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Successful leaders understand power—and they know how to share it. In today's world, where intellectual capital reigns, competitive advantage occurs when an organization utilizes the knowledge and experience of all its members. "Command and control" leadership styles are obsolete; instead, leaders must learn to identify, focus, and release the power of the entire organization.

Program tuition includes private accommodations, all meals, and course materials.
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Program Overview

The Executive Program in Leadership is designed to help participants put effective, collaborative methods of leadership to work in their organizations and leverage the leadership potential of all members of their teams. Participants focus on developing their own leadership skills and personal influence, as well as exploring strategies for building a team of strong individuals who will support each other, deal with tough problems in an efficient manner, and take accountability for results.

A Leadership Questionnaire is distributed to each participant's colleagues and direct reports before the program. Participants then use the results to develop their own leadership action plans tailored to their personal objectives and the needs of their companies.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
Faculty Director
Other Faculty
David L. Bradford
David L. Bradford

Eugene D. O'Kelly II Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Emeritus; Director of the Executive Program in Leadership; Director of the Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives Program

Dr. Bradford's interests are in the areas of leadership, interpersonal influence, and executive teams. In all of these, he has focused on the question, "What does it take to achieve high performance?" The results have suggested that, especially in knowledge-based organizations, excellence is most likely when leaders build strong teams where the members' role is significantly expanded so that they share responsibility for the management of the unit (including making the core decisions jointly and holding each other accountable for performance). His recent work on influence has led to exploring the conditions for a "feedback rich organization" where team members, through a structured process, give each other face-to-face feedback to improve individual and team performance.

Charles A. O'Reilly III

Frank E. Buck Professor of Management; Director of the Leading Change and Organizational Renewal Executive Program

Jeffrey Pfeffer

Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior

Hayagreeva Rao

Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources; Director of the Managing Talent for Strategic Advantage Executive Program; Codirector of the Customer- Focused Innovation Executive Program

Key Takeaways
  • Strategies for using personal power and building strong, mutual influence relationships within your organization
  • Skills for building a strong, cohesive team that can solve tough problems efficiently
  • Practical tools you can apply immediately, based on the personalized Leadership Questionnaire and the Change Plan
 
 
 
 
 
 

Highlighted Sessions

Influence Without Authority: Dealing with Multiple Stakeholders
This session introduces a model for influencing important stakeholders who cannot be given orders (or who will cooperate better when allowed to influence back). Learn to apply influence without authority in complex organizational situations where it is necessary to diagnose the interests of a diverse group.

The Power of Confrontation
One hesitancy that leaders have with building an empowered team is whether members will take up their responsibilities in an appropriate manner. Since few employees come fully developed, coaching is a key leadership task. One of the most frequent criticisms employees have is that they don't receive timely and honest feedback. This session is built on the premise that one can say (almost) anything to (almost) anybody if you stick with your reality.

Other Selected Sessions

  • Understanding the Power of Shared Responsibility Leadership
  • Building Strong Culture Where Members Share Vision and Values
  • Forms and Sources of Power
  • Developing Effective Teams
  • Productive Disagreements That Generate New, Creative Ideas
  • Mutual Influence for Collaborative Action
  • Personal Traps—How and Where We Give Our Power Away

Who Should Attend?

This program is designed for senior-level executives and general managers with at least seven years of management experience. Participants must have at least four direct reports. It is appropriate for executives from organizations of any size and in any industry.
SAMPLE Participant Mix
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The course was a great combination of theory, interaction, and role playing. It inspired a lot of thought about how to motivate organizations and get the best from people.
– Russ Radom
Vice President, Supplies Category, NA
Hewlett-Packard
The practical approach to solving leadership challenges allowed me to return with a fresh outlook on how to resolve several critical issues we faced at the time... I recommend this program to any executives looking to improve their skills and techniques in managing people.
– David Jochim
Senior Vice President and Manager
Union Bank of California
Professor Bradford is truly outstanding; he does an excellent job of involving people, making his points crisply and moving on to the next issue.
– David S. Fines
Chief Administrative Officer
AMB Property Corporation
I enjoyed the practical application of vision, the interesting real-world application of theory.
– William Butler
Vice President/General Manager
Hanson Aggregates
 
 

Facilities

 
 
 
 
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Stanford University
The Stanford campus is world renowned for its natural beauty, Spanish mission-style architecture, and temperate climate. With more than 8,180 acres (3,310 hectares), Stanford's campus ranks as one of the largest in the United States. Participants in Stanford's Executive Programs become part of a quintessential university setting, residing together, walking or biking to classes, and enjoying access to Stanford University facilities.
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The Knight Management Center
Opened in spring 2011, the Knight Management Center has transformed the Stanford Graduate School of Business into a vibrant and unified indoor-outdoor, living and learning community. Participants will take classes at this new state-of-the-art campus, which features tiered classrooms with extensive floor-to-ceiling glass, the latest in audiovisual technology, numerous breakout and study rooms, outdoor seating areas to encourage informal discussion, and an open collaboration lab that employs hands-on and design thinking techniques.
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Schwab Residential Center
Designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta, the Schwab Residential Center gives residents ample privacy while promoting collegial interaction through shared lounges, outdoor meeting areas, a library, and an exercise room.

CONTACT

Shalini Bhatia
Associate Director, Programs and Marketing
Phone: 650.724.7409
Email: [email protected]