Developing Senior Leaders

“CEOs who are promoted from within the company add more value and are paid less than those who are hired as CEO from outside the firm,” Pearl Meyer’s MD, Simon Patterson, commenting on his firm’s ‘2016 UK CEO Value Index’.

The Index shows that 70% of new CEO appointments in the FTSE 100 in the last five years have been promoted within the business and they have added 6% more value, whilst being paid 20% less than those hired from outside.

“Our suggestion is that remuneration committees can be more effective by putting greater emphasis on succession planning and actively developing a wider pool of talent to choose from,” says Patterson in a recent blog.

Developing talented executives who have the potential to succeed at board level or even as CEOs presents a problem – these are the very people whose day-to-day engagement in the business is critical to its ongoing success. Can the organization afford to give them the time out to receive the development they need? But can it afford not to?

Individuals with proven leadership acumen can benefit hugely from the input provided by external experts, ideas, and peers on a high-quality Executive MBA program and so too can their organizations. An Executive MBA which develops the skills and competences to enable experienced leaders to successfully operate at the highest level in a continuously changing international business environment can be the catalyst for their transition to senior leadership.

A program that does this, while being sensitive to the time issue, is offered by the University of St. Gallen. The International MBA HSG is one of the oldest and most successful postgraduate degree in General Management in Europe. Taught in English, the goal of this part-time, extra-occupational, EMBA is to prepare its participants for demanding senior management positions in various industries and market environments, equipping them with skills and expertise that are now absolutely essential for the management of international companies and doing business in a complex international environment.

The 18-month program comprises 11 core courses and three elective courses. 70 days of contact time must be completed on campus at the university or one of its partner universities, as well as a further 20 days of preparation and follow-up work. Modules last for one or two weeks, with two of the modules taking IEMBA participants to Los Angeles, Shanghai and Beijing. The breaks of several weeks between modules, and the weekends, allow participants time to complete self-study and most importantly fulfil their family and professional commitments.

A feature of the IEMBA HSG’s core and elective courses is the special emphasis placed on combining comprehensive general management expertise with the challenges of the modern world of work. The core courses such as Economics for Executives, Corporate Accounting, and Strategic Management are complemented by courses focusing on personal development. Elective courses enable participants to specialise in areas of personal interest or specific fields of work – courses offered include Business Law, B2B Marketing and Sales, and Social Media Management.

Finally, by linking participants into its 20,000+ alumni community – one of the most active and influential business networks in the world – the St. Gallen program provides access to lifelong network of valuable contacts.

Learn more about the University of St. Gallen International Executive MBA (IEMBA HSG)