Course Overview
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.
Participant Criteria
The Workshop is open by personal invitation only and designed for newly appointed CEOs of public parent companies with annual revenues of $2 billion or more.
Faculty & Participant Preparation
The faculty interviews each participant before the Workshop to identify issues of particular concern. Prior research is conducted on each participating company so that the faculty are well-informed about each CEO’s business issues. Participants are asked to prepare a short prior assignment that encourages personal reflection on the challenges they face and how to address them.
Process
The Workshop is built around in-depth, frank discussion among peers about their companies and experiences. The faculty participates actively in these discussions, while also providing frameworks for thinking about each topic. The peer relationships are an essential component of the Workshop. All discussions are strictly confidential.
Workshop Content
Becoming the CEO involves some predictable agendas as well as challenges that are often unanticipated. The Workshop covers the following topics, among others, with some adjustments based on the actual mix of participants and their circumstances:
- Defining a strategic direction
- - setting appropriate corporate goals
- - defining the appropriate portfolio of businesses
- - creating a distinctive strategy for each business, and an effective planning process
- Creating an effective relationship with the board
- - understanding the evolving role of the board and good board structure
- - building an effective relationship with the board
- Communicating with internal and external constituencies
- Setting the right tone and values
- Self-assessment: where are you most/least prepared?
- Dealing with your predecessor
- Managing time and commitments
- Establishing legitimacy as the leader