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On Campus
Session Date-Application DeadlineProgram Fee$18,400Faculty 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 and Public Policy concentrations. This program can also be used as a third program for any concentration in the Executive Certificate series.
Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs): This program aligns with one or more Executive Core Qualifications.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Senior Managers in Government is a transformative leadership program that offers you an exclusive opportunity for professional and personal enrichment. The curriculum is designed to address the needs of the U.S. Senior Executive Service (SES) in the federal government and their military, corporate sector, and international counterparts.
Faculty Chair Linda Bilmes will be joined by Harvard faculty and expert practitioners in government, law, education, and business for a robust two-week program to refresh and expand the core executive leadership skills you need to address the challenges of a large organization. You'll deepen your ability to think broadly, sharpen critical skill sets, and gain the new tools necessary to address today’s complex global challenges.
The Senior Managers in Government executive program will enhance your skills in:
- Political management
- Building organizational capacity
- Policy development
- Organizational performance
- Negotiation
- Planning for the future
Program Curriculum
During the two-week on-campus program, you'll immerse yourself in lectures and group work focused on building your capacity to lead. The materials include cutting-edge research and new ideas that will propel us into the next generation, drawing from across the spectrum of Harvard’s global expertise.
This curriculum makes extensive use of the case study method pioneered at Harvard. Each case describes an actual situation in public management that you and your classmates use to think through possible approaches and solutions to real-world problems. You'll reflect upon your professional experiences and meet daily in small groups and in class to discuss cases and exchange ideas.
Additional components of Senior Managers in Government include networking opportunities, experiential learning, and group outings, all of which allow you to build lasting relationships with the other participants.
Learning Objectives
Senior Managers in Government focuses on the multi-dimensional issues faced by senior managers and key areas of learning that you’ll experience include:
- Policy Development: Structuring a decision-making process that draws on knowledge from all parts of an organization and designing policies to optimize implementation
- Political Strategy: Mobilizing the support of key parties in an environment of shared responsibility to build support for a policy
- Performance Management: Defining, assessing and improving organizational performance
- Negotiation: Creating win-win outcomes, resolving differences and breaking stalemates
- Leadership: Evaluating and improving leadership styles, including leadership in crisis situations
Application Information
Senior Managers in Government is designed for senior-level public leaders who wish to expand their professional and personal capabilities.
Recommended applicants include:
- Elected, appointed, and senior career officials in the U.S. Senior Executive Service (SES)
- Senior-level military officials (General Officer level)
- International counterparts to the above looking to learn about management systems and methods whose relevance transcends national borders taught in a broadly applied U.S. context
- Congressional staffers pursuing strengthened leadership skills and new insights in managerial practice
- Corporate executives hoping to gain perspectives on decision making within government, sharpen their leadership skills and capabilities and share their understanding of the corporate world
- Nonprofit leaders seeking to examine best practices in public sector management, share insights on their unique agency demands and needs, and learn alongside executives facing similar concerns in different arenas
View a sample program schedule. Note that module titles, speakers, and sequence may change.
What Participants are Saying
“Senior Managers in Government opens the aperture of not only knowledge, but also allows you to understand partner Government Agencies, Foreign Governments, and Foreign Trade organizations as they relate to national and economic global security.”
LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO), Director of Field Operations (DFO) for the Chicago Field Office
Hear from the Faculty Chair
Linda Bilmes discusses the Senior Managers in Government program.