Program Overview

In a world where authority is no longer enough to make progress on complex problems, Leadership for the 21st Century invites participants to examine the values, loyalties, and assumptions that shape their leadership choices. Rather than focusing on current events, this program is a deep, hands-on exploration of how you mobilize people, including yourself, to face difficult realities and make meaningful progress on the challenges that matter most in your work.

Through a week of intensive, highly interactive learning, you will confront the real-world leadership dilemmas you face in your current role. Every morning begins in small consultation groups where peers help one another diagnose adaptive challenges and test new interpretations of what’s really happening in their organizations and communities. Plenary sessions expand these insights, using the “group as case” and other experiential methods to surface the dynamics that make leadership both possible and perilous.

Along the way, you and your cohort of fellow leaders will engage with frameworks that deepen your understanding of leadership as a practice rather than a position—including the Adaptive Leadership framework, Strategic Triangle for Public Value Creation, and Immunity to Change process. Together, these methods help you move beyond technical fixes toward adaptive work: closing the gap between your aspirations and the current reality.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Leadership for the 21st Century is an intensive, highly interactive on-campus executive program designed to simulate the challenges of leadership in your organizations and communities, with a focus on navigating authority, conflict, and change. Led by experienced Harvard faculty, the program incorporates peer-group consultations, case studies, and personal reflection to help participants develop practical strategies for leadership on participant’s most pressing challenges. You will be asked to bring a leadership challenge from your own work, engage in honest conversations about what holds you back, and help others do the same. The process requires curiosity, openness, and courage.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completing this program, participants will:

  • Distinguish between leadership and authority, and explore the exercise of leadership from various positions in a group, organization, or community.
  • Learn a disciplined diagnostic practice for distinguishing adaptive challenges from technical problems.
  • Develop insight into your own assumptions, loyalties, and resistance to change.
  • Gain practical tools for orchestrating learning and adaptation in your organization.
  • Work alongside a network of diverse, accomplished professionals committing to reflection, candor, and courageous learning.

Application Information

Leadership for the 21st Century is intended for senior leaders and experienced professionals from public, corporate, and nonprofit sectors who seek to deepen their capacity to lead in uncertain, interdependent, and politically charged environments.

Applicants who will benefit from this program include:

  • Senior public officials at the national, state, and local levels
  • Corporate executives, including vice presidents, directors, and C-level officers
  • Nonprofit and NGO leaders

Immerse yourself with a cohort of fellow leaders on Harvard’s historic campus. View the draft program schedule. Note that module titles, speakers, and sequence may change.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

“This program was the best training I have ever experienced, pushing me to my limits in a learning environment second to none. I left Harvard a different person.”
Marvin Sims, Equity Coordinator, Mounds View Public Schools
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Hear from the Faculty Chair

Professor Tim O'Brien, Faculty Chair, discusses the curriculum and impact of Leadership for the 21st Century.

Faculty & Research

Timothy O'Brien Photo

Timothy O'Brien

Senior Lecturer in Public Policy

Farayi Chipungu Photo

Farayi Chipungu

Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Hugh O'Doherty Photo

Hugh O'Doherty

Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy

Shari Tishman

Shari Tishman

Lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Project Zero

Hear from Participants

Participants from the Leadership for the 21st Century program discuss their experience at Harvard at what they took away from the program.

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