Little in business or life gets done without a negotiation, so executive education programs that deal with mediation have the potential to deliver significant value for your professional and personal life. 

In executive courses in negotiation, participants, who come from broad array of backgrounds, learn foundational skills for managing complex and multinational negotiations in different cultures and regions — such as how to prepare, lead and adapt negotiations. This includes effective communication and coalition building, as well as leveraging social capital to negotiate successfully. 

Executive courses in negotiation also delve into the social psychology of negotiation, in terms of how to influence people and gain stakeholder buy-in. 

These hands-on programs enable participants to experiment with new techniques and test their negotiation effectiveness in the safety of the classroom. Through role plays and simulations of real-life business scenarios, led by expert faculty, participants learn to manage conflict and build trust, how to find alignment and achieve successful deals. 

In some cases, participants will be involved in hands-on activities, such as predicting their counterpart’s behavior, and dealing with “dirty tactics”.  

Through feedback from classmates, they take an objective look at their negotiation style. In some executive negotiation programs, they receive individual executive coaching to help develop their own personal style and play to their strengths. In doing so, they gain greater confidence, and develop a systematic approach for a variety of situations. 

They leave with a robust framework for negotiations, whether they’re online or in person, and learn how to align their strategy with strategic business objectives. Ultimately, participants learn how to create value for their organizations, make better decisions and deliver hard results. 

Here are the top 10 executive courses in negotiation:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming business and life more broadly. Referring to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that once required human intelligence, AI is being applied to a number of business settings to create new economic value. 

In a data-driven world, executives need a thorough understanding of the power of AI to boost their individual and organizational performance, as well as its ethical implications for wider society and the threats it represents. Indeed, by 2025 the global AI market is expected to be worth almost $60 billion. 

To compete in a tech-driven economy, many business leaders, managers and technical specialists are enrolling in executive education programs—in artificial intelligence or machine learning—now run by dozens of the world’s leading business schools. In these programs, participants will learn about the current capabilities and business applications of the technology, and its future potential. More than that, executives will learn how to manage integration projects and communicate with technologists. There are also lessons to be learnt in avoiding common pitfalls. 

Other courses focus on specific and significant economic sectors such as financial services, where AI and machine learning are driving radical changes in the decision-making processes of financial institutions. Here are the top 10 executive courses in AI and machine learning:

Companies are increasingly demanding leaders who empathetic and compassionate. Leaders who can motivate and engage employees, promote wellbeing and improve productivity. These concerns have come into sharper relief because of the coronavirus pandemic, the pressures of remote working, and the growing calls for greater diversity in the workplace.

In response to such calls, business schools and their executive education departments are not standing still. A number of schools have created courses focused on “positive leadership”, which focus on the virtues of trust, inclusivity, gratitude, and generosity. Participants learn how to transform working relationships so that employees are focused on collective gains.

Other courses focus on specific aspects of positive leadership, including diversity and inclusion, which has become a business imperative. Some schools empathize emotional intelligence, which helps leaders harness the power of emotions to boost motivation and performance. Many of the programs are action-orientated, with the executives working on real challenges faced by their companies, helping to diagnose dysfunctional processes and toxic cultures. They walk away with a concrete plan of action for change – and the tools to achieve it.