Leadership for Senior Executives

In today's global economy, a company's long-term success is determined by the ability of its senior executives to lead effectively through periods of economic uncertainty. To help business leaders achieve their corporate agenda, Harvard Business School (HBS) has developed Leadership for Senior Executives. This Executive Education program prepares you to manage during adversity, drive employee and customer satisfaction, and maintain the strategic discipline to succeed during periods of growth and recession.

What You Can Expect

By integrating current research with proven techniques, this new leadership development program provides unique perspectives on personal leadership and ways to drive customer-strategic thinking across the enterprise. You will leave with best practices to manage teams, handle adversity, and define your personal leadership style.

Your Course of Study

This intensive program explores innovative ways of applying your personal leadership style to lead change and make decisions in tough situations. Through self-assessment and group exercises, you will acquire new strategies for the critical challenges you face, both professionally and personally.

Who Is Right for the Program

Senior executives and executive team members with significant corporate management responsibilities are appropriate for this program: chief operating officers, chief accounting officers, chief financial officers, senior vice presidents, senior human resource professionals, and divisional leaders.

The Leadership Initiative

The Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School was created as a catalyst to achieve the School's mission to: "…educate leaders who make a difference in the world." Since its inception, HBS has been committed to shaping business leaders with the integrity and capacity to build world-class organizations. Today, the Leadership Initiative seeks to ensure that HBS remains at the forefront of leadership research and development for the 21st century and beyond.

What You Can Expect

Improving Your Organization's Performance

Senior executives with expanded responsibilities are frequently called on to handle complex challenges. Confronted with an ever-changing business landscape, today's corporate leaders must have cutting-edge strategies, tools, and techniques to lead with vision and confidence.

Based on the latest research into leadership, this program introduces an innovative approach to motivating people and inspiring performance. As a participant, you will learn to navigate adversity, create a culture of leadership and ownership among employees, and drive sustained growth.

Taking Your Skills to the Next Level

Engaging in a diverse curriculum that features both interactive and individual components, you will emerge with:

"I particularly appreciated the program’s segments on leading change. Shutting down the Space Shuttle Program is an enormous task. It impacts many people, and there are numerous business, technical, and political implications. I wanted to learn how to keep our critical, talented workforce engaged and motivated during this time of profound and difficult change. In small group discussions, I learned from the experiences of other leaders—from Dubai, England, Australia, and Asia—who also struggle to keep up with and lead change in their organizations. Now I analyze and discuss all our options from a more strategic perspective, helping other managers think beyond their local concerns to consider what’s best for human spaceflight within the Johnson Space Center, NASA, and for the United States."
Dorothy Rasco [Manager, Space Shuttle Business Office], NASA Johnson Space Center, U.S.

Your Course of Study

Through a carefully constructed series of sessions that blends faculty lectures, case studies, videos, group workshops, and individual exercises, you will balance thought-provoking debate and analysis with self-reflection and personal development. The teaching team for this HBS Executive Education program creates a learning environment that is invigorating, demanding, and enjoyable. You and other members of your group will challenge and motivate one another, sharing ideas and forging professional bonds that can last a lifetime.

The curriculum focuses on six key areas:

The Customer-Strategic Perspective
World-class companies deliver superior value by consistently delighting their customers, employees, and shareholders. Topics include:

Managing Teams Effectively
Creating a strong team is one of your most important leadership responsibilities. The challenge shifts from building productive teams of individual contributors to developing effective leadership teams. To assess your capabilities as a team leader, you will explore varied topics, including:

Leadership Style and Impact
Focusing on the challenges of leading change through the lens of aspirational leadership, you will cover topics, including:

Extraordinary Leadership
Extraordinary leaders create and promote a culture where people value themselves, one another, and the organization. This session draws out lessons from the lives of successful leaders who were able to inspire and motivate others to become leaders within their organizations. Topics include:

Leading Change
Leading and managing change are crucial in today's business climate. By leveraging the human element to produce successful change, participants will gain insights into aligning culture and strategy to propel organizational change. Key topics include:

Leadership in Your Life
The program concludes by exploring more personal questions about the fundamental ethical challenges facing successful leaders. Through examples drawn from the lives of great historical figures as well as actionable research, you will explore the essence of moral leadership. Key topics include:

"The Harvard Leadership for Senior Executives program is not just an academic-oriented program. It goes far beyond the cases and the classroom—it entices you to dive even deeper into your understanding of people, decision making, individual talent, and collective intelligence. I have learned how to identify, focus, and release the power of leading to every single member of my entire organization."
Sergio Adames [Director Americas & Canada Wholesale Markets], Sprint, U.S.

Who Is Right for the Program

Leadership for Senior Executives is designed specifically for individuals who have significant senior management responsibilities.

Typical participant titles include:

Past Participants Represented:

Industries Nationalities
4% Chem/Pharm/Bio 19% Asia/Pacific
2% Communications 22% Europe
8% Consumer Products 12% Latin America
15% Financial 47% North America
7% High Technology
4% Manufacturing
25% Nonprofit Services
5% Other Services
10% Professional Services
7% Raw Materials/Energy
1% Real Estate/Construction
5% Retail Services
7% Utilities/Telecommunications

Meet the Program Faculty

Like all Harvard Business School Executive Education programs, Leadership for Senior Executives is developed and taught by a core faculty of HBS professors. Our faculty members are widely recognized for being skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors.

Through publishing, consulting, and teaching, they leverage their business expertise and field research to create new knowledge and enduring concepts that shape the practice of management. The result is a teaching team that exposes participants to multiple perspectives, challenging their thinking and encouraging new practices that result in superior business leadership. For more detailed biographies, click on each faculty name.

Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration. Faculty cochair of the HBS Leadership Initiative; member of the Organizational Behavior Unit; and faculty chair of the "High Potentials Leadership Program" and "Leading with Impact: Staying on the Fast Track."

Anthony Mayo, Thomas S. Murphy Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. Director of the Leadership Initiative. Member of the Organizational Behavior Unit.

W. Earl Sasser, Baker Foundation Professor. Member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit; faculty chair of "Leadership Best Practices," "Leadership for Senior Executives," and the "Program for Leadership Development."

Admissions

Because a diverse participant mix is an important part of every HBS Executive Education program, we look for candidates who reflect a broad range of industries, functions, countries, and backgrounds to enrich the learning experience.

Fees, Payments, and Cancellations

The program fee covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals.

No payment is necessary until you have been accepted into an HBS Executive Education program. After admission notification, we will send you an invoice via email; payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. If admission is within 30 days prior to the start of the program, payment is due upon receipt of the invoice. Payment is required prior to the program start date. We accept payment by company check, bank wire transfer, or credit card (American Express, MasterCard, Visa). Details are included on the program invoice.

If you need to cancel or defer participation, you must submit your request in writing more than 30 days before the start of the program to receive a full refund. Due to program demand and the volume of preprogram preparation, cancellations or deferrals received 14 to 30 days prior to the start of the program are subject to a fee of one-half of the program fee. Requests received within 14 days are subject to full payment.

Requirements

Although there are no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on professional achievement and organizational responsibility. We look for professionals who have demonstrated business talent and leadership potential.

HBS Executive Education programs enrich both participants and their sponsoring organizations, and require full commitment from each party. While participants devote time and intellect to the learning experience, sponsoring organizations agree to relieve individuals of their work responsibilities during the program.

Language Proficiency

We deliberately design our programs to encourage individual growth and to foster productive interaction among participants. For that reason, proficiency in written and spoken English is essential. If English is your second language, or if you have less than one year's experience working in an English-speaking environment, HBS requires a brief statement documenting proficiency in English-language skills, both conversational and written. This may include a list of the English-language certification programs that you have completed; the degrees you have earned at English-speaking colleges and universities; or the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. The Admissions Committee also may request a telephone interview.

Application Process

Program participants must be nominated and sponsored by their current employer. HBS must receive your application and all required documents in order to prepare the application for review by the Admissions Committee.

To apply, you may use our online form or download an application. You also may request a brochure by mail.

If you submit your application online, we will promptly acknowledge receipt of your submission via email. In the unlikely event that an email acknowledgment is not received, please contact the Admissions Committee by email: exed_admissions@hbs.edu, phone: +1-617-495-6226, or fax: +1-617-496-1731.

If you choose to submit a printed application, be sure to type or print legibly and sign your application. Send the application to the address or fax number listed on the form. Mailed or faxed applications are processed and acknowledged promptly upon receipt via email.

Complete Your Application

Please answer all questions thoroughly—the Admissions Committee will only consider completed applications. After reviewing your application and making the necessary edits or corrections, print or copy the application for your records.

Meet the Deadlines

We request applications at least four weeks in advance of the program start date. Early application does not guarantee admission. Programs often fill to capacity, so early application is recommended.

Notification of Acceptance

We acknowledge receipt of all applications and maintain all application information in strict confidentiality.

To optimize the learning experience and maximize the exchange of ideas, the Admissions Committee selects a class that balances each participant's experience, the scope of his or her current responsibilities, and the type of organization.

The Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications four months before the start date, and qualified candidates are admitted on a rolling, space-available basis. Once the review process has begun, applicants are notified within three weeks via email regarding Admissions Committee decisions. If your application is received within three weeks of the program's start date, the Admissions Committee will notify you of their decision as soon as possible.

Need help?

For further assistance, contact our client service specialists at: 1-800-427-5577 (outside the U.S., dial +1-617-495-6555).