organization's performance and position you as a trusted leader in healthcare.

Influencing outcomes and driving collaboration are essential for healthcare professionals navigating today's complex environments. Negotiation skills play a critical role in aligning teams, advocating for resources, and setting clear boundaries, both within organizations and across broader healthcare networks. Under the expert guidance of Professor Sunita Sah, you will move beyond common negotiation myths and develop a results-driven approach rooted in thorough preparation rather than personality.

Throughout the course, you will clarify your economic, relational, and reputational objectives, create value across multiple negotiation issues, and manage emotions — yours and others' — in high-stakes situations. You'll progress from mastering effective preparation and contextual assessment to strategically determining when and how to make the first offer.

As you advance, you will practice managing complex, multi-issue negotiations, balancing value creation and relationship management within a collaborative, trust-based framework. By completing this course, you'll be equipped with practical negotiation tools and strategies you can immediately apply to achieve stronger outcomes, foster credibility, and maintain lasting professional relationships.

Building strategic networks has become a cornerstone of effective healthcare leadership, directly influencing organizational culture, patient outcomes, and career progression. As the industry faces rapid transformation and increasing complexity, leaders who can intentionally cultivate diverse, high-impact relationships set themselves and their teams apart. Professor Elizabeth Mannix, a renowned expert in organizational behavior, brings unique insights into how networks drive both individual advancement and systemic change, with a special focus on overcoming barriers that often limit women's leadership trajectories.

Throughout this course, you will move beyond traditional notions of networking, adopting a purposeful approach that aligns with your leadership goals. You'll analyze your current network to uncover strengths and areas for growth, conduct a targeted audit to identify key relationships, and develop actionable strategies to expand your influence.

The curriculum culminates in building a sponsor development plan and assembling your own “Board of Advisors,” empowering you to secure critical support and guidance. By completing this course, you'll be equipped to strategically grow your network, amplify your leadership impact, and drive meaningful change within your healthcare organization.

Speaking up and challenging entrenched norms in healthcare can feel daunting, yet courageous leadership is more essential than ever in today's complex environment. Rapid changes, persistent inequities, and high-stakes decisions demand leaders who not only advocate for what's right but also inspire others to do the same. Professors Sunita Sah and Elizabeth Mannix bring their renowned expertise to help you confront the emotional and systemic barriers that often stifle honest dialogue, such as the voice-empathy gap and burnout, and show that courage and resilience are skills you can intentionally develop.

You will progress from recognizing barriers to taking bold action, starting with strategies for turning discomfort into constructive insight. As you strengthen your emotional intelligence, you'll discover how to manage difficult conversations, offer candid feedback, and cultivate trust — critical skills for building collaborative teams.

The program culminates in actionable methods for fostering both personal and organizational resilience, empowering you to create a culture where integrity, psychological safety, and meaningful change flourish in healthcare. With these capabilities, you will confidently lead with courage and resilience, ensuring your voice — as well as the voices of those around you — drive lasting, positive impact in your organization.

Symposium sessions feature three days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Leadership Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium in which we’ll discuss the ways that leaders across industries have continued engaging their teams over the past two years while pivoting in strategic ways. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to relevant topics for leaders. Throughout this Symposium, you will examine different areas of leadership, including innovation, strategy, and engagement. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from various industries.

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.