September 21, 2023

PHILADELPHIA, PA: Many executives are tempted to assume that if they’re smart, hardworking, and creative, corporate recognition and career success will naturally follow. But research shows they must also possess the critical skill of influencing people. That is why the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has launched its new open-enrollment program Executive Influence: Increasing Your Impact with Persuasion and Power. Drawing on data-driven insights from Wharton’s People Lab, this four-day on-campus program, scheduled to run its first cohort February 5 – 8, 2024, will greatly expand executives’ range of power and influence capabilities, helping them deploy these skills with confidence and integrity.

“The last mile in getting something done is convincing others to go along with you,” says Academic Director Cade Massey, Wharton practice professor of operations, information, and decisions. “If we adopt influence skills into our professional and personal lives—build them into our repertoire, get comfortable with using them—it’s going to increase the probability that we’ll accomplish our goals.

The program breaks down influence into three essential areas: persuasion, networks, and coalitions. Participants will discover a broad array of methods and techniques, plus specific ways to apply them. Assessments are a key feature of the course: they help participants identify areas for personal improvement and to recognize and gain confidence with the influence tools they already possess. The goal is to enhance executive presence so that individuals can sway others to their point of view regardless of the formal reporting structure.

Program sessions include Increasing Your Impact; Influence and Power; Good Politics: Ethics and Influence; Power for the Underrepresented; Persuasion, Presence, Technology; and Networks. The sessions will be led by prominent faculty from Wharton including Cade Massey, Marissa King, Samir Nurmohamed, Stefano Puntoni, and Amy Wrzesniewski.

The program is designed for mid- to senior-career executives across a wide variety of fields such as marketing and analytics, research and development, health care, accounting and finance, supply chain and logistics, manufacturing and engineering, human resources, and information technology. It is particularly suited for executives who have more job responsibility than official authority or who are transitioning from being an individual contributor to a broader role as a manager. The special challenges that may be faced by executives from under-represented groups will also be addressed.

“It’s one thing to run performance evaluations; it’s another to actually exercise influence,” Massey says. “As we get more ambitious and take on bigger responsibilities, we need a broader persuasion toolbox. In this program we put the full toolbox out on the table to help people understand what they’re currently using and what they’re neglecting…and we prioritize that people will have the capabilities they need to actually live differently when they get back to their workplace.”

Executive Influence: Increasing Your Impact with Persuasion and Power will run its first cohort on Wharton’s Philadelphia campus February 5 – 8, 2024 and is now accepting applications. Prospective participants can learn more and apply at executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

About Wharton Executive Education

Wharton Executive Education has served as the global leader in executive development for 35 years. Steeped in the heritage and analytical insights of the Wharton School, with an eye toward shaping the future of business, Wharton Executive Education’s individual, online, and custom programs prepare over 100,000 professionals a year to transform their careers and organizations. For more information on Wharton Executive Education’s practical business solutions, visit executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

About the Wharton School

Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 100,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs, and thousands of pre-collegiate students explore business concepts through Wharton’s www.wharton.upenn.edu.

Media Contact

Sarah SchwabDirector of Communications Aresty Institute of Executive Education
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania execed-pr@wharton.upenn.edu