The best leaders recognize that they can’t remain stagnant. They must continually reflect, solicit feedback, challenge themselves, learn, adapt and pivot.

Sometimes that means having a mentor or coach, taking executive education courses or enrolling in leadership-development programs. A vast array of choices exists.

This month, we look at some executive education courses and how they promote leadership skills. Subsequent columns will address mentoring, coaching and leadership-development programs.

Executive Leaders Program

Institution: Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School

Location: Monterey, California

Dates: Next course begins October 16, 2023 (June 15, 2023 application deadline)

Length: 12-month program with four one-week-in-residence sessions

Class Makeup: “30 senior local, state, tribal, territorial, federal government, military and private sector officials are chosen from a national applicant pool and reflect the variety of professional backgrounds and geography.”

According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, the course “develops leaders responsible for homeland security and public safety by enhancing critical thinking skills in a collaborative and cross-functional environment.” 

Leading Through Crises

Institution: ISMA/Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Dates: Last course ran from April 23-26, 2023

Length: Four days

Class Makeup: Senior security executives

Using case studies, lectures and simulations, this program helps senior security leaders develop their leadership expertise so they can position themselves as trusted partners to companies’ senior management and corporate boards in times of crisis.

Canadian Security and Intelligence Leadership Program

Institution: University of Ottawa

Location: Virtual

Dates: Next course runs from October 2023 to March 2024

Length: Five months

Class Makeup: Canadians “who will be providing leadership in the next 10 to 15 years.”

According to the University of Ottawa, “strong personal, organizational and strategic leadership will be needed in the coming years to ensure Canada is prepared for these challenges, and able to make the right assessment on priority needs and effective means of meeting them.”

Making the Business Case for Security

Institution: ASIS/The Wharton School

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dates: Last course ran from April 24-28, 2023

Length: Five days

Class Makeup: Senior security executives

According to the Wharton School & ASIS, this executive leadership course “provides the leadership and management skills to communicate the impact of security decisions on your organization to the C-suite so you can advance your security priorities.”

Effective Management for Security Professionals

Institution: ASIS/IE Business School

Location: Madrid, Spain

Dates: Next course runs from June 26-30, 2023

Length: Four days

Class Makeup: Mid-level to senior security executives

Participants develop key interdisciplinary competencies to supplement their technical expertise and emerge as enablers of their business’s success.

Strategic Security Management

Institution: ISMA/Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt

Location: Ingolstadt, Germany

Dates: Next course runs from October 23-26, 2023

Length: Four days

Class Makeup: Senior security executives

This course offers CSOs and their senior management teams an opportunity to develop business acumen in order to better integrate security into the business and position it as a thought leader and trusted partner. 

Understanding Security as a Business Asset

Institution: ISMA/Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Dates: Last course ran from October 2-5, 2022

Length: Four days

Class Makeup: Senior security executives

Through lectures, cases, simulations and group exercises, students will learn leading management practices to help them expand their leadership skills and enable them and their teams to speak the language of the business.

Senior Executives in National and International Security

Institution: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dates: Next course runs June 5-16, 2023

Length: One week

Class Makeup: Public officials, policy makers, senior security executives

According to Harvard University, “students will deepen their understanding of the world’s most pressing security challenges and test their evaluation and decision-making skills.”

Senior Manager Course in National Security Leadership

Institution: National Security Studies Program, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

Location: Washington, D.C.

Dates: Last course ran from March 6-17, 2023

Length: Two weeks

Class Makeup: Senior military and civilian officials

Senior leaders gain valuable insight into counterterrorism and counterinsurgency strategy, resilience and energy security, cyberwarfare, leading organizational change, regional conflict and instability, analyzing complex challenges and more.