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Organizational Leaders Program

The organizational leadership program combines curated learning experiences, personalized growth plans, and collaborative peer interactions to enhance leadership capabilities and drive impactful change.

Organizational Leaders oversee an academic or administrative department or unit. Typical roles can include: associate deans, assistant deans, director of administration or administrative leader of significant student, research or administrative service.

Image showing five wooden building blocks, starting from the bottom to the top with Planning printed on the bottom block, then Strategy on top, then Teamwork, followed by Management and on the top block is Leadership.

Program Information

Delivered in Partnership with Faculty Leadership & Development and DeGroote Executive Education, the Organizational Leadership Program is designed to facilitate learning between academic and administrative leaders through in-person sessions, virtual learning labs and a strategic project supported through peer mentoring. Recognizing that each participant comes to the program with different experiences, strengths and areas of focus, personalized learning plans will be developed through a leadership assessment and 4 individual coaching sessions.  

What will the program cover? 

  • The Changing Landscape of Higher Education
  • Priority Setting and Resource Allocation 
  • Collaboration and Partnerships 
  • Interconnections within the University System 
  • Leadership, Ambition and Challenge 
  • Succession Planning and Talent Planning 
  • Difficult Conversations and Crisis Management 

For more information, explore the program overview.

The inaugural pilot cohort of the Organizational Leader Program will launch January 2025. 

Participants will be nominated by their Senior Leader for participation in the program. It is recommended that participants have been in their role for at least a year and the cohort itself will comprise participants from across the university community including both academic and administrative leaders.

Participants will have the opportunity to engage in:

  • In-person sessions 
  • A leadership assessment 
  • Executive coaching sessions 
  • Senior Leader Panels 
  • Learning Labs 
  • A strategic problem evaluation supported through peer mentoring

For more information, refer to the program overview.

Program Visualization

For a downloadable version of the program structure, click here.

Personal Leaders Knowledge Leaders Strategic Leaders Organizational Leaders University Leaders
Typical Roles Analyst, assistant, coordinator, administrator, post-doctoral fellow, research assistant Program manager, team lead, project manager, professor, associate professor
Manager, senior manager, associate director, program or institute directors, department or associate chairs, administrative  leaders Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, Director of Administration and administrative leader of significant student, research or administrative service President, Provost, Vice-President, Associate Vice President, Vice-Provost, Deputy Provost, Dean
Development Program Available Personal Leaders Program Knowledge Leadership Program Strategic Leaders Program Organizational Leaders Program