Leadership & Management
Executive leadership programs for security professionals
Security leaders recognize the importance of continuing education to stay up to date on current threats, strategies and management techniques.
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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.
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