With the opportunities created by a rapidly evolving spectrum of technology and a global economic frontier that is continually opening its borders to new players, today’s executives and directors must be willing to adapt to a business and governance environment that is constantly shifting. One of the most effective ways of adapting is through the pursuit of professional development offered by executive education programs at top universities around the country.

Successful directors have all spent several thousands of hours in high-pressure, high-impact work environments in which the combined knowledge and instinct of a company’s management team must be shaped into a very specific plan of action. With this kind of real-world experience, in combination with advanced degrees already held by most directors, one might question the practical advantages of going back to the classroom.

The answer is new perspective. “Knowledge has a way of moving at a clip that eclipses very quickly that which was gained in prior formal education,” says Dr. Constantine Konstans, executive director of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Real-world experience is invaluable, but it tends simply to repeat the same processes and outlooks rather than expanding one’s exposure to new ideas.”

Charles Breckling, managing director of marketing at Harvard Business School Executive Education, echoes this sentiment: “The half-life of any educational experience is short. If you’re on a board and received an MBA twenty or thirty years ago, the business climate has changed to the point where you need exposure to new ideas in order to stay sharp.”

The benefits of executive education are worthwhile and far-reaching. In addition to the inherent benefits of gaining access to relevant and new information, the opportunities afforded by working with one’s peers in a “professional classroom” setting are unparalleled. “Our courses have great convening power,” says Breckling. “We bring board members from all over the world, and they in turn bring a broad global outlook you can’t find anywhere else.” In addition to the expertise of the professors, students in these programs often instruct and learn from each other, as their shared experiences provide plenty of case studies.

The range of topics covered by executive education programs entirely encompasses the modern-day business climate. Established programs at Harvard Business School Executive Education, for example, include courses in leadership, strategy, corporate governance, finance, technology management, marketing, negotiation, and personal development—not to mention custom programs designed for a specific company’s needs.

Improved Ratings

While pursuing executive education is certainly beneficial for the individual who takes the course, it also strengthens the board on which he or she sits—and not just by virtue of having the insights of this newly enhanced individual in the company. Many governance ratings agencies look kindly upon boards whose members have participated in executive education programs, and take completion of these programs into consideration when rating companies’ boards.

One such ratings agency is RiskMetrics, whose ISS Corporate Governance Services department determines the best director education programs. “The types of issues that boards are confronted with today—governance fallouts, the mortgage crisis, options backdating scandals—are so new that it’s important for directors to be able to meet with their peers to discuss and strategize,” says John Deosaran, head of product and business development, ESG Analytics, at RiskMetrics Group. “We grant accreditation to those executive education programs that allow directors to tackle the challenging problems of today.”

Because of the knowledge and new energy that a well-educated director or executive can bring back to a management team, it’s not uncommon for a company to grant time off and foot some or all of the bill for an executive going “back to school.” Since these courses can range from one-day intensive sessions to several weeks, and because enrollment fees can range from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands for large groups, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the blessing (and backing) of the corporation.

When it comes to choosing the path to continued education, options facing the knowledge-hungry officer or director are diverse and plentiful. The two main categories are open-enrollment courses and custom-built programs.

Open-enrollment courses tend to take more time than their custom counterparts, and typically are offered in a more traditional classroom setting. Institutions that offer these programs— typically universities, director groups, or other similar organizations—advertise their courses to the public, and students register independently. Open-enrollment courses tend to assume the traditional forms of a collegiate classroom, with lectures, guest speakers, open discussions, and even campus housing. The Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management, for example, offers open-enrollment courses that feature a multi-layered classroom experience based on case studies, team exercises, peerto- peer exchange, and other methods of instruction that facilitate dialogue and shared experience between students and faculty. When class concludes, students have access to a guest room and all the amenities of college life, though likely in a slightly more upscale environment than former undergrads may remember.

Custom Fit

Custom-education courses are tailored to the requirements of the company taking the course. The “student body” of a custom program will be composed almost exclusively of executives and directors from a single company. Unlike open enrollment, custom- education programs are organized and shaped through communication between the educational institution offering the program and a representative from the company. The institution determines the needs of a company and then draws up an appropriate program, assembling a curriculum, class site, and instructors selected from a wide pool of available professors, litigators, board members, and regulators.

Because custom programs hinge so directly on the needs of the company taking them, the array of possibilities for educational expansion is literally endless. Most prominent institutions that offer custom programs have worldwide facilities and an international staff of instructors, allowing for truly global educational perspectives.

One such institution, Duke Corporate Education—a not-for-profit owned by Duke University—offers programs throughout the world. “Our business model has cut itself off geographically from the school,” says marketing director Paul Baerman, “allowing us maximum versatility in going where our clients need to be. A narrow perspective in the boardroom can be greatly enhanced by exposure to broader international territories.”

While some executive education programs take a straightforward instructional path, some push the boundaries well past the familiar. Baerman recounts a custom program in which members of a boardroom were brought to a hospital and told to don the uniform of the hospital’s employees. They were separated and individually greeted by an oncologist who gave them the weighty task of informing a patient (actually an actor) that he had cancer. In nearly all of the cases, the student was unable to break the bad news, and either circumvented the facts or retreated for “further information.” The lesson? “Even in a life-or-death situation, the director was unable to address that which needed to be addressed,” says Baerman. “After the ploy was revealed, these directors discussed and came to the conclusion that honesty and straightforwardness are the most important aspects of communication. This is a revelation that has an immediate effect in the boardroom.”

Despite the myriad programs, instructional methods, and offerings available, executive education programs all share a common purpose: better boardroom and executive performance. This goal is facilitated by a well-designed program led by engaging, knowledgeable instructors with real-world as well as theoretical understanding, but the key to improvement may in fact lie within the students themselves.

“What we teach isn’t so much an academic or professional solution to a problem, but rather a personal one,” explains Baerman. “One of our sayings is ‘the answer is often in the room, which means that we don’t so much teach you something new, but we guide you through finding it within your own capabilities and experiences.”

For program details visit:

UCLA’s Director Education & Certification Program

October 27-29, 2008

UCLA Anderson

Florida’s Directors’ Institute

Friday November 7, 2008

The University of Tampa

The Directors’ Consortium

February 25-27, 2009

Stanford,CA

Harvard Business School Executive Education

Audit Committees in a New Era Of Governance

July 2009

Compensation Committees: New Challenges, New Solutions

July 2009

Making Corporate Boards More Effective

July 2008