How can you become a more authentic leader? How can you effectively raise your emotional and social IQ? And how can you experience what has been voted the most popular elective for 45 years running at Stanford Graduate School of Business? Stanford's Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives is the answer. For years this program has been transforming the lives of senior-level executives, helping them to unlock their true leadership potential. Now it's your turn—to confront, to challenge, to change.

Location: Chaminade Executive Conference Center in Santa Cruz, California
Program tuition includes private accommodations, all meals, and course materials.
Space is limited to preserve the low participant to faculty/coach ratio.

Overview

Immersive. Experiential. Insightful. Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives delivers a highly personalized learning experience with the ultimate goal of creating more productive, professional relationships. The program includes lectures from the Stanford faculty who pioneered and developed the course as well as "T-Group" sessions in which small, intimate groups of 12 experience personalized facilitation from Stanford faculty and Stanford-trained executive coaches. Held in Santa Cruz, California, with views of the Pacific Ocean, it's the only program we offer that takes place at an off-campus retreat so that you can disconnect, talk openly, and reach beyond your comfort zone.

Over six emotionally charged, academically-rigorous days, you'll observe how your individual behavior affects others in real time, practice key leadership skills with peer feedback, and learn to connect across differences. With other senior executives in your T-Groups, you'll learn through experiential-based activities and improve your abilities to authentically engage, communicate, and influence. It's truly a unique opportunity to hone the essential soft skills needed to ascend the corporate ladder and transition from a good leader to a remarkable one.

Faculty Director
Other Faculty
Carole Robin

The Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership, is the Director of the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows program and winner of the 2011-2012 MBA Distinguished Teaching Award. As a consultant and executive coach, she has been helping people and organizations thrive in the business, nonprofit, and public sectors. Her courses combine a high degree of experiential-based activities with case method, theory, and research to ensure rigor, relevance, and practicality.

Eugene D. O'Kelly II Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Emeritus

Lecturer in Organizational Behavior

Video Introduction
Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives
"Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives is a program where executives have an opportunity to develop their emotional and social intelligence and become more interpersonally skilled.” – Carole Robin

Meet faculty director Carole Robin and discover what it takes to become an authentic leader and hone the essential interpersonal “soft skills” you need for success.
Key Benefits

Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives will help you:

  • Assess and develop your personal style and behavior to engage with a wider range of constituents for more effective leadership
  • Learn to give and receive constructive feedback to strengthen performance and relationships
  • Engage in more productive interpersonal exchanges
  • Develop greater self-awareness to become a more effective and authentic leader
  • Learn practical skills to help improve your emotional intelligence
  • Apply program learnings to your specific work situation and commit to a set of concrete implementation goals
 
 
 
 
 
 

Program Highlights

THE POWER OF INQUIRY AND FEEDBACK
One of the most powerful tools in developing potential in yourself and in your team, is the effective use of feedback. In this session, faculty will help you strengthen your competency in giving and receiving regular, specific, and face-to-face feedback. Explore how feedback can be given in a way that is direct and impactful without harming relationships.

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE
Influence is the key to getting things done in today's organizations. Work and today’s work environment are becoming more complex and decentralized. Yet leaders still need to capture the right information and resources, gain cooperation, and implement solutions. Increasingly this involves having to influence peers not only within departments but also across business units and around the globe. This session will provide conceptual models, tools, and experiential activities to strengthen this critical leadership skill.

INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE, VULNERABILITY, AND AUTHENTICITY
Every day, leaders make choices regarding interpersonal interactions that impact their ability to influence others. This session will explore the relationship between vulnerability, authenticity, connection, and influence. It will examine the beliefs we hold, the choices we make with regard to what parts of ourselves we share in our interpersonal interactions, and how those choices can help us gain or lose influence with others.

FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS
Can you lead and inspire without feelings or emotions? Conveying passion requires emotion but how can you best express it to achieve your goals? Feelings and emotions are essential to leadership and yet not enough attention is paid to their role in a leader's professional success. Thinking and feeling are like the bass and treble lines of a musical score. They are not the same, but when both are congruent, they provide dimensionality, texture, and meaning to make our communication more complete. This session explores the role feelings play in our dealings with other people.

Who Should Attend?

Interpersonal Dynamics for High-Performance Executives is an intense, personal leadership program. It's specifically designed for:

  • Senior-level executives and general managers with at least seven years of management experience—from any industry, any size organization, and any functional area
  • High-potential executives and leaders who have recently ascended into powerful leadership roles
SAMPLE Participant Mix
01
02
03
Since my time at Stanford, I have had three promotions. The tools provided helped build strong relationships with my colleagues and company leaders. At Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, leadership created a position specifically for me. This led to an opportunity with UCB Pharmaceuticals, where I directed a national sales force. I now serve as vice president of government accounts for Walgreens.
– Michael Flowers
National Director, Federal Accounts
UCB
I learned so much about how I can develop my emotional skills to further develop my leadership skills. The concepts are simple, but extremely powerful. The week-long program was amazing and very revealing to me on a personal and professional level. I will continue to use these skills for the rest of my life.
– Brian Frantum
Former Vice President, Corporate Controller
Terra Industries Inc.
The Interpersonal dynamics course has been an eye opening experience. It took me out of my comfort zone and helped me connect with the leader I aspire to be. I truly believe that this experience was essential to get me to where I am, President and CEO of ThedaCare.
– Dean Gruner
President and CEO
ThedaCare
If you want to work hard to know yourself better and to practice expressing your feelings better to become a more efficient leader - this is for you.
– Jyrki Veranen
Country Leader
Capgemini Consulting

Facilities

 
 
 
 
01
Chaminade Executive Conference Center

Built high on a bluff, the Chaminade Executive Conference Center commands a panoramic view of the Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains. Chaminade's beautiful setting promotes balance in living and learning.

Woven into the academically rigorous sessions is the opportunity for participants to take advantage of the unique setting to explore, exercise, or contemplate in a secluded, tranquil environment.

02
Accommodations

Chaminade's spacious guest rooms offer the amenities business executives have come to expect, from feather beds and ultra-plush duvets to desks equipped with high-speed internet access.

The sleeping rooms feature views of the surrounding eucalyptus forest or of our resort grounds and heated swimming pool.

03
Dining

Each meal offers a vast buffet of locally inspired fare including vegetarian specialties. Chaminade's executive chef finds an abundant supply of fresh seafood and produce from the local Monterey Bay region. Every dish is prepared on site, and many foods are complemented with fresh herbs collected from Chaminade's own gardens.

Participants are invited to eat al fresco on the Sunset Terrace where they can continue their program discussions, enjoy the sun-warmed patio, and admire the scenic mountain view.

04
Meeting Facilities

Set high in the mountains, under crystal blue skies, Chaminade's location encourages participants to reenergize, focus, and engage in Stanford's intense learning experience.

The program is organized into general group sessions and T-Group break out sessions allowing maximum interaction among your peers and Stanford faculty.

05
Recreation

Chaminade offers several recreational options. They include: a state-of-the-are fitness center, a luxurious full-service spa, an outdoor heated swimming pool and Jacuzzis, lighted tennis courts and picturesque hiking trails.

06
Location

Chaminade Executive Conference Center is located on a hilltop in the lower Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Cruz, California. The closest airport is San Jose International Airport located 40 minutes from the facilities.

San Francisco International Airport is located 90 minutes from the facilities. Average temperatures in June range from a high 74ºF (23ºC) of to a low of 50ºF (10ºC). Chaminade is within a short drive of Big Basin Redwood State Park, the Pacific coastline, local wineries, Pebble Beach, and Monterey Bay.

Contact

Shalini Bhatia
Director, Programs and Marketing
Phone: +1.650.724.7409
Email: sbhatia1@stanford.edu


The Stanford Difference

The Place: Immerse yourself in innovation.
The Experience: Transform your thinking, your career, your company.
The Approach: Challenge yourself with research-based learning and real-world experience.