High-Performance Board Member Program
Boost Your Impact in the Board Room
About the Program
Corporate boards play an increasingly vital role in today’s disruptive business landscape. As a board member, you can shape the entire future of your organization by providing guidance and oversight on crucial issues facing organizations today, ranging from risk management, business strategy, sustainability, and compliance.
Are you a senior-level executive currently serving on a corporate board, or aspiring to transition into this role? Or maybe you are a senior manager wanting to engage more effectively now with your board: This unique program was designed to give you pragmatic new insights and valuable tools to amplify your impact and secure your organization’s future.
In a dynamic learning forum, industry and academic experts from WHU and IESE Business School will accompany you to ensure you magnify your contribution in your particular role, create strategic value and ensure a sustainable competitive advantage for your organization.
Program Content
The IESE & WHU High-Performance Board Member Program uses examples taken from real-life scenarios to illustrate the main challenges and responsibilities of corporate boards, with a focus on strategy, operations, finance, leadership, stakeholder management and the implications for family-owned businesses.
The key areas examined include:
- Corporate Board Key Roles and Responsibilities
- A Board Members Strategic Toolkit for long term strategy
- Corporate Boards as Early Warning Systems (Governance)
- Culture and Dynamics: Board/Chair/CEO
- Corporate Boards and Digitalization
- Navigating Disruption
- Activist Shareholders
- Finance, Marketing, and Operations: Essential Board Issues
- Stakeholder Management
- Boards, Executive Succession and Cultivating Next-Generation Leadership
- Boards and Crisis Management
Teaching Methodology
The High-Performance Board Program by IESE and WHU will expand your understanding of the main responsibilities, dynamics, and strategic challenges of corporate boards and equip you with actionable insights to boost overall board performance.
With a highly practical approach, the program utilizes a number of proven academic methodologies including the case method, interactive lectures, very senior guest-speaker sessions with supervisory board members from some of Europe’s largest companies, and team-based projects.
Additionally, the program features an engaging immersive simulation that exposes participants, acting in the capacity of board members, to critical events, allowing them to navigate and make informed decisions in real-time scenarios, enhancing their readiness for the dynamic challenges of board leadership.
Two weeks before the program start, you will receive a package of pre-reading material, which provide you with the theoretical groundwork to optimize both classroom time and learning outcomes.
Program Format and Module Dates
This Program consists of 3 in-class modules covering 9 days in total.
Module Dates
Program Benefits
- Pragmatic understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and best practices of corporate boards and their influence on long-term success
- A stronger grasp of the pivotal processes and dynamics of successful corporate boards
- Frameworks for analyzing key organizational challenges in evolving institutional and disruptive digital environments
- Insights for encouraging an effective board culture, with strategies for managing conflicts and boardroom power dynamics
- Key competencies for cultivating strategic partnerships between the board and senior management, advancing stakeholder interests
- Essential know-how for leveraging diversity to boost board performance
Upon completion, you will be awarded a WHU Executive Education and IESE Business School Certificate, a recognized mark of your commitment to growth, leadership, and lifelong learning, issued by one of Europe’s top business schools.
Participant Profile
The High-Performance Board Member Program is designed for:
- C-suite executives currently serving on corporate boards
- Next-generation leaders preparing to transition to a board role
- Top-level public officers
- Senior managers seeking to shape and engage their board of directors
- Leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) dedicated to enhancing their governance skills and contributing to effective board leadership
- Complete and submit an online application.
- You will receive an email from the Executive Education Department to acknowledge receipt of your application and provide information on program dates, preparatory study materials and payment details.
- Payment must be received before the start of the program and submission of preparatory materials. This is a prerequisite to take part in the program.
- Two weeks before the start date, you will receive an email with a username to access to IESE’s Virtual Campus, which contains all the necessary study materials.
FAQ
1Who is this program for, and what qualifications or experience do I need?
This senior executive program is designed for current and aspiring board members, including C-suite executives, supervisory and corporate board members, next-generation leaders preparing for board responsibilities, and senior managers working closely with boards. It also welcomes business owners, public-sector leaders, and NGO executives seeking to strengthen their governance capabilities. No formal academic qualification is required, although substantial management and decision-making responsibilities are expected, and prior leadership experience is strongly recommended.
2Where does the program take place, how long does it last, and what is the format?
The program consists of three intensive in-person modules of three days each, spread over approximately four months. Module 1 takes place at WHU Campus Düsseldorf, Germany; Module 2 at IESE’s campus in Munich, Germany; and Module 3 at IESE’s campus in Barcelona, Spain. Learning combines case studies, interactive faculty sessions, board simulations, guest speakers, team projects, and peer learning, supported by preparatory reading materials provided before the program begins.
3What are the key takeaways from this program?
You will deepen your understanding of board responsibilities, governance, strategy, risk oversight, digital transformation, stakeholder management, succession planning, and crisis leadership. You will also develop practical skills to navigate boardroom dynamics, manage conflicts, build effective board cultures, and strengthen partnerships between boards and executive management.
Our Admissions Team is happy to assist you.
We look forward to connecting with you!