Certificate IV in Business Leadership

Supervisors, office coordinators and people in frontline roles who want a management position next get the most out of this qualification. The program assumes you already know how your workplace operates and adds the skills to lead others within it. Anyone 18 or over can enrol, with no prior qualification required, though the leadership modules make more sense once you have some workplace experience to apply them to.

Leadership shapes the whole program, covering how you guide a team, promote its effectiveness and demonstrate authority among colleagues who once worked beside you. Twelve modules cover these areas:

• Lead and manage a team, promoting effectiveness among the people you supervise

• Implement an operational plan and monitor progress against it

• Monitor workplace health and safety policies to meet legislative requirements

• Undertake project work, from planning through to reviewing what you learned

• Establish and maintain relationships with stakeholders inside and outside the organisation

• Apply communication strategies and critical thinking methods to workplace problems

This qualification prepares you for office manager, project assistant, executive personal assistant and office administrator positions. Employers hiring for these roles want someone who can implement an operational plan, monitor workplace health and safety and take responsibility for a team’s output, which is exactly what the program covers. Studying leadership formally also strengthens your case for promotion if you’re already working in one of these areas.

The Certificate IV in Business (Leadership) belongs to the BSB40120 business qualification, pairing general business units with a leadership specialisation. The Certificate IV in Leadership and Management is a separate qualification devoted to leading and managing throughout. Choose the business version if you want broad business capability with leadership on top. Choose the other if management itself is your destination.

Yes. Swinburne Open Education delivers all 12 modules through its online platform, which you can complete from a desktop, tablet or mobile wherever suits you. Your trainer runs regular online sessions throughout. You can also keep in touch with other students through forums and messages, and you control the pace across a 12- to 18-month period.

Yes. Swinburne University of Technology awards the BSB40120 Certificate IV in Business (Leadership) as a nationally recognised qualification, delivered by Swinburne Open Education under RTO 3059. Employers and training providers anywhere in Australia recognise it, since it comes from the national business services training package. Other providers also grant you credit towards further study on the strength of it.