Leading in the Digital Era
- Dates: TBD
- Format: In-Person Learning takes place on the HBS campus or a designated location.
- Location: HBS Campus
- Fee: TBD

"Digital technology keeps evolving, so leaders and organizations need to evolve with it."
Summary
New digital technologies and data analytics are rapidly changing the expectations of customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Though many of today's business leaders are neither technology experts nor digital natives, technology is critical to their ability to keep a business competitive and drive growth. No matter what industry you’re in, you need to grasp what it takes to transform your organization to reap the full benefits of digital tools and data. That imperative often requires new levels of collaboration, new organizational structures and cultures, and as a result, a new leadership model.
This program will help you master the leadership mindset, capabilities, and practices required to build more agile and innovative organizations. As you explore behaviors to transform your organization, deliver more value, and build competitive advantage, you will benefit from cutting-edge research into the organizational culture of companies undergoing digital transformation.
This program is offered in cooperation with the HBS Leadership Initiative.

This program is eligible for the Digital Transformation Certificate. Learn More
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Summary
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New digital technologies and data analytics are rapidly changing the expectations of customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Though many of today's business leaders are neither technology experts nor digital natives, technology is critical to their ability to keep a business competitive and drive growth. No matter what industry you’re in, you need to grasp what it takes to transform your organization to reap the full benefits of digital tools and data. That imperative often requires new levels of collaboration, new organizational structures and cultures, and as a result, a new leadership model.
This program will help you master the leadership mindset, capabilities, and practices required to build more agile and innovative organizations. As you explore behaviors to transform your organization, deliver more value, and build competitive advantage, you will benefit from cutting-edge research into the organizational culture of companies undergoing digital transformation.
This program is offered in cooperation with the HBS Leadership Initiative.
This program is eligible for the Digital Transformation Certificate. Learn More
DetailsExpand AllCollapse All
Evolve new ways of leading and working that are more productive in the digital eraEvolve new ways of leading and working that are more productive in the digital era
- Implement more collaborative decision-making approaches that empower others, bridging across generations, geographies, and functions
- Foster a shared sense of purpose throughout the organization
- Support your team and colleagues in leading change and digital transformation
- Manage the rising expectations of employees, customers, partners, and other stakeholders
Drive and accelerate digital transformation in your organizationDrive and accelerate digital transformation in your organization
- Address fundamental tensions that can inhibit both personal and organizational transformation
- Evolve your organization's culture and capabilities for the digital era
- Boost your organization's ability to deliver customer value
- Build and leverage ecosystems to foster innovation and resilience
Expand your personal and professional networkExpand your personal and professional network
- Extend your network by living and working with accomplished executives from various backgrounds, industries, and countries around the globe
- Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions
Evolve new ways of leading and working that are more productive in the digital era
- Implement more collaborative decision-making approaches that empower others, bridging across generations, geographies, and functions
- Foster a shared sense of purpose throughout the organization
- Support your team and colleagues in leading change and digital transformation
- Manage the rising expectations of employees, customers, partners, and other stakeholders
Drive and accelerate digital transformation in your organization
- Address fundamental tensions that can inhibit both personal and organizational transformation
- Evolve your organization's culture and capabilities for the digital era
- Boost your organization's ability to deliver customer value
- Build and leverage ecosystems to foster innovation and resilience
Expand your personal and professional network
- Extend your network by living and working with accomplished executives from various backgrounds, industries, and countries around the globe
- Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions
Who Should Attend
- Senior executives and executive team members with significant management responsibilities, including but not limited to division heads, functional heads, or executives with P&L responsibility
- Executives in medium to large organizations in any country or industry, including organizations with digitally driven business models as well as those with more traditional business models
- Particularly appropriate for: Executives responsible for implementing the company's strategy or digital transformation, as well as those considering or currently running innovation labs, incubators and corporate accelerators
- Not appropriate for: Consultants or executives in professional service firms, unless they are currently leading a digital transformation for a client organization in which they are embedded
Individuals and teams are welcome to attend. Participation by multiple company representatives will foster teamwork and amplify the program's impact on your organization.

Program for Leadership Development participants earn 5 PLDA Points on completion of this program.
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Who Should Attend
-
- Senior executives and executive team members with significant management responsibilities, including but not limited to division heads, functional heads, or executives with P&L responsibility
- Executives in medium to large organizations in any country or industry, including organizations with digitally driven business models as well as those with more traditional business models
- Particularly appropriate for: Executives responsible for implementing the company's strategy or digital transformation, as well as those considering or currently running innovation labs, incubators and corporate accelerators
- Not appropriate for: Consultants or executives in professional service firms, unless they are currently leading a digital transformation for a client organization in which they are embedded
Individuals and teams are welcome to attend. Participation by multiple company representatives will foster teamwork and amplify the program's impact on your organization.
Program for Leadership Development participants earn 5 PLDA Points on completion of this program.
Learning and Living at HBS
When you participate in an Executive Education program on the HBS campus, you enter an immersive experience where every aspect of the learning model has been carefully designed to facilitate your growth. Your learning will take place on your own, in your living group, and in the larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method.
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Learning and Living at HBS
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When you participate in an Executive Education program on the HBS campus, you enter an immersive experience where every aspect of the learning model has been carefully designed to facilitate your growth. Your learning will take place on your own, in your living group, and in the larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method.
Admissions Criteria and Process
Answering Your Questions
Application Submission
Application Review
Fee, Payment, and Cancellations
Answering Your Questions
Application Submission
Application Review
Fee, Payment, and Cancellations
What You Will Learn
Through a rich learning experience that includes faculty presentations, new cases, self-assessment tools, small group work, simulations, and immersive interactive learning experiences, you will discover and practice new leadership approaches that will foster success in the digital era.
Application Labs
Each afternoon includes an application lab where you and your peers have the opportunity to apply learnings from the cases and faculty presentations in facilitated workshop-style sessions. Each lab explores a different topic—such as building data culture, enabling co-creation, or data-informed decision-making. You will also have the opportunity to explore a challenge you are currently facing in your organization and develop a specific action plan.
Based on Extensive Global Research
The curriculum draws on the teaching team's recent research, through which they gained powerful insights into the various personal journeys leaders have gone through as they execute a digital transformation and lead a digitally mature organization. Research methods included surveys, roundtables, and in-depth discussions with leaders in different types of companies around the world undergoing digital transformation. As you integrate learning drawn from this research with opportunities for introspection and interaction with peers and faculty, you will develop a new ability to take charge of your own leadership journey and help your company evolve.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
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What You Will Learn
-
Through a rich learning experience that includes faculty presentations, new cases, self-assessment tools, small group work, simulations, and immersive interactive learning experiences, you will discover and practice new leadership approaches that will foster success in the digital era.
Each afternoon includes an application lab where you and your peers have the opportunity to apply learnings from the cases and faculty presentations in facilitated workshop-style sessions. Each lab explores a different topic—such as building data culture, enabling co-creation, or data-informed decision-making. You will also have the opportunity to explore a challenge you are currently facing in your organization and develop a specific action plan.
The curriculum draws on the teaching team's recent research, through which they gained powerful insights into the various personal journeys leaders have gone through as they execute a digital transformation and lead a digitally mature organization. Research methods included surveys, roundtables, and in-depth discussions with leaders in different types of companies around the world undergoing digital transformation. As you integrate learning drawn from this research with opportunities for introspection and interaction with peers and faculty, you will develop a new ability to take charge of your own leadership journey and help your company evolve.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
-
Application Labs
-
Through a rich learning experience that includes faculty presentations, new cases, self-assessment tools, small group work, simulations, and immersive interactive learning experiences, you will discover and practice new leadership approaches that will foster success in the digital era.
Each afternoon includes an application lab where you and your peers have the opportunity to apply learnings from the cases and faculty presentations in facilitated workshop-style sessions. Each lab explores a different topic—such as building data culture, enabling co-creation, or data-informed decision-making. You will also have the opportunity to explore a challenge you are currently facing in your organization and develop a specific action plan.
The curriculum draws on the teaching team's recent research, through which they gained powerful insights into the various personal journeys leaders have gone through as they execute a digital transformation and lead a digitally mature organization. Research methods included surveys, roundtables, and in-depth discussions with leaders in different types of companies around the world undergoing digital transformation. As you integrate learning drawn from this research with opportunities for introspection and interaction with peers and faculty, you will develop a new ability to take charge of your own leadership journey and help your company evolve.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
-
Based on Extensive Global Research
-
Through a rich learning experience that includes faculty presentations, new cases, self-assessment tools, small group work, simulations, and immersive interactive learning experiences, you will discover and practice new leadership approaches that will foster success in the digital era.
Each afternoon includes an application lab where you and your peers have the opportunity to apply learnings from the cases and faculty presentations in facilitated workshop-style sessions. Each lab explores a different topic—such as building data culture, enabling co-creation, or data-informed decision-making. You will also have the opportunity to explore a challenge you are currently facing in your organization and develop a specific action plan.
The curriculum draws on the teaching team's recent research, through which they gained powerful insights into the various personal journeys leaders have gone through as they execute a digital transformation and lead a digitally mature organization. Research methods included surveys, roundtables, and in-depth discussions with leaders in different types of companies around the world undergoing digital transformation. As you integrate learning drawn from this research with opportunities for introspection and interaction with peers and faculty, you will develop a new ability to take charge of your own leadership journey and help your company evolve.
Participants should expect to spend at least 9-12 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program. Case materials will be made available approximately two weeks prior to program start.
Key TopicsExpand AllCollapse All
Leadership imperatives in the digital eraLeadership imperatives in the digital era
- Recognizing which aspects of leadership are changing in the digital era and why
- Understanding how digital technologies have changed the expectations of employees, customers, investors, and the broader society
- Analyzing why the stakes are rising for leaders—and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pressure
- Adapting to the speed of decision-making and the degree of uncertainty
- Building partnerships and catalyzing ecosystems
Succeeding on the path to digital maturitySucceeding on the path to digital maturity
- Fostering a sense of purpose throughout the organization
- Building an intimate and dynamic understanding of the customer
- Creating a data culture and an organization that can make data-informed decisions at all levels
- Embedding responsible and ethical judgment into business decisions
- Earning stakeholder trust
- Enabling an outside-in perspective and developing contextual intelligence
Leading a digitally agile organizationLeading a digitally agile organization
- Supporting a "challenger" mindset and the willingness to disrupt
- Fostering continuous experimentation and learning
- Nurturing a culture of experimentation with customer needs at the center
- Encouraging and instilling a culture of curiosity and creativity
- Accessing new capabilities through innovation labs and corporate accelerators
- Helping employees develop new capabilities needed as the company matures
Collaboration at scale and distributed leadershipCollaboration at scale and distributed leadership
- Distributing decision-making and enabling agile co-creation
- Leading for co-creation vs. "followership"
- Bringing together people with diverse skills and experiences to solve problems
- Collaborating across remote and hybrid teams to strengthen culture and foster accountability
- Empowering employees to solve problems and feel greater ownership
Leading for success in the digital eraLeading for success in the digital era
- Identifying and overcoming assumptions—in yourself and others—that may interfere with adopting new mindsets and behaviors
- Becoming a digital change agent—and empowering other change agents in your organization
- Understanding what it takes to align digital natives and digital immigrants in the digital transformation journey
- Leveraging the insights and experiences of digital natives to inform vision and future journeys
Leadership imperatives in the digital era
- Recognizing which aspects of leadership are changing in the digital era and why
- Understanding how digital technologies have changed the expectations of employees, customers, investors, and the broader society
- Analyzing why the stakes are rising for leaders—and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pressure
- Adapting to the speed of decision-making and the degree of uncertainty
- Building partnerships and catalyzing ecosystems
Succeeding on the path to digital maturity
- Fostering a sense of purpose throughout the organization
- Building an intimate and dynamic understanding of the customer
- Creating a data culture and an organization that can make data-informed decisions at all levels
- Embedding responsible and ethical judgment into business decisions
- Earning stakeholder trust
- Enabling an outside-in perspective and developing contextual intelligence
Leading a digitally agile organization
- Supporting a "challenger" mindset and the willingness to disrupt
- Fostering continuous experimentation and learning
- Nurturing a culture of experimentation with customer needs at the center
- Encouraging and instilling a culture of curiosity and creativity
- Accessing new capabilities through innovation labs and corporate accelerators
- Helping employees develop new capabilities needed as the company matures
Collaboration at scale and distributed leadership
- Distributing decision-making and enabling agile co-creation
- Leading for co-creation vs. "followership"
- Bringing together people with diverse skills and experiences to solve problems
- Collaborating across remote and hybrid teams to strengthen culture and foster accountability
- Empowering employees to solve problems and feel greater ownership
Leading for success in the digital era
- Identifying and overcoming assumptions—in yourself and others—that may interfere with adopting new mindsets and behaviors
- Becoming a digital change agent—and empowering other change agents in your organization
- Understanding what it takes to align digital natives and digital immigrants in the digital transformation journey
- Leveraging the insights and experiences of digital natives to inform vision and future journeys
The HBS Advantage
Our Executive Education programs are developed and taught by HBS faculty who are widely recognized as skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors. Through their board memberships, consulting, and field-based research, they address the complex challenges facing business leaders across the globe.
Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration
Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration
MBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration
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The HBS Advantage
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Our Executive Education programs are developed and taught by HBS faculty who are widely recognized as skilled educators, groundbreaking researchers, and award-winning authors. Through their board memberships, consulting, and field-based research, they address the complex challenges facing business leaders across the globe.
Faculty ChairWallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration
HBS Unit:Organizational BehaviorFacultyJakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration
HBS Unit:MarketingMBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
HBS Unit:Entrepreneurial ManagementPaul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration
HBS Units:Organizational BehaviorEntrepreneurial Management
Your Peers Expand Your Learning
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Your Peers Expand Your Learning
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Global PerspectiveExperience the world in your classroomGlobal PerspectiveExperience the world in your classroom4%Africa7%Asia Pacific18%Europe18%Latin America7%Middle East45%North America4%Africa7%Asia Pacific18%Europe18%Latin America7%Middle East45%North AmericaTop Industries RepresentedInsights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.Insights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.15%High Technology13%Financial13%Nonprofit Services11%Consumer Products10%Manufacturing5%Chem / Pharma / Bio5%Communications5%Education4%Professional Services4%Raw Materials / EnergyTop Industries RepresentedInsights from a range of industries ignite your thinking.15%High Technology13%Financial13%Nonprofit Services11%Consumer Products10%Manufacturing5%Chem / Pharma / Bio5%Communications5%Education4%Professional Services4%Raw Materials / EnergyExperienceExperienceYears WorkedYears WorkedExperienceYears WorkedLess than 10 yearsLess than 10 years10-14 years10-14 years15-19 years15-19 years20-24 years20-24 years25-29 years25-29 years30-34 years30-34 years35-39 years35-39 years40 or more40 or moreLess than 10 yearsLess than 10 years10-14 years10-14 years15-19 years15-19 years20-24 years20-24 years25-29 years25-29 years30-34 years30-34 years35-39 years35-39 years40 or more40 or more
