London Business School Senior Executive Programme 2026 Guide: Curriculum, Faculty and Leadership Impact

Why the LBS Senior Executive Programme Stands Apart

The Senior Executive Programme at London Business School occupies a unique position in the global executive education landscape. First delivered in 1966, the programme has spent nearly six decades shaping the thinking and leadership capabilities of senior executives from every continent. With over 4,300 alumni, it represents one of the most established and impactful general management programmes available to leaders at the height of their careers.

What distinguishes the LBS SEP from other senior leadership programmes is its fundamental premise: that the key to transforming organisations lies in leaders who are willing to transform themselves. This is not a programme about acquiring technical skills or functional knowledge. It is a deeply immersive experience designed to challenge assumptions, expand strategic horizons, and fundamentally shift how senior leaders think about their role, their organisations, and their impact on the world.

The programme draws upon the latest research from world-class faculty, combines teaching with powerful psychometric development tools and executive coaching, and leverages London itself as an experiential learning environment. For senior executives evaluating premium executive education programmes, the LBS SEP consistently ranks among the most transformative options globally.

Programme Structure and Flexible Formats

The LBS Senior Executive Programme spans four weeks of intensive in-person learning at the London Business School campus in Regent’s Park, one of London’s most prestigious addresses. Recognising that senior executives face demanding schedules, the programme offers two distinct format options to accommodate different availability constraints.

Modular Format

The modular option divides the four weeks into two separate two-week modules, separated by a six to eight week interval. This gap is intentionally designed as a workplace application period where participants experiment with new concepts, test strategies in their real organisational context, and return to the second module with practical insights and refined questions. This format is offered twice per year.

Continuous Format

The continuous option delivers all four weeks consecutively, providing a deeply immersive experience without interruption. This format is offered once per year and suits executives who prefer concentrated learning and can commit to an extended period away from their organisations.

Both formats include onsite accommodation at the LBS campus, along with health and wellbeing facilities that support the intensity of the programme. A pre-programme phase includes an onboarding call with the Programme Director, access to preparatory materials, personal and organisational self-assessment exercises, and a refresher on accounting and financial value creation.

Curriculum Deep Dive: Leadership, Strategy, Change and Impact

The SEP curriculum is organised around four interconnected thematic pillars, each occupying approximately one week of the programme. Together, they form a comprehensive framework for senior leadership development that addresses both personal growth and organisational transformation.

Week 1: Leadership

The programme opens by exploring the complex demands of modern leadership — transformation, mindset, behaviours, diversity, longevity, and globalisation. Participants examine how the leader’s role has evolved from managing organisations to being responsible for organisational transformation. An interactive session with an improvisation coach helps participants boost their presence and visibility, developing the communication skills essential for C-suite effectiveness.

Week 2: Strategy

The strategy module brings the latest thinking in strategic innovation, disruption, and digital transformation. Participants learn to address complexity with resilience and confidence, tackling complex strategic issues using metrics and tools for evaluating corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and sustainable competitive advantage. The emphasis is on building a broader strategic mindset that capitalises on emerging opportunities.

Week 3: Change

After the workplace application period (in the modular format), participants return to reframe their mindset and behaviours as active agents of change and influence. This module explores purpose-led organisations, building brand value and distinctive propositions, and devising strategies to build and diversify professional network value. The focus shifts from understanding change to becoming its catalyst.

Week 4: Impact

The final week focuses on dismantling bureaucracy, unleashing innovation through experimentation, and exploring new entrepreneurial business models. Participants grow their personal impact by devising a plan to focus energy, skills, and new ideas based on cumulative programme learning. A reconnection with the executive coach helps participants crystallise their future goals and action plans.

World-Class Faculty and Guest Contributors

One of the SEP’s greatest assets is its faculty. The programme is delivered by 13 LBS professors from diverse disciplines, supplemented by guest lecturers and industry practitioners. This breadth ensures participants receive multiple perspectives on leadership, strategy, and organisational transformation.

Among the faculty, several names carry exceptional weight in the global management community. Gary Hamel, Visiting Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, is widely regarded as one of the most influential business thinkers alive, known for his work on management innovation. Herminia Ibarra, holder of the Charles Handy Chair in Organisational Behaviour, is a leading authority on leadership and career transitions. Costas Markides, occupying the Robert P Bauman Chair in Strategic Leadership, brings expertise in strategic innovation and breakthrough thinking.

Other notable faculty include Randall Peterson (team and organisational leadership), Dan Cable (purpose and strengths-based performance), Andrew J Scott (macroeconomics and global capital markets), and Niro Sivanathan (negotiations, influence, and decision-making). The Programme Director, John Dore, works with each participant from onboarding to graduation, ensuring a coherent and personalised learning journey. Explore more about how world-leading business schools structure their executive education offerings.

Learning Methodology and Experiential Elements

The SEP deliberately avoids adhering to a single learning methodology. Instead, it integrates multiple approaches to create a rich, multi-dimensional learning experience that accommodates different learning styles and maximises retention and application.

Faculty-led classes draw on cutting-edge research, thought leadership, and global perspectives. Industry practitioners share hard-won experiences and offer inside views of innovative businesses. International case studies present real-life business problems for discussion and debate. Experiential learning features unique performance, presentation, and decision-making simulations that push participants out of their comfort zones.

Perhaps most distinctive is the integration of psychometric tools with one-to-one executive coaching. Participants create personalised development plans based on rigorous self-assessment, receive ongoing coaching throughout the programme, and leave with actionable strategies for continued growth. The peer learning component is equally powerful — the diversity and seniority of the cohort means every conversation, meal, and informal interaction becomes a learning opportunity.

Participant Profile and Global Diversity

The LBS SEP attracts what the school describes as its most senior and experienced executive education cohort. Participants typically bring 15 to 20 years of management experience and hold positions of significant organisational influence. The typical attendee is one or two levels from CEO, serving as a regional or country head, business unit director, executive committee member, or C-suite leader of a mid-sized organisation.

The global diversity of the classroom is exceptional. Based on a three-year average, 31 percent of participants come from continental Europe, 24 percent from the United Kingdom, 13 percent from South East and East Asia, and 12 percent from the Middle East. The remaining participants represent Australasia (7 percent), Africa (5 percent), Latin America (3 percent), Central and Western Asia (3 percent), and North America (2 percent).

This diversity is not incidental — it is central to the programme’s value proposition. Senior leaders increasingly operate in global contexts, and the SEP classroom provides a microcosm of the cross-cultural complexity they navigate daily.

Fees, Scholarships and Application Process

London Business School positions the SEP as a premium executive education experience, and the investment reflects this positioning. While specific fees are updated regularly and should be confirmed directly with LBS, the programme typically represents a significant investment by the participant’s sponsoring organisation — consistent with the seniority level targeted and the calibre of the experience delivered.

Notably, LBS offers a limited number of scholarships for outstanding female leaders from around the world, reflecting the school’s commitment to advancing gender diversity in senior leadership. Interested candidates should contact the SEP team early in the application process to discuss scholarship eligibility.

The application process involves direct engagement with the LBS executive education team. Prospective participants can reach the SEP team at london.edu/sep, by phone at +44 (0)20 7000 7391, or by email at sep@london.edu. Given the seniority of the cohort and limited class sizes, early enquiry is recommended.

Career Outcomes and Alumni Network

The impact of the LBS SEP extends far beyond the four weeks of classroom learning. Upon completion, participants join the LBS Executive Education Alumni network — a global community of over 17,000 executives spanning 150 countries. This network provides ongoing access to events, resources, and connections that continue to generate value throughout a career.

SEP cohorts maintain particularly strong bonds, with annual reunions that bring former classmates together to renew connections and share experiences. The testimonials from programme alumni speak to the transformative nature of the experience. Johan Thijs, Group CEO of KBC Group, describes it as having “totally changed my mindset.” Terry Dennis, Managing Director at Citigroup, states that “the Senior Executive Programme has doubled my ambition.” Catherine Faiers, COO of Autotrader UK, values how it “challenges you to think about who you are, where you are and what you want to be doing.”

For sponsoring organisations, the SEP delivers measurable returns: preparation for digital transformation and sustainability challenges, investment in the next generation of senior leadership, a culture of experimentation and innovation, and the reconceptualisation of critical global challenges as profitable growth opportunities. Learn more about how leading institutions develop senior leadership capabilities across our university programme guides.

London as Your Executive Classroom

The LBS SEP leverages London’s unique position as a global business, cultural, and political hub. Off-campus experiential sessions take participants to venues including the Design Museum, the House of Commons, and leading businesses — exposing them to diverse perspectives on innovation, governance, and leadership that cannot be replicated in a traditional classroom setting.

The campus itself, located in Regent’s Park, provides an inspiring environment for intensive learning. The combination of world-class academic facilities, onsite accommodation, and health and wellbeing resources creates a self-contained environment where participants can fully immerse themselves in the programme without the distractions of daily professional life.

London’s status as one of the world’s leading financial centres, home to diverse industries and global headquarters, and a melting pot of cultures and ideas makes it an ideal backdrop for a programme focused on global leadership. Participants regularly cite the London experience as an integral part of the programme’s value, providing inspiration and connections that extend well beyond the formal curriculum.

How the LBS SEP Compares to Other Senior Leadership Programmes

The global executive education market offers several programmes targeting senior leaders, including Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, INSEAD’s International Directors Programme, and IMD’s Advanced Strategic Management. Each brings distinct strengths, and the right choice depends on individual learning objectives, geographic preferences, and organisational context.

The LBS SEP’s competitive advantages centre on its London location and the unique experiential learning opportunities it enables, its exceptional faculty breadth with 13 professors spanning multiple disciplines, the flexible modular format that allows workplace application between modules, and its nearly 60-year track record of transforming senior leaders. The programme’s focus on personal transformation — rather than purely strategic or functional content — also distinguishes it from more analytically oriented alternatives.

For organisations investing in their most senior talent, the LBS SEP represents a programme with an unmatched combination of academic rigour, experiential learning, personal development, and global networking — all delivered in one of the world’s great cities.