Overview and Courses
Are you looking to build skills that foster effective communication, collaboration, and connection in the workplace? Do you want to better navigate conflicts and engage constructively across differences in style, background, and perspective? Are you motivated to learn alongside others who share your passion for creating sustainable change in professional settings?
This certificate program offers an in-depth exploration of impactful leadership through four key development areas: human connection, identity, intentional communication, and collaborative change. Research highlights the factors that influence workplace connection and collaboration, ranging from communication skills and diverse lived experiences to organizational norms. Through interactive online activities and live virtual sessions, you will delve into the dynamics of interpersonal connection and disconnection, sharpening your skills in dialogue and mutual understanding. Building on this foundation, you’ll expand your focus to team and institutional dynamics, gaining practical tools for driving collaborative change.
The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.
This program includes two years of free access to Leadership Symposium!
These highly interactive virtual events span multiple days and explore today’s most pressing topics. Symposium offers exclusive opportunities to engage in real-time discussions with your eCornell community, applying insights from your courses to real-world scenarios. Through reflections and small-group discussions, you will deepen your learning, broaden your perspective, and expand your professional network.
Symposium events are held throughout the year, providing ongoing opportunities to stay engaged, gain fresh perspectives, and strengthen your skills. Once enrolled, you will receive access to the Symposium networking site and details about upcoming sessions. You can participate in as many as you’d like to make the most of your experience, though attendance is not required to complete your program.
Course list
Research shows that positive relationships and effective communication at work have a profound impact on individuals, teams, and organizations. Diminishing role ambiguity, providing employees with task-related help and information, strengthening employees' identification with their work and their workgroups, enhancing progress and change, and fostering collaboration are just some of the key impacts. In this course, you will leverage dialogue tools and frameworks to enhance your leadership skills, while exploring strategies to strengthen connection, communication, and collaboration within your team and organization.
Participation in three 90-minute synchronous dialogue sessions is a requirement for successful completion of this course. These weekly sessions are led by trained facilitators from Cornell's Center for Dialogue & Pluralism and will occur on the three Tuesdays during the course from 7:00 to 8:30pm ET.
The Center for Dialogue & Pluralism (CDP) at Cornell University is an academic initiative grounded in theory and practice. In the last few years, CDP has developed and implemented innovative programs in a variety of settings, aiming to strengthen human connection; foster understanding of differences in identity, opinion, background, and experiences; practice intentional communication; and lead collaborative change processes.
- Sep 16, 2026
- Oct 28, 2026
You can't influence meaningful change without understanding your potential role in both upholding and transforming behaviors, norms, and systems that hinder connection, communication, and collaboration in the workplace. In this course, you will examine specific work-related spheres and settings in which you have influence and impact, and you'll discover how to apply dialogue-based frameworks and tools to improve connection, communication, and collaboration at interpersonal and organizational levels.
Participation in three 90-minute synchronous dialogue sessions is a requirement for successful completion of this course. These weekly sessions are led by trained facilitators from Cornell's Center for Dialogue & Pluralism and will occur on the three Tuesdays during the course from 7:00 to 8:30pm ET.
The Center for Dialogue & Pluralism (CDP) at Cornell is an academic initiative grounded in theory and practice. In the last few years, CDP has developed and implemented innovative programs in a variety of settings, aiming to strengthen human connection; foster understanding of differences in identity, opinion, background, and experiences; practice intentional communication; and lead collaborative change processes.
The following course is required to be completed before taking this course:
- Dialogue Across Difference
- Oct 14, 2026
- Nov 25, 2026
How It Works
Download a Brochure
Not ready to enroll but want to learn more? Download the certificate brochure to review program details.
What You'll Earn
- Leading Through Dialogue and Connection Certificate from the Cornell ILR School
- 30 Professional Development Hours (4.0 CEUs)
Who Should Enroll
- Team managers and supervisors
- Executives responsible for strategic culture efforts
- Individuals interested in honing leadership skills that focus on human connection, identity, communication, and collaboration
{Anytime, anywhere.}
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crt: ILRC09
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