Becoming a better leader is an interactive experience, and participants first prepare themselves for change. This is critical to the overall journey participants take on Transition to Business Leadership. In the month before you arrive on campus, you set your development priorities and assess your strengths with a unique 360 review. This is based on The Seven Seismic Shifts developed by program co-director Michael Watkins and is an in-depth career experience survey.

Some participants also feel the need to further build their financial skills, and may also take an optional finance and accounting course before joining the program, however this is not compulsory.

Throughout the program, there are two main themes: personal leadership development and leading organizational change. These themes are developed over two modules of two weeks each, with additional inter-module support. Modules for the program are followed in sequence.

During this first module, you receive feedback and coaching from highly experienced executive coaches based on your 360-degree assessment that you completed during the pre‑program preparation.

You will work extensively with Professor Michael Watkins to create a plan for your personal development to explore and develop the capabilities you need as a leader to run a business. You learn how to assess the competitive environment and create a vision and strategy for your business. You diagnose the architecture, structure, systems, capabilities, and talent of business units. You also focus on developing the executive presence necessary to be effective as a business leader.

During this time you will also get the chance to develop strong relationships with the diverse group of participants in your class, typically made up of 15+ industries and more than 90% already holding upper middle/senior management positions.