Course History
In keeping with the mission of Harvard Business School—to educate leaders who make a difference in the world—we introduced the New CEO Workshop to address the distinctive challenges facing first-time chief executives in large, complex enterprises. The focus of the workshop is on defining an agenda as CEO, and preparing for the most challenging issues that a new CEO is likely to face.
The Harvard Business Review article “Seven Surprises for New CEOs,” by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch, and Nitin Nohria, describes some key takeaways from the workshop—yet the article captures just a small part of the learning from the program, which continues to evolve. We now hold sessions twice a year, in the Fall and Spring, using a customized, interactive format for current invitees.
Since the program’s inception, over 200 new CEOs have participated from world-leading companies such as Amgen, BASF, Cathay Pacific, ConocoPhillips, Corning, Electrolux, Foot Locker, General Mills, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Mattel, Merck, Medtronic, McDonald’s, Stanley Black & Decker, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Whole Foods, and Zurich Financial Services. Workshop participants also have the opportunity to reconvene to review the first two years in the job and to recalibrate their agendas.