Unleash your potential
cart icon0

McGill Executive Leadership Experience

A program for experienced professionals preparing for what comes next.

A truly unique, world-class program

The McGill Executive Leadership Experience (MELE) is a program that prepares established leaders for greater responsibility and influence. In an increasingly complex and volatile environment, experienced managers must move beyond operational excellence to become strategic leaders who inspire people, build high-performing teams, and successfully lead change. This 5-day retreat offers comprehensive leadership training with modules on strategic thinking, change management, executive communication and influence, and collaboration, facilitated in person by McGill Executive Institute’s renowned faculty and industry experts.

This program brings together professionals from diverse backgrounds and industries, including private, public, and non-profit organizations. You will gain new insights, high-energy exercises, practical tools, and coaching techniques through engaging sessions, complemented by unique evening experiences designed to build relationships and extend learning beyond the classroom.

Throughout the program, you will work on a real strategic issue affecting your organization and tackle it with personalized coaching and input from faculty and peers. You will apply proven frameworks, tools, and insights directly to your workplace context. The result is a transformative learning experience that enhances personal effectiveness, strengthens team performance, and drives meaningful business results.

The MELE impact is real. According to our 2026 alumni survey:

  • 93% of past participants apply their MELE learning frequently or very extensively 
  • 71% report expanded responsibility and/or greater influence at work. 

Through a unique blend of rigorous pedagogy, experiential learning, and coaching, the McGill Executive Leadership Experience allows participants to hone their senior-level leadership skills. Are you ready for what’s next in your leadership journey?

 

Why choose the McGill Executive Leadership Experience?

  • Step away from work and invest in yourself as a leader.
  • Learn directly from McGill’s world-class faculty with real-world experience.
  • Develop practical skills you can apply immediately in your career.
  • Tackle a real challenge in your organization with faculty and peer support.
  • Network with peers across industries and expand your professional opportunities.
  • Build confidence in your ability to lead strategy, change, and people.
  • Return to work prepared for what comes next. 

“The pause from day-to-day frenzy to springboard into a different future” 

 – MELE Alumni

The McGill Executive Leadership Experience is designed for experienced professionals with 5-10 years of progressive leadership experience who are preparing to take on greater responsibility and influence. The program is well suited to leaders from the private, public, and non-profit sectors, particularly those stepping into or being considered for senior leadership roles. Participants will strengthen their leadership capabilities, gain new perspectives from peers across industries, and apply their learning to real challenges they face in their organizations.

The registration fee includes facilitation by our highly rated faculty members, course materials, results-oriented exercises, meal service (continental breakfast, lunch, and breaks), and a certificate of completion from the McGill Executive Institute. To successfully complete the course and receive your certificate of completion, you will need to attend all sessions and complete the pre-work for each session.

Topics covered in the McGill Executive Leadership Experience

  • Differentiate strategy from planning
    • Define your vision, mission, and core competencies
    • Make deliberate choices and trade-offs
    • Perform a competitive analysis
  • Develop skill in environmental scanning and trend interpretation
  • Reframe disruption and challenges as opportunities for innovation
  • Employ lean and agile change management models
  • Manage concerns surrounding change 
  • Explore practical approaches to address ochange fatigue and resistance
  • Develop a concern management action plan for an upcoming change initiative
  • Frame decisions clearly and concisely
  • Translate complexity into executive-ready messages
  • Demonstrate executive presence to build confidence downstream
  • Exert influence to build cooperation and drive achievement
  • Explore principles of empathetic leadership
  • Determine why empathy matters in today’s workplace
  • Build high-performing teams
    • Foster trust and psychological safety
    • Manage conflict constructively
  • Set goals for the program
  • Analyze your pre-program assessment results (FIRO-B)
  • Identify your leadership characteristics and understand how they affect your team
  • Explore what it means to lead in a VUCA environment
  • Determine next steps in your leadership journey
  • Select a strategic issue currently affecting you or your organization
  • Define the objective, context, roadblocks, and relevant stakeholders
  • Present your recommendations and receive immediate feedback

Key Takeaways

The McGill Executive Leadership Experience equips participants with the capabilities to lead people, shape strategy, and drive transformation in an increasingly complex world.

By the end of the program, you will be able to:

  • Apply strategic thinking frameworks to organizational challenges and opportunities.
  • Direct organizational, cultural, and digital transformation initiatives more effectively.
  • Lead with greater self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and resilience.
  • Build and sustain high-performing teams grounded in trust and psychological safety.
  • Influence stakeholders and navigate complex organizational dynamics.

Course Leaders

headshot of Jane Reichman Van Toch

Jane Reichman Van Toch

×

Jane Reichman Van Toch

Jane Reichman Van Toch is a specialist in strengthening individual, team and organizational performance. She began her career as a practicing lawyer in the private sector, later transitioning to the role of educator/consultant in the areas of organizational effectiveness, leadership and emotional intelligence. She came to McGill University in 2010 as Senior Advisor - Organizational Development and Talent Management, later joining the McGill Executive Institute faculty. Jane holds two Bachelor of Law degrees from McGill and a Masters in Human Systems Intervention (Organizational Development) from Concordia.

headshot of Afua Boateng

Afua Boateng

×

Afua Boateng

Afua Boateng is the Founder of SIKA Partners, an executive search and talent advisory firm, and a leadership strategist and speaker with over 20 years of experience across engineering, sales, and executive search. She helps organizations navigate talent strategy and leadership development in a changing world of work, drawing on firsthand experience advising employers and candidates through today's shifting job market.

 

headshot of Jared Lee

Jared Lee

×

Jared Lee

Jared Lee is a senior consultant who provides training to executives of various organizations as well as professional and graduate students. He has led workshops, seminars, and guest lectures at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management, Max Bell School of Public Policy, Queen's University's Smith School of Business, and Concordia University's John Molson Executive Centre. Topics have included strategic thinking, problem-solving, design thinking, innovation, structured communication, business presentations, data analysis, data visualization, and change leadership.

headshot of Claudie Vigneault

Claudie Vigneault

×

Claudie Vigneault

Claudie Vigneault has over 15 years' experience as a strategic consultant in organisational transformation, working with a number of large-scale clients in Quebec. Co-founder of Levio Montréal, Ms Vigneault is also executive manager of the Agility & Organisational Change business line, which is made up of operational, tactical and strategic consultants.

 

Applications

The McGill Executive Institute seeks to build strong positive-learning environments within which participants can flourish. Eligibility for acceptance into the program requires the following qualifications:

  1. Participants have upper- to senior-level management responsibilities;
  2. Show high interest in engaging positively with peers in a unique executive learning environment.

Candidates are encouraged to register online and supply a current resume that shows both your academic and professional experience. Email to:

executive.outreach@mcgill.ca