Organizational Leadership
An 18-credit business minor focused on leadership, ethics, and communication — for students preparing to lead organizations in any sector.
About the Minor
ACU’s Organizational Leadership Minor is the leadership-and-ethics-focused option in ACU’s family of business-school minors. The 18-credit minor pairs business fundamentals (BUS 101 Introduction to Business and MGT 340 Principles of Management) with a leadership-focused upper-division block: Principles of Leadership (BUS 404), Business Ethics (BUS 341), Communication Strategy in Business (BUS 345), and Personal Money Management (MGT 232).
Where the Management Minor goes deep on people-management (organizational behavior and HR), and the Business Minor stays broad across all five functional areas, Organizational Leadership focuses on the character-and-communication core of leadership itself — the integrity, the ethical clarity, the communication skill, and the personal stewardship that distinguish leaders worth following.
Pairs especially naturally with Christian Ministries (church and ministry leadership), Communication, Education (school leadership), Music Ministry, and any major where your post-graduation work will involve leading people.
What You'll Learn
Apply Principles of Leadership
Engage the principles of leadership that distinguish effective leaders from frustrating ones — across business, ministry, education, and nonprofit settings.
Think Ethically About Business
Work through the ethical questions business leaders actually face — and the frameworks for making hard calls well.
Communicate Strategically
Build the communication skills business and ministry leaders use daily — internal, external, written, spoken, public, private.
Steward Personal and Organizational Resources
Develop personal financial literacy and the broader stewardship posture leadership roles require.
Manage People and Operations
Build the foundational management skills any growing organization requires through MGT 340.
Leadership Shaped by a Biblical Worldview
A Biblical Worldview takes leadership seriously as both character and craft — meaning the integrity, ethics, and communication of a leader matter as much as their strategic skill.
Leadership as Character
Scripture treats leadership first as a matter of character. BUS 404 Principles of Leadership and BUS 341 Business Ethics take that conviction as the working assumption — meaning the kind of leader you become matters more than the techniques you learn.
Anchors your leadership development in patient character formation.Communication as Service
BUS 345 Communication Strategy in Business treats communication as something leaders do for the people they lead — not as image management or political maneuvering. A Biblical Worldview takes that posture seriously: clear, honest, well-timed communication is one of the ways leaders actually serve.
Equips you to communicate as a steward of trust, not just a manager of message.Stewardship of Self and Organization
MGT 232 Personal Money Management treats personal financial discipline as foundational to leadership work — leaders who can't steward their own resources struggle to steward larger ones. A Biblical Worldview takes that connection seriously.
Grounds your leadership in the daily disciplines that make larger stewardship possible.Where This Minor Takes You
Organizational Leadership opens doors across business, ministry, nonprofit, and education leadership — anywhere leading people is the work.
Church and Ministry Leadership
Step into pastoral, executive-pastor, and ministry-director roles where leadership skill and ethical clarity matter as much as theological preparation.
Nonprofit and Mission Leadership
Lead mission and ministry organizations that need leaders fluent in both vision and operations.
Christian School Administration
Bring formal leadership preparation into Christian school leadership — head of school, principal, or program director roles.
Team Lead and Department Manager
Step into team-lead, supervisor, and department-manager roles with both leadership theory and ethics-and-communication training in hand.
Family Business Leadership
Bring leadership preparation into family-business operations, succession, or expansion work.
Bridge to an MBA or Graduate Leadership Program
Build foundation for graduate study in leadership, organizational development, or general management.
Why Students Choose This Minor
The Organizational Leadership Minor at ACU is the character-and-communication-focused option among ACU's business-school minors — built for students whose careers will involve leading people across many sectors.
Ethics in the Required Core
BUS 341 Business Ethics is mandatory — central to how leaders operate, not optional.
Communication Strategy Built In
BUS 345 Communication Strategy in Business focuses on the communication leaders actually do daily, not academic communication theory.
Leadership Principles Course Required
BUS 404 Principles of Leadership pairs with the management foundation in MGT 340 — leadership and management together, not in isolation.
Personal Money Management Included
MGT 232 treats personal stewardship as foundational to broader leadership — uncommon at the undergraduate-minor level.
Same Faculty as the BS Business Administration
Organizational Leadership Minor students sit in the same courses with the same professors as ACU's business majors.
Getting Started
The Organizational Leadership Minor has a clean prerequisite chain — BUS 101 first unlocks both MGT 340 and the BUS 300-level courses.
Talk With Your Academic Advisor
Map the 18 credits into your degree plan with attention to the BUS 101 → MGT 340 / BUS 341 / BUS 345 prerequisite chain.
Take BUS 101 Early
BUS 101 Introduction to Business unlocks BUS 341, BUS 345, and MGT 340. Schedule it freshman or sophomore year.
View BUS 101 →Add the Leadership and Ethics Courses
BUS 404 Principles of Leadership and BUS 341 Business Ethics anchor the minor's leadership focus. Take them junior or senior year.
Sequence the Remaining Courses
BUS 345 Communication Strategy, MGT 232 Personal Money Management, and MGT 340 Principles of Management can be spread across junior and senior year as your schedule allows.
Explore More Options
Ready to Lead With Character?
The Organizational Leadership Minor pairs leadership theory, ethics, communication strategy, and personal stewardship — the combination real leadership roles consistently need. Apply or reach out today.
