Stanford Executive Program Has Recharged Careers for 70+ Years
William Barnett, professor of organizational behavior, is director of the Stanford Executive Program. | Photo by Elena Zhukova
SEP participants say immersive sessions reenergized their work lives.
Annabelle Williams didn’t want to be a lawyer forever. And like many professionals, she wasn’t sure how to take the next step on her career journey.
“My dream was to do an MBA at Stanford,” says Williams, whose accomplishments included winning a gold medal as a Paralympic swimmer. “[But] I’d never studied accounting and finance, and I knew I needed that background if I wanted to take a job in, say, a sports organization.” And she did not have time to pursue a full MBA.
Then Williams learned about the Stanford Executive Program, and her view of what’s possible changed forever. “I knew SEP’s core business subjects would be good for me, but then I learned about its other focus on topics like happiness, the importance of humor, public speaking, and confidence.”
Three weeks into the program, Williams, who is missing her left forearm, gave a talk about her career as an athlete and growing up with a disability. Her 60-minute speech brought the audience to their feet. “That hour changed everything for me,” she says.
Williams emerged transformed. She went on to found her own company and become a global motivational speaker, corporate educator, and board director who works with organizations to improve their diversity and inclusion efforts.
For more than 70 years, SEP has brought to campus nearly 9,300 C-Suite executives, managing directors, corporate board members, division heads, and others like Williams looking for new opportunities.
The program was conceived to provide business education to executives struggling to navigate the shifting business landscape following WWII. It stemmed from the Engineering, Science and Management War Training program, an experiment that proved so successful Stanford GSB petitioned the university to incorporate executive training as an ongoing academic offering.
The Stanford Executive Program inspires and empowers leaders on a professional and personal level. Each year, the program hosts some 225 participants from 40 countries, representing more than 30 industries. Now, the in-person residential experience is augmented by a new blended format, SEP Flex, that combines four weeks on campus with ten weeks of remote learning.
The program’s focus on “The Whole You” and a rigorous, multi-dimensional curriculum offers learners like Williams the opportunity to transform their careers for good. “It took me a while to get my brain around the idea that I actually could do it,” she says, “and that was entirely thanks to SEP.”
Read the full, original story about the history of the Stanford Executive Program and its diverse learners’ experiences.
