Future Leaders

IMD Business School

General Management

About Programme

Have you been recognized as a rising leader and want to accelerate your growth and career? IMD’s Future Leaders expands your potential by building capabilities across three essential pillars: strategy, innovation, and leadership. Throughout this immersive and transformative journey, you will:

Your experience is further enriched by AI and innovation tools, enabling you to test ideas and shape solutions relevant to your context and industry. Intensive leadership development (including a weekend Alpine experience) builds the self-awareness, resilience and agility needed to transition to higher levels of leadership. Faculty, coaches and your peer cohort support you every step of the way, fostering continuous learning and reflection. Discover the program content .

If you are an HR professional responsible for nurturing your organization’s future leaders, discover how partnering with IMD’s Future Leaders program can develop business acumen and deliver measurable business impact through a value creation project. Find out more here .

Strengthen business acumen

with core fundamentals – strategy, finance, marketing, and innovation – grounded in real-world complexity.

Lead with greater self-awareness and resilience

leveraging reflection, coaching, and feedback to adapt leadership style and increase impact.

Create tangible business value

by tackling a real challenge from your company or industry.

Develop your entrepreneur mindset

Use AI and technology to bring creative, entrepreneurial approaches to real business problems.

Expand your network and join a trusted community

that fosters long-term collaboration, shared learning, and support.

This program is part of our broader General Management portfolio for ambitious executives , designed to strengthen strategic leadership, drive organizational performance, and prepare leaders to navigate complex business challenges.

Programme Content

Step 1 – Set up for success

LiVe virtual, 2 half-days

In this first step, we kick off the program together to ensure that you get the best value for yourself and your organization. During these liVe sessions, you will meet other participants from home learning groups. You will dive into an exploration of today’s complex business challenges and what these mean for you as an emerging leader going forward.

Step 2 – Master business fundamentals

Online, 8 weeks, 8 hours a week

During this online component, you will master the core business fundamentals and deep dive into the key building blocks of business:

Strategy design and execution

Business finance

Digital marketing

Innovation

Customer centricity

AI and digital resilience

Value/supply chains

Business and society

This component of the program is designed to build and strengthen your business acumen to enable you to lead confidently within cross-functional management roles. Over this period, you will also work on your in-company business project, as well as on short, applied team projects. You will engage regularly with your mentor, coach, and leadership group.

Step 3 – Lead tomorrow’s challenge

On campus, 10 days

In this module, you will join us on campus to consolidate your learning and experience. Through an immersive integration, you will practice and expand on foundational topics covered in Step 2. You will deepen your knowledge by applying these concepts to increasingly relevant business challenges including digital transformation, high-paced innovation, and business sustainability.

During this time, you will also continue to work on your in-company challenge so you can make the connection between theory and practice to bring real value to your organization. Through a leadership lab in the mountains, you will further enhance and refine your leadership skills, discover your individual purpose, and experiment with new ways of being and relating to others.

Step 4 – Move into your new future

LiVe virtual, 1 day

In this final step, you will present and get feedback on the progress you have made on your in-company business project from both your peers and key stakeholders within your organization. You and your class will celebrate your success and commit to future action.

Testimonials

"The program gives very valuable access and a starting point for a deeper dive into leadership and general management topics. I feel I have gained a 360-degree insight into what is important today and in the future, and I really appreciate that many leadership learnings are science-based"

Mike Ruben

Head of Control Center, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, Germany

"If someone had told me how inspired and full of energy I would leave the program, I would probably have shrugged it off as good salesmanship. The faculty support and commitment made the program unforgettable. My executive coach, and working group, gave me valuable insights that enabled me to develop. In addition to the impressive learning content, it was the personal connection and network with participants that made these 10 days so special."

Alexander Lanthemann

Head of Recruitment & HR Systems, Micarna SA (part of Migros Industry), Switzerland

"Faculty really make the topic of leadership approachable. The resilience and recovery piece was new and refreshing. I’m feeling grateful to have shared with this incredible cohort of Future Leaders at IMD, and to have met and learned from so many esteemed professors."

Marijke Brenninkmeijer

Strategic Business Leader – Retail

"Advice from program mentors was key. I never realized before that mentors can really help you in furthering your career."

Liesbeth Haspeslagh

Germany

"I gained a lot of useful theory which I could apply and test right away. My horizons have expanded in so many ways and made me a better leader. I’ve become much more self-aware. Also, I did not know the importance of breathing as part of an overall resilience strategy. The program has been invaluable. All the faculty and team at IMD are absolutely outstanding!"

Raphael Schmid

Senior Early Stage Development Scientist, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Belgium

"Inspirational. Impactful. This program empowers you to transform the way you work and the way you develop your career."

Elie Bourdilloud

Chief Commercial Officer, Executive Committee Member, Aon, Switzerland

"It’s an incredible, transformative journey, providing deeper insights that turn conventional concepts of strategy, finance, marketing and leadership completely on their heads. More than this Future Leaders shines a brighter light on the importance of finding opportunities to contribute to broader society and making a positive impact beyond ourselves."

Conor Quinn

Head of M&A, LEXR, Switzerland

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Anonymous

Head of Sales, Global FMCG, BT, Switzerland

Testimonial Source