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Organizational Leadership Online Program - IMD Business School Organizational Leadership Online Program - IMD Business School Organizational Leadership Online Program - IMD Business School
Online program
Organizational Leadership

Build a Leadership Operating System that drives results

Online program

Organizational Leadership

Build a Leadership Operating System that drives results

Location
Online
Length
5 weeks
Fee
CHF 1,950
Next program starts
02 March 2026

Design an organizational environment that powers performance

As you advance in your leadership journey, your role becomes less about individual decisions and more about shaping the environment where others can succeed. IMD’s Organizational Leadership online program empowers you to lead in this new reality where success depends on the culture and systems you create.

The program challenges traditional leadership models and introduces a practical framework to help you build a high-performance culture. You’ll explore how to maximize your impact by improving and adapting the working environment at both the team and organizational levels so your employees can thrive.

At the heart of the program is the concept of a Leadership Operating System (OS), which you design to guide how your team functions, aligns, and performs. Your OS becomes your impact as a leader and the foundation of your legacy.

Through research insights, tools, and case studies, you’ll learn how to create the conditions for sustained performance by focusing on three critical elements – trust, clarity, and momentum.

You’ll gain a new lens on leadership, and a practical system you can apply immediately to elevate culture and drive results.

Drive trust, clarity, and momentum

Master the three key elements that underpin a high-performance culture and learn how to influence each through practical levers.

Develop agility

Develop agile leadership skills that allow you to quickly adapt as the context changes.

Know where to focus

Understand where your leadership input is most valuable, and where it has the most impact.

Gain applicable insights

Learn from leadership development experts, and draw insights from real-life case studies.

Create your action plan

Build a Leadership OS action plan specific to your organization that is ready for immediate implementation.

Is this program right for you?

Answer a few quick questions to discover if this program aligns with your goals and experience.

Do you need more information?

Talk with a Program Advisor to get personalized guidance and answers to your questions.

 - IMD Business School
You and your class

You are a senior leader ready to build high-performance cultures, an HR or organizational development professional shaping trust and clarity in today’s workplace, or an emerging leader looking to scale your impact and succeed in bigger roles.

Program content

Your learning journey takes 5 weeks. Each week requires a time commitment of 4–6 hours and includes clear learning objectives and deliverables. You will be accompanied by a dedicated executive coach who provides weekly feedback and support, helping you apply what you learn to your own context.

Unit 1: The Leadership Operating System
  • Uncover the limitations of traditional leadership models and engage with a transformative new approach that redefines what leadership truly means in today’s complex environments.
  • Examine the concept of Leadership Operating Systems (OS) and understand why conventional leadership models fall short.
  • Recognize the importance of a Leadership OS in navigating contextual, cultural, and organizational dynamics.
  • Break down the three essential components that make up a Leadership OS and how they interconnect.
Unit 2: Building trust
  • Understand the role of trust in the Leadership OS and why it’s crucial to build and sustain it.
  • Examine key principles and practical approaches for developing trust as a leader.
  • Learn how a sense of being cared for influences employee performance and job satisfaction.
  • Recognize the importance of fostering psychological safety to empower employees to take initiative and make decisions.
  • Discover strategies to help employees feel supported, valued, and psychologically safe.
Unit 3: Creating clarity
  • Understand why clarity is essential for minimizing confusion and increasing organizational focus and impact.
  • Explore key elements and practical methods leaders can use to create clarity.
  • Examine how accountability drives concentrated effort, shared ownership, and ethical behavior.
  • Discover how fostering a strong sense of purpose boosts employee motivation, satisfaction, and teamwork.
  • Identify effective strategies for building both accountability and purpose to strengthen clarity within your organization.
Unit 4: Generating momentum
  • Understand why generating momentum is essential for sustaining energy and overcoming cultural challenges.
  • Explore the key elements and leadership techniques that help create and maintain momentum.
  • Learn how empowering employees enhances motivation, sparks innovation, and encourages collaboration.
  • Consider the role of confidence in driving improved individual and team performance.
  • Identify practical strategies to foster confidence and empowerment among employees to build lasting momentum within your organization.
Unit 5: Making it happen – leaving your leadership imprint
  • Identify the specific behaviors and actions required to create a meaningful leadership legacy.
  • Examine the challenges and nuances of leading in times of uncertainty.
  • Build a clear, actionable plan for rolling out your Leadership OS within your organization.
  • Reflect on your key insights and learnings from the program to guide your next steps.

One-on-one coaching

Throughout your online learning, you’ll be accompanied by an experienced IMD executive coach who will challenge you, encourage you, and provide valuable feedback on your weekly assignments. Together, you’ll dive deeper into the program content and make it meaningful to your own professional context. Your interactions will take place via video, in writing, and over the phone.

An online program participant having a coaching session via video - IMD Business School

Achieve your goals

Your expert coach helps you:

Define

Define your learning objectives and stay on track.

Review

Review your progress on a weekly basis.

Overcome

Overcome your challenges.

Apply

Apply what you learn to your own context.

 - IMD Business School

Our research found that leaders of high-performing companies create the environment -the operating system- in which trust, clarity and momentum flourish.

Read more

Shlomo Ben-Hur Program Co-Director
 - IMD Business School

Leadership is less about personally driving results and more about creating the right conditions for others to deliver. Impact that leaders have is the environment, or operating system, they create for their team and business.

Read more 

Nik Kinley Program Co-Director
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Real learning. Real impact.

When we say “real impact”, we mean it. After attending an IMD online program in 2024, 98% of participants stated:

“I gained fresh knowledge and insights.”

“I gained practical tools and ideas.”

“I could better choose and focus on priorities.”

“I felt more confident about myself.”

 - IMD Business School
The IMD difference

Designed for impact and delivered for you, IMD’s online programs help you achieve your aspirations wherever you are in your career or the world. Here’s what makes the IMD online program experience exceptional.

Access to thought leadership

Tap into the expertise of IMD’s faculty – globally recognized experts in their fields – wherever you are.

Personalized coaching

Benefit from one-on-one support from an experienced executive coach who helps you apply new insights to your own context.

Global peer interaction

Collaborate with participants from around the world through group and pair work that challenges your thinking and broadens your perspective.

Flexible format

Engage in a structured yet flexible learning experience that enables you to progress at your own pace and complete weekly assignments around your busy schedule.

Applied learning for real impact

Apply what you learn right away through practical assignments designed to make a direct impact on your work.

Next start & fee

Length: 5 weeks (4-6 hours per week)
Application deadline closes 7 days before the session starts.

Dates
2 Mar – 5 Apr 2026
Location
Online
Length
5 weeks
Price
CHF 1,950
Dates
18 May – 21 Jun 2026
Location
Online
Length
5 weeks
Price
CHF 1,950
Dates
28 Sep – 1 Nov 2026
Location
Online
Length
5 weeks
Price
CHF 1,950

Application deadline closes seven days before the session starts.
All fees quoted are exclusive of any value-added or other indirect taxes that may be due in any country.
IMD reserves the right to modify the program dates, location, and fee at any time.

Join as a team

A team from the same company that enrolls together to the same online program benefits from a special rate (every 10th participant joins the program for free). We can also work with you to customize learning objectives to your team’s goals, enabling you to develop a common approach to your specific organizational challenges. Contact us to explore the best solution for you.

IMD Online Executive Certificate - IMD Business School
Advance your career with IMD’s Online Executive Certificates

Ready to elevate your career and personal development? IMD’s Online Executive Certificates deliver immersive, fully online experiences designed to deepen your expertise and sharpen your skills in key business areas.

Choose between three certificate options – Leadership, Strategy, or Digital Acceleration – to take charge of your growth and propel your executive career to new heights. The Online Executive Certificate is an accredited Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) and grants you access to IMD’s dynamic global alumni community.

Start your journey today.

 - IMD Business School
One step closer to joining IMD alumni network

Successful completion of this program takes you one step closer to joining IMD’s powerful alumni network.

130k+ alumni

Networking

250+ events per year

Communities

50+ clubs worldwide

Resources