Leading Strategic Change: How to Really Deliver the Shift Your Organization Needs
MIT Sloan School of Management
Negotiation & Communication
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About Programme
Why attend Leading Strategic Change?
Many strategic change efforts fail, and almost all are harder to execute than they need to be. Why? And what can leaders do to increase the chances that their change is successful?
This 4.5-day course explains the four critical steps required to deliver strategic change and sustained performance improvement. Centered around a proven but in many ways counter-intuitive change model, the course enables participants to work on their own strategic change throughout the week and to leave with a detailed plan that they can immediately put into practice. Led by renowned MIT faculty, the course makes extensive use of case studies, table discussions, group work, and reflection.
The course is based on the “Step Up, Step Back” approach to leading strategic change, created by Dr. Elsbeth Johnson, the Faculty Director for this course. This approach requires leaders to step up and do more than they typically do in the early stages of the change; and then step back do less than they typically do in its later stages. This framework goes against much of what we think we know about how to lead change – and, therefore, helps focus on what leaders should do instead.
You will receive a copy of Dr. Johnson’s book at the start of the course.
During this week-long course, you will:
Share your own change project that you will use as your work example during the course
Clarify your "change narrative" to clearly communicate why the change is needed and what outcomes it will deliver
Understand why so-called "quick wins," although popular, are often toxic to fundamental strategic change and what to do instead in order to justify the more fundamental investments the change requires
Understand what you need to do (and what you'll need to avoid) in order to sustain the change that you’ve started, including how to remain focused and consistent about the change until it’s done
Course Topics
Programme Content
Day 1
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Setting the Scene
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Introducing the changes we're leading or working on
10:45 – 12:45 PM
What's wrong with how we currently lead change?
1:45 – 3:30 PM
Overview of the 'Step Up, Step Back' approach to leading change
3:45 – 5:15 PM
Reflection and application
5:15 – 6:00 PM
Learnings from today
6:00 PM
Group Dinner
Day 2
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Reflections so far
9:00 – 12:45 PM
Achieving Clarity: Communicating what you want
1:30 – 3:30 PM
Why quick wins can be toxic to strategic change
3:45 – 5:30 PM
What does this mean for my change?
5:30 – 6:00 PM
Learnings from today
Day 3
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Reflections so far
9:00 –11:00 AM
Refining our change narratives
11:15 – 12:45 PM
Practicing our change narratives
1:30 – 5:15 PM
Aligning the org around the change
5:30 – 6:00 PM
Learnings from today
Day 4
8:00 – 8:45 AM
Reflections so far
9:00 –10:30 AM
Experience from the real world
11:00 – 2:45 PM
Achieving focus and consistency
3:00 – 5:00 PM
Re-shaping culture to support the change
5:30 – 6:00 PM
Learnings from today
Day 5
8:00 – 8:45 AM
Reflections so far
9:00 –10:00 AM
Now what?
10:15 – 11:30 AM
Committing to change
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Final reflections & close
Programme Objective
Participants will leave this course with:
An understanding of the critical stages required to successfully lead a strategic change effort—and what each of these stages requires from leaders
Insight into what is likely to derail the change and how to manage these potential pitfalls
A clear, concrete, step-by-step action plan to set up the change—and those tasked with delivering it—for success
Programme Audience
Who should attend Leading Strategic Change?
This course is designed for mid- to senior-level executives tasked with leading strategic change in their organization and/or leading teams responsible for implementing change efforts. Participants need to arrive with the change they want to focus on for the duration of the course. This course is for you if:
You are about to kick off a strategic change and want to get it right the first time
Your current change effort is not working and you need to get it back on track
Your organization has a history of short-lived change and you need to do it differently this time
Programme Benefits
Action Plan
A clear, concrete, step-by-step action plan to set up the change—and those tasked with delivering it—for success
Networking
Designed for a global cohort of ambitious, professionals
Mens et Manus
Participate in practical and action-oriented sessions grounded in the latest research by MIT faculty thought leaders
Certificate
Confers a certificate of course completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management and counts toward the Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership
Testimonials
"Any leader and executive leading strategic change need ONLY this course to clarify what must be done and how it must be done"
George Tetteh O
"Attending MITs Leading for Strategic Change course last week was a breakthrough experience that delivered exactly what modern leaders need to operate in a highvelocity, technologydriven environment. The program brought together systems thinking, digitalera strategy, and enterpriselevel change frameworks that mirror the rapid transformation cycles we see across the IT industry. It challenged me to think and act like an architect of organizational evolution rather than simply a manager responding to change. The course equipped me with nextgeneration leadership tools strategic agility models, datadriven decision architectures, and crossfunctional systemsmapping practices all designed to help leaders drive alignment and momentum across complex organizations. MITs emphasis on adaptive execution, rapid iteration, and actionable insights gave me a clearer blueprint for accelerating agencywide modernization while reducing friction and organizational drag. Most importantly, the program strengthened my capacity to lead transformative change at scale. I left with a sharper, more futurefocused leadership mindset and an expanded set of operational strategies that I can leverage immediately to help move our agency in the right direction, and to do so rapidly, intentionally, and with missionaligned precision."
Daniel W
"Extremely good, highly relevant and ready to use information. The focus on making it applicable in our own organizations makes this significantly better than most other courses I've found."
Christian H
"I want to give a clear and honest warning to anyone considering this course: be prepared to be challenged. For me, the experience was intenseeven painful at timesbut ultimately extremely valuable. Elsbeth Johnson is direct, honest, and uncompromising. She doesn't shy away from showing you exactly where your current approach to leading strategic change may be falling short. If you're not open to critical feedback, this course may not be right for you. The week is very well structured. It takes you step by step through the key phases of leading strategic changenot just leadership in general. Youre not only introduced to solid frameworks, but you also work hands-on to apply them directly to your own change or transformation initiative. The course pushes you to think more deeply and critically about your current plan and how to improve it. If you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and face toughbut constructivefeedback, this course can significantly strengthen your ability to lead strategic change effectively. Its not easy, but its absolutely worth it."
Christian S
"The Leading Strategic Change program from MIT provides practical and insightful frameworks for effectively managing organizational change. It skillfully blends theory with real-world examples, emphasizing the importance of culture, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive leadership. The course exceeded my expectations by highlighting the role of emotional intelligence alongside strategic planning. Ive already applied several concepts in my work, leading to improved collaboration and smoother change initiatives. I highly recommend this program to anyone involved in driving strategic change or organizational development."
Bassim A
"The program offered a powerful and practical framework for leading change that truly lasts. It challenged common leadership assumptionslike over-relying on quick wins or personal charismaand instead focused on clarity, alignment, and system-level thinking. The content was grounded in real-world research, with insightful discussions and tools that are immediately applicable. The balance between theory and practice was excellent, and the facultys depth of experience added immense value. I now see strategic change not as a one-time push, but as a structured journey that requires thoughtful design and consistency. Highly recommended for leaders driving transformation."
Abdullah A
"So grateful for the week of extensive learning on leading big and hairy changes with the amazing professor Elsbeth Johnson. Your teaching and coaching has been of immense value Leading Strategic Change is one of the best Executive programs, I have ever participated in - to me it has been a transformational experience. The tools have sharpened my thinking and made me adjust the processes supporting our major change initiatives. Such a privilege to spend a week in Boston learning, practicing and reflecting in the company of great business leaders from vertically all parts of the . Thank you Elsebeth, thank you MIT Sloan"
Rasmus Sielemann C
"Elizabeth provided a comprehensive explanation of the concepts in leading strategic change, which helped me greatly in understanding and directing the business of our company"
Abdulrahman A
"This course was outstanding in giving practical and proven techniques to implement strategic initiatives for your organization, including honing your change message for your most challenging audience. All of the faculty, especially Dr Elsbeth Johnson, were engaging and were able to provide on-the-spot guidance tailored to each student's workindustry environment."
Christine N
"I thoroughly enjoyed attending this course and immersing myself in the learning environment. Elsbeth is a highly engaging instructor and an academic intellect from whom I have greatly learned about what matters in the transformational leadership. The best part of this course was the peer to peer learning set up where we could all engage in meaningful discussions. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is either enterting a strategic change in their organisation or someone who has completed one but want to learn on how to do it differently next time."
