Executive management and governance programs

Move beyond theory and sharpen the skills senior managers need to drive results. ESMT Berlin’s executive management programs combine research-based insights with practical tools you can apply immediately at work. Strengthen the capabilities leaders need to manage today and govern for tomorrow. 

Our approach is innovative, rigorous, and practical – tailored to the needs of today’s leaders. We combine cutting-edge research with real-world applications, fostering critical thinking and strategic decision-making through interactive workshops, peer consulting, and expert insights. Looking to level up? Our management development programs deliver focused leadership and management education for busy professionals aiming at senior responsibility and board impact.

• Mid-career managers preparing for broader responsibility through structured management programs  training
• Senior professionals seeking senior leadership development  training and enterprise-level scope or P&L ownership
• Leaders targeting supervisory roles who want board-level readiness aligned with corporate governance programs

Effective senior leaders do more than run a function. They read the whole enterprise. At ESMT Berlin, executive education is built to cultivate that wider lens. Strategy sits beside finance and risk, people decisions are tested against ethics and sustainability, and governance is treated as a daily practice rather than an annual meeting.

In programs designed to mirror corporate realities, you learn practical strategies for increasing your leadership strengths. You confront ambiguous cases, rehearse board conversations, and experiment in leadership scenarios where feedback is frank and immediate.

Content shaped by thought leaders and senior peers

Faculty shape knowledge with current research, guest practitioners bring working insight of what actually happens when a plan meets constraints. Dialogue is designed to refine judgment, not simply to transfer frameworks, and then there is the cohort: a peer group of senior leaders who matter as much as the content.

The result is clarity in how you shape decision making and how you show up. Managers return better prepared to translate strategy into execution, to steer effective change, and to communicate oversight with vision and credibility. Whether your next step is broader management scope, an executive leadership position, or a supervisory board role, the aim is the same: sharper thinking, steadier leadership, and choices that hold up under scrutiny.