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Cornell CXO Leadership Program

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Program Overview

Leadership in the new world requires a fresh set of skills that empower leaders and managers to face disruption head-on and lead in a world of increasing volatility and complexity. Cornell CXO Leadership Program (CXO) is designed to empower senior leaders to lead through these complex and uncertain times. You get access to the best of Ivy League education facilitated by award-winning faculty from Cornell University.

Start Date

10 January 2026

Duration

6 Months

Fee

USD 4,800

Program Highlights

  • Peer coaching and assessments
    Peer coaching and assessments
  • Access to 2000+ Courses
    Access to 2000+ Courses
  • Certificate from Cornell University
    Certificate from Cornell University
  • Small cohort for impactful learning
    Small cohort for impactful learning
  • 16 interactive sessions by Cornell faculty (100% LIVE)
    16 interactive sessions by Cornell faculty (100% LIVE)

Program Curriculum

Thinking Strategically

The session helps in building strategies for competitive advantage and generating superior value for customers.

  • Understand the components of an effective strategy
  • Evaluate how an organization can respond successfully to change and devise appropriate strategies to do so
  • Understand the core ideas underlying strategic planning processes
  • Tesla case study to comprehend its business model

The Future Digital Dimensions

This session focuses on the best practices applicable to several product and service designs; business model transformation, and sales transformation templates to devise ideas for new products and services.

  • Discover more about blockchain
  • Tools to identify the best ideas for digital transformation
  • Understand processes to create platform business models
  • Understand metaverse, virtual reality and the future of tomorrow

Entrepreneurial Mindset

The session helps formulate business models and develop processes to maximize entrepreneurial abilities. It also helps you to adopt design thinking and innovation as a strategy in your organization and helps you apply design thinking frameworks and strategies to develop innovative solutions for complex business problems.

  • Introduction to five stages of the design process
  • Connect design and entrepreneurial thinking to innovation

Getting Things Done

This session is designed around a set of levers interleaved into a larger framework for ‘Getting Things Done. The framework will drive your performance by making your implicit skills explicit, and help you implement ideas back into your work world.

  • A framework of simple but effective levers that have been shown to improve performance considerably
  • This session has three goals: to make you more effective, to equip you to teach others to be more effective, and to give you a framework that will help you implement tools and concepts to get things done

Systems Thinking

In this session, you will learn to integrate systems thinking concepts, principles, and practices to improve existing processes, operations, and thinking patterns, ultimately developing a more three-dimensional mindset toward problem-solving.

  • Learn about the DSRP model
  • Understand mental models – What you think vs What is real
  • Engage the ecosystem around you to generate new innovation possibilities
  • Understand the relationships and systems that create new possibilities

Managing Complexity

The session helps gain insights into how the brain learns, how to learn more quickly, why we frequently make terrible judgments, and how to learn from both successes and failures. Learn to make more deliberate and informed decisions while potentially doubling your learning capacity.

  • Learn how to systematically think back on your experiences and draw lessons from them
  • Learn to manage the decision process rather than just the decision to add more value

Leading with Disruptive Innovation

This session takes you through an in-depth understanding of disruption, innovation, and disruptive innovation’s impact on business. Learn more about various methodologies and approaches in innovation and real-world use cases that provide deeper insights into the state of innovation and disruption today. Explore best practices in innovation, human-centric design, lean methodologies, and a multi-horizon portfolio approach to innovation.

  • Key factors driving disruption
  • Innovation engineering: Key principles
  • Multi-Horizon portfolio approach to innovation strategy
  • Looking forward: Industry 4.0 disruption – The next wave

    Thinking Strategically

    The session helps in building strategies for competitive advantage and generating superior value for customers.

    • Understand the components of an effective strategy
    • Evaluate how an organization can respond successfully to change and devise appropriate strategies to do so
    • Understand the core ideas underlying strategic planning processes
    • Tesla case study to comprehend its business model

    The Future Digital Dimensions

    This session focuses on the best practices applicable to several product and service designs; business model transformation, and sales transformation templates to devise ideas for new products and services.

    • Discover more about blockchain
    • Tools to identify the best ideas for digital transformation
    • Understand processes to create platform business models
    • Understand metaverse, virtual reality and the future of tomorrow

    Entrepreneurial Mindset

    The session helps formulate business models and develop processes to maximize entrepreneurial abilities. It also helps you to adopt design thinking and innovation as a strategy in your organization and helps you apply design thinking frameworks and strategies to develop innovative solutions for complex business problems.

    • Introduction to five stages of the design process
    • Connect design and entrepreneurial thinking to innovation

    Getting Things Done

    This session is designed around a set of levers interleaved into a larger framework for ‘Getting Things Done. The framework will drive your performance by making your implicit skills explicit, and help you implement ideas back into your work world.

    • A framework of simple but effective levers that have been shown to improve performance considerably
    • This session has three goals: to make you more effective, to equip you to teach others to be more effective, and to give you a framework that will help you implement tools and concepts to get things done

    Systems Thinking

    In this session, you will learn to integrate systems thinking concepts, principles, and practices to improve existing processes, operations, and thinking patterns, ultimately developing a more three-dimensional mindset toward problem-solving.

    • Learn about the DSRP model
    • Understand mental models – What you think vs What is real
    • Engage the ecosystem around you to generate new innovation possibilities
    • Understand the relationships and systems that create new possibilities

    Managing Complexity

    The session helps gain insights into how the brain learns, how to learn more quickly, why we frequently make terrible judgments, and how to learn from both successes and failures. Learn to make more deliberate and informed decisions while potentially doubling your learning capacity.

    • Learn how to systematically think back on your experiences and draw lessons from them
    • Learn to manage the decision process rather than just the decision to add more value

    Leading with Disruptive Innovation

    This session takes you through an in-depth understanding of disruption, innovation, and disruptive innovation’s impact on business. Learn more about various methodologies and approaches in innovation and real-world use cases that provide deeper insights into the state of innovation and disruption today. Explore best practices in innovation, human-centric design, lean methodologies, and a multi-horizon portfolio approach to innovation.

    • Key factors driving disruption
    • Innovation engineering: Key principles
    • Multi-Horizon portfolio approach to innovation strategy
    • Looking forward: Industry 4.0 disruption – The next wave

      Dynamics of Decision Making

      The session helps to understand the importance of credibility. Learn through shared examples of leaders who created a better organizational culture by demonstrating credibility. Learn why we need to consider integrity as a personal discipline.

      • Learn through real-life scenarios where our credibility will be tested
      • Learn to manage your credibility to be more effective
      • Understand the importance of leader integrity and its relation to organizational success

      Emotional Intelligence

      The session teaches you, new skills in reading others and framing your interactions more effectively. It also helps in becoming more adept at speaking to the mood around you.

      • Measures to assess your emotional intelligence
      • Learn techniques for managing and using emotions as a leadership tool

      Social Intelligence

      Learn to effectively navigate interactions with others, build trust, and engage with differences to achieve impactful outcomes that surpass individual capabilities. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of how others respond to their actions, gain insights into how others perceive them, and refine their responses in moments of difference. This enhanced awareness and skill in managing interpersonal dynamics will empower leaders to foster a more collaborative and innovative organizational environment.

      • Understand the concept of social intelligence and its importance in leadership
      • Learn about the key drivers and elements of Social Intelligence
      • The session will provide insights into leading diverse teams, fostering an inclusive environment that leverages diverse perspectives for greater innovation and performance.

        Power and Influence

        The session helps in assessing social capital and enhancing it to achieve goals. It also teaches you the art and science of power and influence in organizations.

        • Understand network density and how networks must be broad, connective and dynamic
        • Understand the characteristics of influential leaders
        • Importance of networking and how to leverage networks and influence authority

        Communication and Story Telling

        The session attempts to help you project confidence and competence when communicating at the workplace, by helping you gain better awareness of your communication behaviors that build or hinder leadership presence.

        • 3 components of executive presence – Gravitas, Communication, and Appearance.
        • 5Cs framework to project executive presence from the book ‘Composure’
        • Learn the top 5 self-sabotaging behaviors that could affect one’s executive presence, non-verbal cues to avoid
        • Understand the common narrative arc and tools for effective storytelling
        • Translate key messages through sticky stories and communication

        Advanced Negotiation Strategies

        The session improves the negotiation abilities with the help of relevant tools, terminology, and practical negotiation tactics.

        • Learn about negotiation vocabularies like BATNA, Reservation Price, Trip Wire, Bargaining Zone and Target
        • Learn about the two dimensions of negotiation – the distribution and integration side (how to divide and expand the pie)
        • Understand the concept of logrolling
        • Create more situations where win-win is a possibility
        • Manage your emotions more effectively in negotiation situations

        Financial Acumen

        The session helps in harnessing key financial strategies for success. Also, it helps in the use of financial frameworks to enhance investment choices.

        • Margin vs turnover, Operating Leverage & Financial Leverage
        • Understand how to evaluate capital investments; key cash flow concepts; decision making tools, payback period and its cut off rule
        • Fundamentals of understanding the income statement & balance sheet, return on assets, sales revenue and net income
        • Application of financial ratios, understanding the company’s financial position, performance, and prospects

        Leading in Crisis

        The session demonstrates how you as leaders must understand and counteract the impacts of the VUCA world to lead more effectively.

        • Leading in a VUCA world
        • How to continually evaluate, adjust and build an offensive mindset in the modern environment
        • Demonstrating clear strategy and guidance to the organization
        • Keep an eye on the future by Assessing; Adapting and Sustaining Momentum
        • How to align systems processes and build the ability to communicate

        Year long access to 2000+ Courses

        Choose from over 2000+ courses that will enhance your knowledge and skills across business functions. With unlimited access to Cornell’s resource library, you will have the opportunity to learn something new, every day.

        Regular assessments and leaderboard

        Post-work assignments/tasks will be given after each session to enhance your skills on each topic taught during the LIVE session. The leaderboard scores you against your peers in the learning journey.

        Peer coaching and feedback

        Learn from high-achieving peers from around the globe and build your network. The cohort will be divided into triads. You will get a chance to interact, share and exchange ideas with your peers.

        Cohort Statistics

        Work Experience

        Work Experience

        Average Work Experience: 21 Years

        Industries

        • Financial Services

        • Information Technology

        • Manufacturing

        • Healthcare

        • Real Estate

        • Oil & Gas

        • Consulting

        • Hospitality

        • Edtech

        • Construction

        • Telecommunication

        • Retail

        • Entertainment

        • FMCG and Others

        Designations

        • Founder & Chief Executive Officer

        • Partner

        • Managing Director

        • Executive Director

        • Director

        • Group Chief Financial Officer

        • Chief Operating Officer

        • Chief Technology Officer

        • Chief Information Officer

        • Chief Experience Officer

        • President

        • Senior Vice President

        • General Manager

        • Business Heads

        Companies

        Companies

        All product and company names are trademarks™ or register® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

        Faculty (Indicative)

        Strategic Influence: Your Next Step To C-Suite | Cornell CXO Info Session by Prof. Michelle Duguid

        Hear from Neil Tarallo, Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurship

        Certificate

        Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be awarded a digitally verifiable certificate by Cornell University

        Certificate

        Note: Certificate image is for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to change at the discretion of Cornell University.

        Testimonials

        Very experienced faculty with deep understanding of their respective subjects.

        Deepak Agarwal

        Deepak Agarwal

        CEO, Kotak Mahindra UK Ltd.

        All the LIVE sessions were beneficial. It was a great learning experience. Recommend for senior leaders across industries

        Tareq Alzagha

        Tareq Alzagha

        Implementation Manager, YAS Holding

        Great program, one of the best experiences

        Mohamed Karim BENNIS

        Mohamed Karim BENNIS

        Group CFO, Etisalat Group

        Amazing program with enriching content, engaging LIVE session delivered by renowned Cornell faculty

        Rahul Rajpal

        Rahul Rajpal

        Director, Google

        "Succinct yet in-depth sessions by renowned Cornell faculty, all 100% LIVE. Very informative and enriching 6 months learning journey."

        Dr. Anu Jacob

        Dr. Anu Jacob

        Director, Cleveland Clinic

        "I enjoined the 6 months program and learned from all the sessions. Professors shared their experiences and case studies that really helped."

        Roger Marti

        Roger Marti

        Director Of Operation, IHG Hotels and Resorts

        "Excellent program. Courses were tailor-made to equip CXOs to face real-world issues and challenges while leading their organizations in today’s unpredictable climate.The availability of 2000+ on-demand courses on all possible topics is mind-boggling. Professors are experts in their domain with excellent industry connections."

        Jacob Mathew

        Jacob Mathew

        Chief Operating Officer, Adani Welspun Exploration Limited

        "Overall learning experience is very good. Professors have rich experience and they delivered their lectures very well. They used real life examples and cases to help us understand the topic."

        Siddharth Giri

        Siddharth Giri

        Director, HDFC bank

        "An excellent program. No doubt about it. Learned a lot."

        Eduardo Aspillaga

        Eduardo Aspillaga

        Digital Transformation Strategy Lead, IBM

        Who Should Apply

        The Cornell CXO Leadership Program caters to senior executives and leaders from diverse geographical locations, functional backgrounds, and industries, aiming to elevate their professional growth and excel in the ever-changing business landscape. This program is tailored for individuals seeking to enhance their strategic and leadership skills, providing a transformative experience that equips them to propel their organizations to new heights of accomplishment.

        • 10+ years of work experience and proven success in leading high performing teams / impactful projects

        • Have at least a Bachelor's degree

        • Country of residence at the time of enrolling must be Latin America, Europe, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, Far East

        Apply Now