Essentials of Leadership Programme
Built for mid-to-senior managers stepping into strategic roles, Essentials of Leadership helps you lead with confidence, influence stakeholders, and create lasting impact.
Avail early enrolment benefit by enrolling before Apr 10, 2026
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Programme Overview
Key Takeaways
Gain the mindset and tools to step into larger leadership roles:
- Build self-awareness and emotional intelligence to manage yourself and others effectively
- Forge stronger connections with stakeholders and expand your network's value
- Enhance boardroom influence with governance mastery, risk management, and decisive communication skillsInfluence and inspire without authority to align teams toward common goals
- Lead organisational change with confidence, even in times of uncertainty
- Craft your personal leadership brand and communicate with authenticity through storytelling
Why ISB Executive Education?
Globally
SOURCE: FT Global MBA Ranking 2026Programmes delivered
Leaders nurtured
Programme Highlights
Learner Profiles
- Directors, VPs, AVPs, and General or Regional Managers taking on expanded leadership responsibility
- Transitioning from operational delivery to broader people and strategic leadership roles
- Strengthening judgement to lead teams, priorities, and outcomes with confidence
- Project Managers and Account Managers leading complex initiatives or large client portfolios
- Expanding scope across teams, functions, or stakeholders
- Building influence and leadership effectiveness beyond formal authority
- Founders and business owners responsible for leading and scaling teams lens
- Leaders seeking to inspire, engage, and align people around shared goals
- Deepening emotional intelligence, leadership presence, and people management capability
Class Profile
Learner Stories
"I've learnt that leadership is about maintaining equilibrium by balancing stakeholders, change, and upskilling rather than focusing on them in isolation. My key takeaway was the importance of keeping all stakeholders engaged through a metric-driven approach."
"This programme helped me bridge the gap between leadership frameworks and real-world application. A key takeaway was that leadership starts with leading yourself through self-awareness and personal branding before leading others."
"The frameworks have provided guidance in analysing any situation and a way forward in putting thoughts together. The case studies provided clear examples."
Curriculum
The curriculum covers five interconnected modules that build emotional intelligence, change leadership, stakeholder influence, relationship management, and personal leadership brand, supported by coaching and real-world application.
Module 1: Leading with Emotional Intelligence
- Understand emotional intelligence as a leadership differentiator
- Build self-awareness to enhance leadership effectiveness
- Strengthen emotional and relational competencies
- Integrate emotional skills with functional expertise
Module 2: Building Effective Relationships with Stakeholders
- Build trust through open and effective communication
- Give and receive feedback with confidence
- Handle difficult conversations constructively
- Strengthen relationships through mentorship and networking
Module 3: Influencing Key Stakeholders
- Apply behavioural science to influence decisions
- Frame messages to increase stakeholder buy-in
- Motivate commitment beyond formal authority
- Drive group alignment and implementation
Module 4: Change Leadership Skills and Mindsets
- Lead change effectively without formal authority or control
- Align diverse stakeholders around shared change objectives
- Communicate change to build clarity, energy, and commitment
- Enable adoption of new behaviours and ways of working
Module 5: Shaping Your Role: Focus, Storytelling and Personal Brand
- Clarify leadership focus and prioritise what truly matters
- Use storytelling to influence, engage, and persuade
- Build a credible personal brand aligned to leadership goals
- Shape narratives that reinforce leadership identity and impact
Module 6: Group Coaching Sessions and Reflection Time
- Group coaching sessions and structured reflection run throughout the five-day programme, creating space to pause, reflect, and internalise learning
- These sessions enable participants to reflect on leadership insights and personal experiences in a guided setting
- Facilitated group coaching provides personalised feedback and encourages peer learning across diverse leadership contexts
- Reflection activities support deeper self-awareness and help translate programme concepts into practical leadership action
Note: Modules and topics are subject to change based on our faculty recommendations to keep the content contextual and relevant to the evolving environment.
What You Will Gain
Certificate
On successful completion of the programme, you will be awarded a programme completion certificate from ISB Executive Education, a formal recognition of your professional development.
Programme Eligibility: Graduate or equivalent diploma qualification (10+2+3) from a recognised university; 5+ years of work experience
ISB Executive Network Benefits
This programme is designed for high-calibre executives preparing to broaden their influence beyond functional expertise and deliver greater enterprise-wide impact.
ISB email and other benefits:
- You will be a part of the ISB Executive Network, a vast community of senior executives and entrepreneurs across the Globe
- 5% programme fee benefit on ISB Executive Education programmes
- 10% programme fee benefit on ISB Online programmes
Access to resources:
- ISB Executive Education Newsletters with the latest updates
- Exclusive invitations to Online and Offline events like Webinars, Conferences, and Master Classes, amongst others
Networking and continuous learning:
- Networking opportunities via ISB Executive Network Group on LinkedIn
- Opportunity to be a guest speaker at ISB Executive Education events
Programme Faculty
Saumya Sindhwani
Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour (Practice), ISB
S Ramnarayan
Visiting Faculty, ISB
Aparna Athreya
Visiting Faculty, ISB
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