Executive Development Program

Strategic Leadership Sessions

Through a series of strategic leadership sessions, including those listed below, you will learn actionable skills so you can return to your organization ready to realize your return on your investment.

• Systems Thinking. Your work and the work of others is embedded in an interconnected framework that constitutes a complex whole. Understanding how your activities influence others and impact the greater good becomes a key to your leadership success.
• Networks and Social Capital. Program participants consider the power of personal and organizational networks as a tool for leading and managing in organizations. A self-assessment instrument permits each participant to evaluate the reach and magnitude of their own network. Strategies for creating, developing, and leveraging network ties are also explored.
• Building Coalitions. Getting things done in organizations often requires working across boundaries or in an environment where lines of authority are blurred or non-existent. You’ll explore how to identify and evaluate various constituencies in your organization including their power and attitudes. You’ll leave the program able to build coalitions that ensure the success of your strategic initiatives that require cooperation across your organization.
• Conflict, Negotiations, and Persuasion. Working effectively with others within and across organizations requires a cutting edge capacity to gain their support. We’ll consider various approaches to managing conflict, building consensus, and persuading others. Self-assessment instruments help you identify your current approach to conflict and consider how you can expand your repertoire to use other approaches when needed.
• Essence of Decisions. We often think of decision making as rational and predictable. We’ll explore the politics and (sometimes irrational) process of making strategic decisions. Simulation exercises help participants understand how they can use these learnings to navigate through the complexity of decision-making in their own organizations.
• Creating a Culture of Performance. Too often, an enterprise’s vision and values become empty slogans that do not inform in any way the daily activities of the organization. In this session, participants consider how to align individual performance goals, feedback, and evaluations with an organization's vision and mission to ensure everyone is moving forward together, successfully.
• Global Perspectives and Challenges. With few exceptions, the continued success of your products or services will be directly impacted by developments around the world. As an experienced leader, you’ll be expected to understand and adapt to a constantly changing global environment. During the program, participants survey the business and political landscape over the next 25 years and explore how power shifts and other dynamics will impact their work.
• Leading Change. In the contemporary business environment, the only thing constant is change. As a capstone to their learning, EDP participants consider the dynamics of change and how to lead individuals and organizations through a constructive and effective change process.

Business-Critical Skills

Critical for any leader is a sound understanding of cross-disciplinary functions. Inspired by Columbia Business School’s world-renowned MBA program, the following is a selection of the sessions during the program that will provide you with a greater understanding of the whole picture.

• Strategy and Innovation. Program participants review the theory and practice of strategic thinking as they develop their capacity to analyze market and competitive forces to create winning propositions for their organizations. Application exercises help participants develop their own new ideas about next level strategic initiatives for their organizations.
• Marketing and Advertising. Participants explore various frameworks and concepts in marketing and consider how advertising plays an integral role in an organization's overall brand management.
• Finance and Accounting. Recognizing that sound financial analysis is critical to the success of any enterprise, participants develop their capacities to use financial data to assess business performance and ensure sufficient cash to meet the organization's needs.
• Operations. Recognizing that a firm’s day-to-day activities must be aligned with its overall strategy, program participants learn about various aspects of operations, including logistics and supply chain management. Case studies illustrate how a firm can leverage its capacities across the organization and around the world to create innovative and cost-effective operations.