EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
combines classroom sessions, action-learning sets and network- building activities that help participants apply learning in practice. • The need to provide opportunities for participants to continue their learning journey. Executive education is built on the principle of lifelong learning: ie however much experience you gain in industry, it’s important to continually seek opportunities to refresh your knowledge and skills. For this reason, we integrate the EMLTP within our broader portfolio of executive education offerings, enabling participants to gain credits toward a postgraduate certificate in Leadership & Management Practice, or even an executive MBA. This creates a professional pathway that recognises individual development, as well as societal impact. • Designing a programme that aims to have societal impact often requires business schools to maintain a local or regional focus. At NBS, designing a programme that caters specifically to the needs of leaders in the East Midlands public service landscape ensures the content stays relevant for our participants. This also helps to maximise engagement, as participants share a stake in the region’s wellbeing, which heightens their motivation to collaborate and apply what they have learned. • Measure the tangible results of participants’ projects. Societal impact is at its most valuable when it is visible and can be evidenced. This benefits the business school in terms of justifying funding, deepening engagement with key players in the regional economy and providing material during accreditation processes that measure societal impact. The aim of the programme is clear: to build a sustainable, integrated leadership culture that drives better decision-making, efficient delivery and enhanced team performance across the public sector. Participants have measurably improved their leadership skills and applied new tools in decision-making. Several leaders have influenced tangible results through policy changes, streamlined processes, the implementation of transformation initiatives and financial savings, reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement and sustainable growth within their organisations. It also enables faculty to refine the programme and maximise future impact. Cultivating leaders for cross-sector collaboration As global challenges grow ever more interdependent, from public health crises to sustainability transitions, leadership will increasingly require cross-sector collaboration and systems thinking. Business schools offer a blend of analytical insight and experiential learning opportunities that put them in the ideal position to cultivate leaders with these abilities. Executive education is a powerful vehicle for achieving this ambition, equipping current leaders to implement change in real time. This immediacy and relevance can be amplified through tailored, co-created and purpose-driven programmes that balance individual progression with community outcomes. The advent of these types of courses is already a major landmark in defining how business education can serve society.
BIOGRAPHY Dr Mel Bull is the director of executive education at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. Her focus is on developing the business school’s executive education offerings to ensure NBS provides research-informed development opportunities regionally, nationally and internationally
leadership approaches in real time. The programme then culminated in a conference where participants presented consultancy projects to senior stakeholders in the community. These projects have addressed issues including homelessness and independent living, helping shape local policy. The success of this model contributed to the announcement in October last year that the programme would be expanded to serve the entire East Midlands region. The new EMLTP will welcome participants from local councils, emergency services and health bodies across the wider area, reflecting the appetite for leadership development that delivers tangible benefits to society. Initiatives like this capitalise on the strengths of business schools in breaking down silos and encouraging leaders across multiple fields to work together. In doing so, they come to understand their own needs in relation to those of the region, cultivating an ethos of cooperation that helps all groups to achieve positive results for communities in the area. “The only way we deliver lasting, meaningful improvements across the public sector for our communities is by working together – that’s why developing our leaders using a collaborative partnership approach is so important,” comments Nottingham City Council chief executive Adrian Smith. Key ingredients for societal impact Our experience running the NLTP, and now the expanded regional programme, has offered several valuable design lessons for business schools seeking to align executive education with societal impact, as outlined below. • It is essential to work closely with local and regional stakeholders. Adopting a collaborative approach to course design ensures that content speaks directly to local priorities, while also building trust and ownership among the participating organisations. • Impact-driven programmes go beyond theory and embrace experiential learning opportunities. Course design should embed real-world challenges and allow participants to work on ongoing regional issues. Leaders need training to apply their insights to create solutions that matter to their communities in real time. • Projects that produce tangible recommendations can inform policy or service design, amplifying the programme’s societal impact. However, schools should avoid focusing exclusively on one approach to learning. A pathway that blends several modes of learning offers the most enriching experience. The EMLTP
Ambition • ISSUE 5 • 2026 19
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