Wharton@Work

April 2026 | 

Building Leaders for a Global Bank: Wharton and BBVA

Building Leaders for a Global Bank: Wharton and BBVA

Communicating and aligning strategy is difficult in any organization. Direction may be clear at the top, but it only becomes reality through the daily decisions and actions of managers across the business. That means how those managers lead has a direct impact on whether strategy translates into consistent execution. But for many companies, leadership development is inconsistent, making it harder to build the shared perspective needed to move an organization in one direction.

For global organizations, the task of building that kind of consistent leadership becomes even more complex. Strategy must travel across borders, business lines, and cultures, and direction must be translated into coordinated action in environments that vary widely in context, regulation, and customer needs. Managers and executives are expected to influence across distance, balance global consistency with local responsiveness, and foster innovation without losing operational focus. Those demands require not only strong individual capability but coordination across regions and functions.

Meeting that leadership challenge at BBVA, a global financial services group with operations across multiple regions and parts of the organization, meant investing in a learning experience designed specifically for its context. The bank partnered with Wharton Executive Education to create a custom program focused on strengthening global leadership, fostering innovation, and equipping leaders with practical tools they could use immediately.


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When leaders are constantly responding to immediate demands, it’s hard to question underlying assumptions. A program like this gives them room to step back, connect ideas from different areas, and consider how they want to lead in the face of change. That broader perspective is often what sparks new approaches once they return to work."


Patti Williams, PhD

Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Marketing, the Wharton School; Vice Dean of Wharton Executive Education

A Custom Fit

“At Wharton Executive Education, we are in the business of delivering knowledge that has impact,” says Patti Williams, vice dean of Wharton Executive Education. “We partner on custom solutions, tailoring programs to an organization's specific challenges. They often support enterprise-wide transformations, whether that's navigating digital disruption, integrating new business models, or preparing the next generation of senior leaders.”

“We partnered with Wharton Executive Education because we want to have the best program for our leaders,” says Maria Arias Gonzalez, CIB learning discipline leader. “We aligned the program with the strategy we have and involved our leaders closely in customizing it to make it as relevant as possible.”

Custom programs start with conversations designed to understand where the organization is headed and what leadership capabilities matter most. Wharton faculty and program designers work with stakeholders to identify strategic priorities, cultural strengths, and areas where greater alignment or new ways of thinking are needed.

From there, those insights shape the architecture of the program. Faculty are chosen not only for subject expertise but also for how well their research and teaching connect to the organization’s challenges. Cases and exercises are curated to reflect the ambiguity, trade-offs, and cross-functional considerations leaders encounter every day.

As Williams explains, the aim is to make the connection between research and reality visible. “We’re not just delivering content,” she said. “We’re creating an experience where leaders can connect ideas across disciplines, test their assumptions, and learn from peers who are facing similar pressures in different parts of the organization. That cross-pollination is often where new ideas take shape.”

Participants describe the results as both rigorous and immediately useful. “Coming to Wharton is a privilege, and the program is amazing,” says Gonzalo Fernández-Turégano, global sector head, financial sponsors. “The quality of the teachers, the materials, the cases are very practical. It provides you with a toolkit in order to navigate the management of global teams.”

Where Strategy Meets Practice

At BBVA, the partnership with Wharton extends beyond selecting topics to shaping how learning unfolds. Sessions are built around discussion, peer exchange, and applied decision making, giving participants the chance to compare how similar challenges play out across markets and functions.

That format made leadership trade-offs more visible. Participants examined real tensions they face in their roles and explored how different approaches might affect performance in varied contexts. For BBVA leaders, one recurring focus was the tension between setting direction and delivering results across regions. “The program reinforced that leading globally is about balancing vision with execution,” said Christina Siu, executive director, global trade finance.

Williams said this leadership balance is not just conceptual; it affects how day-to-day work gets done. “Leaders need to create clarity about where the organization is headed, but they also need to translate that direction into action in very different local contexts,” she said. “In custom programs, we create opportunities for participants to explore those trade-offs together. They see how colleagues in other areas of the business approach similar problems, and they begin to develop a shared language for decision making.”

That shared language becomes a practical tool once participants return to their roles. It helps frame discussions, align expectations, and support decisions that balance global consistency with local responsiveness.

Stepping Back to Lead Forward

Even in organizations that value innovation, the pace of the workday can make it difficult to step back and think differently. Leaders spend much of their time managing operational issues, leaving little space for brainstorming or connecting broader trends with their own decisions.

“Innovation tends to happen in a different setup from the day-to-day office, where you don't have time to think out of the box. Coming to Wharton helps create that space for innovative thinking,” says Javier Sacristan Herrero, head of strategy, industries, and cross border Asia.

Williams sees this reflective space as a deliberate design choice. “When leaders are constantly responding to immediate demands, it’s hard to question underlying assumptions,” she said. “A program like this gives them room to step back, connect ideas from different areas, and consider how they want to lead in the face of change. That broader perspective is often what sparks new approaches once they return to work.”

For BBVA, the custom program was not simply an educational event. It was part of a broader effort to strengthen how leadership happens across the organization and how day-to-day execution supports strategic goals. In complex, globally connected enterprises, that kind of shared capability can turn learning into a lasting strategic advantage.

“Participants not only gain new skills, but they leave with greater self-awareness and confidence so that they can bring what they've learned into action,” Williams said. “They can lead with greater clarity and continue to grow long after the program ends.”