It's the 2nd February, 1966 and 50 managers have gathered at London Business School's
temporary home, near Trafalgar Square.
They're here to do something all too rare in the UK.
They're here to learn how to affect change in a fast-moving world.
After 12 demanding weeks on the Executive Development Program, they become the school’s
first executive education alumni.
A few months later, another 20 businessmen attend the Senior Executive Program, a shorter
version which still runs today.
The need for management education is clear.
Both programs are oversubscribed.
The next year others quickly follow, providing much-needed insights into finance marketing
and business economics, a UK first.
The move to new premises creates the space to do this on a far larger scale.
Executive programs expand further, ushering in another first.
With the Portfolio Investment Research Programme teaching ideas then little-known in the UK,
Professors Charles Handy and Derek Pews launched the world's first Change Management program
and economic forecasts begin to be used in corporate decision-making, through the influence
of faculty economists Jim Ball, Terry Burns and Alan Budd.
As more and more businesses make use of the school, the decision is made to offer customised
courses built around organisation's specific needs.
A new decade brings new ways of learning.
Some 20% of teaching time is now designed and managed by participants, providing an
opportunity to reflect on what they've learned and develop new skills.
Course activities are extended beyond Europe to the US and Japan, providing the opportunity
to visit businesses like Cannon and Nissan.
360-degree feedback is used for the first time in the Accelerated Development Program
for talented managers, pioneered by Professor John Hunt.
Attendees are given the chance to work on their weaknesses and measure their progress
- a key feature of many programs today.
In the wider world, things are changing.
London remerges as a global financial centre and the faculty is influential in making the
discipline more professional.
Programs are designed for managers and economists in Perestroika Russia and post-Apartheid South
Africa and in 1993 the UK government asked London Business School to support its diplomats
in developing a better understanding of effective leadership.
As business goes global, Professor Gary Hamel’s research into gaining a competitive edge is
used to shape the new Building Global Leadership program and Professor Sumantra Ghoshal and
Lynda Gratton bring top executives together from six companies to learn from each other's
experiences in the Global Business Consortium.
The school is going global too: 75 percent of executives attending its two lead courses
are now from overseas and 50 percent of its faculty hails from abroad.
Customised learning continues to reap rewards for businesses.
The school's innovative Management Education Program for Rolls Royce is credited with helping
the company recover lost market share.
The move into a technology-driven decade sharpens the focus on leadership.
Professor Rob Golfi wins a Harvard Business Review McKinsey Award for his article on developing
the concept of authentic leadership.
His insights later form part of the Nestle Leadership Program which has since trained
over 2,500 other senior executives.
New ideas are adopted as the school helps executives drive personal and organisational
change by learning through experience.
This award-winning approach frames the Leading Edge Program developed for Danone’s top
executives, who unanimously agree that it helps them make lasting changes to their leadership
style.
Now with over 170 programs, the portfolio continues to grow.
The school continues to collect accolades too - rising to 3 in the FT’s Annual Executive
Education Rankings and numbering four of the world's 50 most influential management thinkers
in its faculty.
Big thinking is needed come the global financial crisis.
The school offers programs to help businesses cope with the fallout.
Now more than ever, companies can't afford to stand still and, in 2013, the school wins
its largest ever contract from Kuwait’s National Technology Enterprises Company to
design and lead a world-class leadership program for the Kuwait Petroleum Company.
In 2016, the school launches its first entirely digital program, developed for Microsoft's
sales teams around the world.
The award-winning program provides the insights they need to help customers maximise opportunities
and minimise risk and executive education reaches 50.
It now has over one hundred and fifty thousand senior executives in its network from 170
countries and counting.
From its earliest beginnings, executive education has been a trailblazer - marking the way so
that others have the confidence and support they need to embark on their own journeys.
That journey doesn't end here.