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Upcoming Sessions
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On Campus
Session Date-Application DeadlineProgram Fee$11300Faculty ChairProgram Director
Program Fee: The program fee includes tuition, housing, curricular materials and most meals.
Executive Certificate: This program is a core program in the Public Leadership, Public Policy, and Technology and Public Leadership concentrations. This program can also be used as a third program for several concentrations in the Executive Certificate series.
Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs): This program aligns with one or more Executive Core Qualifications.
Program Overview
Great leadership starts with great decisions - and the ripple effect shapes entire organizations.
The Harvard Kennedy School Leadership Decision Making executive program equips senior leaders with proven tools to elevate judgment and strengthen decision quality across your organization.
Led by award-winning Faculty Chair Jennifer Lerner, the program draws on cutting-edge research in psychological science, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence (AI). Participants learn strategic frameworks and tools they can apply across public, nonprofit, and corporate contexts.
Program Curriculum
Building on an interdisciplinary foundation, the curriculum combines live, interactive faculty lectures, experiential learning, and small-group collaboration. You will gain insights from Harvard faculty and leading experts while applying concepts directly to challenges in your own professional roles.
Core topics include:
- Leadership strategies for smart decision making
- Managing groups and teams
- Improving negotiation outcomes.
The program also examines how leaders can manage stress effectively and harness the rapidly expanding role of AI in organizational decision environments—including how to critically evaluate emerging tools, collaborate with them responsibly, and lead effectively in AI-augmented contexts.
In addition to structured feedback on exercises, you will receive your own individualized feedback packet providing useful information on your judgment and decision tendencies.
Learning Objectives
Learn the evidence-based methods that help leaders like you - and your teams - choose wisely when it counts.
You will gain useful frameworks and tools to:
- Manage risk and uncertainty in judgment and decision making
- Communicate risk clearly and credibly
- Critically evaluate and engage with AI tools
- Identify and reduce common biases and pitfalls in decision-making
- Enhance skills in negotiation and conflict resolution
- Implement effective influence techniques
- Manage stress while leading change
“Better decisions make all the difference in high-stakes leadership. Leadership Decision Making gave me an edge as a Rear Admiral, through my promotion to Vice Admiral, and as Inspector General—lessons I still use daily in the private sector.”
Herman Shelanski, Vice Admiral, United States Navy (Retired)
Application Information
This program is designed for senior leaders and high-level decision makers across the public, nonprofit, and corporate sectors. Past participants have included:
- Elected or appointed officials
- Corporate executives
- Senior managers of agencies and organizations
- Military officers
- Diplomats
- Law enforcement and intelligence leaders
- Scholars
You will join a cross-sector, international cohort committed to strengthening decision skills and cultivating better decision environments within their organizations.
Access a sample online program schedule.
Access a sample on-campus program schedule.
Online VS On-Campus Schedule
The on-campus program is a week-long immersive experience on Harvard’s historic Cambridge campus, offering deep engagement with faculty and peers.
The online program a flexible two-week format combining live, faculty-led sessions (Mon–Fri, 9:00 am–12:00 pm ET) with independent and small-group work, allowing you to practice new tools in real time while learning from anywhere in the world.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING
"The best executive learning experience I have had. It gave me many new tools on how to create and apply decision frameworks to the complex problems I deal with at work, and how to recognize and correct for cognitive biases in myself and others."
EILEEN BJORKMAN, EXEC. DIRECTOR, US AIR FORCE TEST CENTER
Hear from the Faculty Chair
HKS Faculty Chair Jenn Lerner discusses the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Program Leadership Decision Making
Faculty & Research
Jennifer Lerner
Jennifer Lerner
Appointment
Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Decision Science, and Management
Mailing Address 1
Harvard Kennedy School
Mailing Address 2
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox
23
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Zip
02138
Sharad Goel
Sharad Goel
Appointment
Professor of Public Policy
Mailing Address 1
Harvard Kennedy School
Mailing Address 2
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox
113
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Zip
02138
Julia Minson
Julia Minson
Appointment
Professor of Public Policy
Mailing Address 1
Harvard Kennedy School
Mailing Address 2
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox
143
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Zip
02138
Todd Rogers
Todd Rogers
Appointment
Weatherhead Professor of Public Policy
Mailing Address 1
Harvard Kennedy School
Mailing Address 2
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox
114
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Zip
02138
Robert Wilkinson
Robert Wilkinson
Appointment
Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Leadership
Mailing Address 1
Harvard Kennedy School
Mailing Address 2
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox
4
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Zip
02138
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Admissions & Financial Information
Admissions & Financial Information
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Contact Executive Education
Contact Executive Education
exed@hks.harvard.edu
+1-617-496-9000