Executive education courses in finance deliver among the most tangible returns: they aim to raise the profitability of organization and generate shareholder value. Many executive courses in finance are run by the world’s top business schools in global financial centers like London or New York City. 

Many of the programs are for non-finance executives looking to get up to speed on the fundamentals of corporate finance – cash flow management, valuations, mergers and acquisitions. From there, participants learn how to evaluate investment opportunities and acquire assets and to create shareholder value. They also learn how corporate funding decisions are made, and how to win finance for their projects and teams. 

Some are certificate programs that enable participants to tailor the learning to their professional needs by choosing from a wide array of course options that come together into a single qualification. 

Often, the programs cover novel technologies such as financial technology (fintech), artificial intelligence and machine learning in finance, with participants learning how to harness the power of technology to make better business decisions and to boost efficiency and accuracy. 

The best executive courses in finance tend to be short, lasting a few days to a few weeks, either in person, online or a combination of delivery methods. Here are the top 10: 
 

Corporate surveys continually show that soft skills — including communication, leadership, team working and emotional intelligence — continue to be critical to career success. Today, this is as true in office settings as it is in the virtual world, where video conferences, chats, and emails require different sets of soft skills. 

Fortunately, there are a number of great executive education programs that help leaders to hone these important abilities. Many of the programs help executives to sharpen their communication skills to deliver praise, build rapport and become more persuasive. 

Many of the soft skill-oriented executive courses focus on interpersonal dynamics. People skills are vital to developing strong business relationships and to engage with others more deeply. Participants in these executive programs in soft skills also hone their leadership abilities, learning how to help others realize their potential or confront poor performance or toxic behavior. 

Many of the courses are about leading with purpose, authenticity and humanity, putting employee wellbeing at front of mind. Leading with empathy, communication and engagement can improve organizational performance. 

Other executive programs focus on emotional intelligence, with participants learning skills for building high performance teams, resolving conflict and managing effectively.

See below for the Top 10 Executive Courses to Improve Your Soft Skills.

Most organizations are under enormous pressure to change the way they do business, sometimes radically, while sustaining or improving organizational performance. Today’s global business environment is characterized by upheaval, and is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. 

The skills required to strategize, implement and sustain organizational change have never been in greater demand than they are today. But in many organizations, executives meet manifold challenges and are often stymied by risk aversion and individual resistance to change. 

Happily, there are a whole host of executive education courses in managing organizational change. The programs help participants to develop agile organizational cultures and respond to rapid and accelerating changes in business and society, often driven by technological developments. 

Participants in these executive courses learn how to diagnose organizational needs, develop a plan for change, as well as different implementation strategies. They discover ways to anticipate and mitigate organizational uncertainty and challenges, such as employee disinterest, and overcome them through stakeholder management, strategic leadership, design thinking and communication. 

In the best executive courses in organizational change, participants also receive feedback from expert faculty and others, and on some programs, they benefit from a post-program consultation with professors. The participants leave with powerful methods for cooperation, strategic thinking and creative problem solving, which can boost organizational performance. 

Management consulting is one of the most popular - and lucrative - career paths that can also set you up for a successful transition into the corporate world. Coveted for its stimulating variety of client work across industries and functions, the industry is dynamic and diverse. 

An executive education program in consulting can help people to get ahead in this dynamic world. Due to their popularity, some business schools even run entire executive programs specifically in management consulting. Generally on these courses, participants are taken through the various phases of a strategy project including defining and structuring the problem, conducting analysis, developing and communicating recommendations. This includes managing stakeholder expectations, drawing on diverse perspectives and building trust with clients.

Many of the best executive courses in consulting may also include a practical component where students consult real companies - an opportunity to put academic theory into practice in the real business world. 

Other schools run courses in related fields such as strategic management, problem-solving, product management and digital transformation. This helps consultants who wish to specialize and carve out a niche for themselves. 

Communication is one of the most important components of effective leadership, and its relevance was highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic when leaders were forced to take on a more communicative and direct management role. 

Business schools have responded by giving communication much greater prominence in their teaching. Many institutions now run entire executive education programs dedicated to corporate and leadership communication. 

The programs use research and practice-based methods to develop participants’ communication skills for a variety of contexts including the new virtual world of work. 

These executive programs are hands-on, with participants learning through a combination of communications theory, role-play, interactive presentations and discussions.

They also develop their “executive presence”, or learn how their intent, emotion, purpose, vocal tone and physical presence can impact, influence and inspire people.

These high-impact executive programs help participants to create a more productive workplace, through managing difficult conversations and building trust. Students also explore diversity and inclusion and will become more self-aware. 

These communication-oriented executive courses are often taught by both leading academic faculty and visiting business practitioners. They are delivered online, in person or a mix of the two modalities. Some are short, lasting for a few days full-time while others are delivered part-time over a period of several weeks.
 

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the pressures on health systems across the globe, requiring innovative solutions to manage and improve the delivery of care. A number of business schools thus report a rise in demand for their executive education programs that target the healthcare sector. 

Some of the best executive courses in healthcare are delivered through partnerships run by schools across multiple continents, giving students a global perspective and opportunities for even more extensive networking. Some of the courses are delivered jointly with healthcare organizations, which ensures that the curriculum remains responsive to industry demands so that alumni can hit the ground running in their leadership roles. 

The programs offer an interactive learning experience, with participants often working on their own real healthcare issues as part of their course. Many of the programs focus on innovation and digitization in the healthcare sector, and may even cover subjects such as design thinking.

The programs are wide-ranging in their length, spanning a few days to a couple of years, but all are delivered part-time and most offer a hybrid experience, blending in person teaching with remote study. 

For the best healthcare executive programs, the admissions process may be highly selective and the programs draw senior executives and policymakers, though some courses are specifically aimed at nurturing the next generation of healthcare leaders and target doctors who are just starting to amass management responsibilities. 

As the world grapples with systemic challenges such as climate change, inequality and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, leaders are being called upon to embrace a more humanistic style of management and nurture their social and emotional skills.

A number of executive education programs have stepped into this fray, offering participants the chance to become better corporate citizens. Much of the training will focus on inclusive leadership, exploring unconscious bias as well as creating a sense of belonging for employees. The courses are about how to foster diversity and inclusion through self-reflective exercises, interactive sessions and group work.

Other programs introduce participants to the ‘social sector’, from nonprofits to impact investing, sustainability, social enterprise. All of these courses are about how to promote the health and wellbeing of employees, while also improving the financial performance of the company and making better strategic choices. Ultimately, participants will be looking to make a positive difference in the world. 

See the best Executive Courses in Humanistic Leadership below. 

Social entrepreneurship and nonprofit organizations are part of a rapidly growing movement that seeks to create societal value and protect the environment alongside generating economic value. A number of business schools offer excellent executive education programs for managers who operate in this dynamic and rewarding space. 

The programs typically offer a flexible schedule, practical application of classroom learning in the workplace and a sophisticated curriculum offering a strong foundation in nonprofit management and leadership. The executive courses help mission-driven leaders develop their strategy, financial and fundraising skills. Participants also learn a great deal from one another. 

The programs will either be either for social enraptures or nonprofit leaders. Participants who are social entrepreneurs will develop entrepreneurial skills, learning how to integrate design thinking and social innovation, in addition to measuring the impact of their social venture model.  The nonprofit executive courses focus on strengthening people’s leadership capabilities and encouraging them to spark innovation and lead change within their organizations. 

Building and leading a diverse workforce has become a key focus for executives in every business sector and geography in recent years, reflecting social movements such as MeToo and Black Lives Matter, along with the growing body of evidence proving that diverse team outperform. 

Building an inclusive workforce — one that takes into consideration characteristics including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation — is widely seen as the key to unleashing innovation and creativity, along with making better business decisions. It’s also a moral imperative.

However, creating a diverse organization is no easy feat, and business schools, who have their own social responsibility, are creating executive education programs focused on diversity and inclusion, whether that’s courses designed for LGBT executives, women in leadership or executives more broadly who want to build their self-awareness and develop their intercultural skills. 

Participants in these programs will develop an inclusive mindset and learn how to work within and lead diverse teams, as well as how to mitigate bias through self-reflective exercises and group work. They also learn to tackle difficult questions and issues like privilege. 

Increasingly, demand is rising for corporate leaders who consider more than just the bottom line: they include environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors in their organizational strategy. 

Leaders are being urged by consumers, investors, regulators, and society to shift their methods of value creation as environmental and societal concerns have grown. Sustainability is now a business imperative. 

And as such, a growing number of business schools provide executive education courses in corporate sustainability leadership, which cover ESG investing, sustainable supply chain management, and employee and consumer engagement. Participants will also learn how to develop innovative business models and how to disclose sustainability practices to meet increasing and conflicting stakeholder demands. 

Using a mix of interactive lectures, simulations and action learning, the executives will develop practical and impactful strategies for building consensus and making change. With companies facing greater pressure to tackle societal challenges such as inequality as well as climate change, these skills are critical to any leader’s future success.