High-Performance Board Member

The High-Performance Board Member program uses real-life examples to illustrate the main challenges and responsibilities of corporate boards, with a focus on strategy, operations, finance, leadership and stakeholder management, as well as implications for family-owned businesses. Among the areas examined are:

• Key Roles and Responsibilities of Corporate Boards
• Long-Term Strategy: Board Members Strategic Toolkit
• Governance: Corporate Boards as Early Warning Systems
• Board/Chair/CEO: Culture and Dynamics
• Corporate Boards and Digitalization
• Navigating Disruption
• Boards and Activist Shareholders
• Essential Questions for Boards: Finance, Marketing and Operations
• Boards and Stakeholder Management
• Boards, Executive Succession and Cultivating Next-Generation Leadership

The High-Performance Board Member program is designed for:

• C-suite executives currently serving on corporate boards
• Top-level public officers
• Next-generation leaders preparing to transition to a board role
• Senior managers seeking to shape and engage their board of directors

The High-Performance Board Member program harnesses the joint expertise of faculty from IESE Business School and the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management. As accomplished educators, they enrich the learning experience by integrating insights from their frontline research and experience as strategic consultants.

The High-Performance Board Member program will expand your understanding of the main responsibilities, dynamics and strategic challenges of corporate boards and equip you with actionable insights to boost overall board performance.

With a highly practical approach, the program merges a number of proven academic methodologies including the case method, interactive lectures, guest-speaker sessions, action-learning activities and team-based projects.

Two weeks before the program starts, you will receive a package of pre-readings that offer a theoretical groundwork to optimize both classroom time and learning outcomes.

The High-Performance Board Member program has four steps. This is the application process for the next edition beginning on November 24, 2025.

1. Participants must complete and submit the online application.
2. The Executive Education Department will contact the participant by email to acknowledge receipt of the application. It will also provide information about the program dates, sending of prior study materials and the bank details needed to pay tuition.
3. The participant pays tuition (payment must be made before the start of the course and before prior study materials are sent). This is an essential prerequisite for participating in the program.
4. Two weeks before the start of the program, participants will receive an email with a username giving them access to IESE’s Virtual Campus, where initial study materials will be available.

• General fee: €16,990*
• Executive education Certificate fee: additional 5% discount on the general or membership fee.

*The program fee includes materials, meals and activities. It does not include tax on food and beverages, accommodation and travel costs.

The program requires preparatory coursework, which will be made available before the start date. Payment is required in order to access this material. Check the cancellation policy below.

Do you know about our corporate agreements and fees for multiple registrations? Feel free to ask us.

Cancellation Policy
Cancellations received within 20 days of the program’s start date are subject to a fee equivalent to 25% of the program tuition. IESE reserves the right to cancel the current edition or modify dates up to 20 days prior to the scheduled start date. Under no circumstances is IESE responsible for travel expenses incurred. Participants should consider hiring travel insurance including cancellation coverage to protect against the exceptional event that the program is cancelled or if they are unable to attend for personal or professional reasons.

If interested in obtaining the IESE Executive Education Certificate:

• Complete, at least, 4 Focused Programs, in English or Spanish, within three years. The 4 programs must total a minimum of 13 days of learning.

In addition to earning the IESE Executive Education Certificate, you will enjoy a series of other exclusive benefits:

• Professional guidance with an IESE adviser.

• 5% discount on any future Focused Program.

• Possibility of becoming a Member of the IESE Alumni Association, which delivers a broad array of exclusive benefits. Discover here how to make the most of the membership.