Inspiring the next generation of general managers and business leaders.

Transformative. Inspirational. Impactful.

Learn new strategies to focus your attention and explore new ways to approach the evolving complexities of your organisation as you take on more strategic responsibility.

The General Management Programme is designed to create effective and influential general managers and business leaders, and is enriched with a unique combination of personal development, world-leading business knowledge, reflective learning, and impactful coaching. You will redefine your leadership capabilities, and transform your network, your knowledge, and your career prospects. Position yourself amongst the next generation of leaders with this influential programme.

Critical Thinking

Build an anchored foundation of business knowledge that allows you to lead with influence across all levels and functions within your organisation.

Collaboration

Cultivate your leadership capabilities through assessing your strengths and identifying development priorities relative to leading a business, creating change and establishing an impactful leadership style.

Communication

Analyse and understand your leadership skills and develop a personalised action plan to inspire and transform your leadership style.


Creativity

Actively monitor and assess your knowledge, abilities, and performance to embed your learning individually and as a group, underpinned with coaching from trained faculty with a wealth of business experience.

At a glance

  • Dates
    • 08 Oct 2024
  • Duration6 modules over 9 months
  • LocationCranfield campus and virtual learning
  • Cost£13,950 + VAT
    Concessions available

Modules

The programme modules run on the following dates:


March 2024  October 2024
Launch
Opens 07 March 2024 (Live online) Opens 08 October 2024
Module 1 20 March 2024 (Live online)  5 November 2024 (Live online) 
Module 2 29 April - 1 May 2024 (Cranfield) 4 - 6 December 2024 (Cranfield)
Module 3 4 June 2024 (Live online) 14 January 2025 (Live online)
Module 4 26 - 28 June 2024 (Cranfield) 5 - 7 February 2025 (Cranfield)
Module 5 18 July 2024 (live online) 5 March 2025 (live online)
Module 6 11 - 13 September 2024 (Cranfield) 2 - 4 April 2025 (Cranfield)
Review and close 7 November 2024 (Live online) 12 June 2025 (Live online)



Who is this for?

Senior managers who:

  • Are increasingly working across teams or complex projects.
  • Need to develop a wider business perspective to lead organisational innovation.
  • Are moving from functional, specialist or technical positions into generalist manager roles.

Programme impact

Achieve your full potential as a business leader.

Identify new ways of looking at problems and become more demanding and ambitious about what is possible for you and your organisation.

For you:

  • Gain greater clarity on the strategic issues faced by your organisation’s key business functions.
  • Master cross-functional business leadership.
  • Understand how different functions fit together and the resulting impact on your business model.
  • Inspire and influence change beyond your area of expertise.
  • Future-proof your leadership capability, take a step back to look at your models of practice, and open up new ways of thinking, being and doing.
  • Identify and implement an effective plan to instil and lead behavioural and strategic change across your organisation.

For your organisation:

  • Enhanced cross-organisational collaboration.
  • Improved strategic and operational alignment.
  • Functionally generated and strategically aligned development initiatives.
  • Greater value delivered to your team and your wider organisation.
  • Skilled leaders in the effective management of conflicting stakeholder demands.
  • More effective strategic change implementation.

Testimonials



General Management Programme

General Management Programme brochure

Download the brochure to discover more about our General Management Programme.

Download brochure

What you'll learn

Elevate your business leadership

Our General Management Programme prepares you to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the emerging landscape and applying that to your own unique experience. As you examine your reality, explore concepts and how to apply them, professionally as well as personally, you will learn what connects you to your leadership potential..

Redefine your leadership capabilities

  • Transform from functional and operational manager to a confident, credible, and courageous general manager and business leader.
  • Develop a general management perspective framed by a journey of personal development that redefines your leadership capabilities.

Learn to build relationships that will engage and inspire

  • Relate, collaborate, influence, and communicate. Understand the importance of relationships and gain the confidence needed to lead business success by delivering through others.

Gain the courage to embrace change management

  • Lead with the conviction that enables you to continually seek new opportunities, and the agility to identify and manage constant change.

Develop your strategic mindset and create sustainable value

  • Accelerate your understanding and examine your business from a global perspective.
  • Effectively formulate and implement sustainable strategic decisions with significant impact on the value of the organisation.

Future-proof your leadership

  • Utilise a suite of development tools that enable you to maximise your potential and establish a leadership style that can withstand internal and external challenges to your organisation.

General Management Programme Structure

What you'll experience

Begin your future-focused learning journey

Engage and connect with your learning group, to explore our General Management Programme and individual learning journeys. Immerse yourself in a self-paced, online learning environment before you join your cohort at Cranfield.

  • Explore your online learning modules, which include: Strategy, Finance, Operations, Sustainability, Leadership and much more.
  • Form connections with your peer group through business simulations.
  • Engage in a live virtual 1:1 session with your coach to identify and shape your development needs.
  • Reflect on your current skillset to ensure you have clarity on what to achieve at the end of the programme.

Mastering cross-functional business leadership

Enrich your understanding and knowledge of cross-functional business leadership. Cultivate your organisational influence, explore the role of general management as well as your overall impact on the business model.

Topics include: Strategy, Operations, Economic Outlook, Future Trends, Sustainability, Finance, Complex Projects, Supply Chain Management and Leadership.

  • Discover how to create organisational value through leading and implementing change.
  • Understand how to influence across all levels of the organisation.
  • Explore competitive strategies and the transition from ideation to implementation.
  • Connect with Cranfield experts in relevant and topical business areas.
  • Examine the lens of personal, team and functional leadership.
  • Learn how meaningful sustainability strategy can create business and societal value.

Balancing implementation of business challenges and personal leadership

Reflect on your leadership capabilities to manage the broader complexities of your organisation and understand the demands of managing stakeholders appropriately.

  • Understand the importance of networking and your social capital in the wider context of business leadership.
  • Harness an effective toolkit to enhance your ability to effectively manage upwards.
  • Determine your existing strengths and how to optimise them for organisational impact.
  • Truly embed your learning by formulating a business improvement action plan, supported by peers and co-coaching groups.

Apply and Transform

Apply what you’ve learned, improve personal and organisational performance, and start your journey to becoming a confident business leader.

  • Embed and enhance your learnings back at Cranfield, reviewing the progress you have made against your business improvement action plan.
  • Reflect with your peers and faculty to obtain feedback, and create development targets based on your achievements so far.
  • Reconnect with your cohort to further cultivate your life-long network of supportive business leaders.

The next phase of your leadership career

Consolidate your continued development by taking a deep dive into the impact that you’ve had on your organisation to date.

Review your continuing personal journey and plan the next phase of your transformative leadership career.

The Cranfield Approach

The programme content is delivered over three modules as part of an immersive learning and growth experience. Between modules, you will apply your learning back in the workplace, whilst working on plans for your business area, which is supported by peer-to-peer coaching and formal coaching from the programme director and coaches.

  • Ongoing Coaching – Throughout the programme, you will benefit from coaching sessions following each module, plus a face-to-face review after six months of starting the programme and a virtual review after nine months.
  • Professional Development – To broaden your perspective on wider general management, and readiness to step up into an expanded role, the programme will focus on a range of organisational functions and the leadership skills required to deliver results, which includes: An integrated view of the business, Global economic trends, Strategy, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Supply chain and Sustainability.
  • Personal Growth – You’ll work to further enhance your range of organisational and interpersonal leadership skills, with content topics encompassing Organisational culture and change management models, Corporate and competitive strategy, understanding your business model, Influencing processes at senior levels and Politics, teams, and relationships.

Unique and practical programme features

  • Real-life business simulations with opportunities to build key personal and professional skills.
  • Transformational journey for each delegate that inspires, challenges and enlightens, offering new ways of thinking through real-life business problems.
  • An integrated suite of leadership development tools.
  • Peer-to-peer learning.
  • On-going coaching.
  • Cranfield renowned faculty – drawing on their research, thought leadership, global perspective on key issues and powerful insights.

Work on your organisational or team project

As a participant you will work on an organisational or team initiative, helping you to accelerate change and deliver powerful impact for your business.

Examples of organisational challenges recently addressed on the General Management Programme:

  • Establishing a leadership development programme for existing and aspiring leadership within the organisation.
  • Developing an organisational culture and productivity plan.
  • Restoring Psychological Safety within teams and organisation.
  • Enhancing the effectiveness of logistics, operations and customer experience.
  • Developing a new sales strategy.
  • Re-establishing role in a general management position.
  • Enabling and inspiring the Senior Management team to deliver business success.


Concessions

20% discount (tuition fee only) for Cranfield School of Management Alumni who have attended one of our eligible leadership programmes.

Accommodation and Location



How to apply

Next steps

If you have any further questions about the programme, or would like to discuss how we can support your needs, please get in touch with our advisor.

 

Register now   Download brochure   Book consultation

This course is provided by Cranfield Management Development Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of Cranfield University