Created jointly by securities industry retail management executives on SIFMA's Private Client Services Committee and by The Wharton School's faculty, this valuable program is designed for the serious branch management professional. Through a combination of team exercises, interactive teaching, lectures, and guest speakers, the Branch Management Leadership Institute combines exceptional faculty with realistic experiences to create a high-energy learning environment that is both practical and intellectually challenging.
The Institute includes intensive discussions on business ethics and change management. Participants will develop a leadership action plan to begin their transition and link their new knowledge directly to the work environment.
In summary, this program provides:
- individualized leadership focus,
- world-class faculty, and
- a diverse, high-energy, learning environment containing:
- team work,
- individual feedback,
- executive presentations,
- case analysis, and
- analysis of critical incidents in local operations.
The Program - Relevant Topics
Sunday
The Sunday evening session is critical and includes a group exercise where participants document the major business issues and leadership challenges they face.
This session enables the faculty to address the most important branch management issues facing each particular class. This creates an action-oriented learning community where "real world" dilemmas are confronted and assessed.
Leadership Issues
Monday's sessions cover:
- individual learning styles,
- managerial dilemmas,
- leadership roles,
- strategic time management,
- marketing strategies, and
- peer-based coaching.
Tuesday's sessions focus on:
- performance coaching,
- best practices,
- ethics, and
- regulatory issues.
Through case study discussions and interactive lectures by world-class business school professors, participants learn the latest tools and methods in strategic thinking and performance management. Participants work in teams, using industry-specific data on critical issues in managing sales and business processes. This enables participants to achieve both an "outsider's" perspective, by learning the best current business thinking, and an "insider's" perspective, by learning how to apply that knowledge to specific business situations.
Integrated Instruction
On Wednesday, the course material is fully integrated. The day begins with a session on electronic commerce and the impact of new technologies on the way our business is, and will be, conducted. We then focus on re-entry planning and how to link back to the work environment. Our objective is to ensure that participants understand the pitfalls that can occur during change, the sources of resistance within an organization, and the leader's role as a catalyst and communicator of change.
Finally, a series of brief, concluding team presentations are given, which review the business issues and leadership challenges identified in our opening session. The teams also outline where and how the newly acquired course knowledge can best be applied to current business realities and identify where major knowledge gaps or vulnerabilities exist. This session bridges the gap between classroom rhetoric and the numerous challenges that participants face in "real world" situations.
Interactive Learning With Industry Peers
One immeasurable benefit of the Branch Management Leadership Institute is the interaction of senior branch office professionals with their peers at other firms. This creates a highly charged, aggressive learning environment, which is also non-threatening and conducive to achievement. Participants consistently rate this aspect of the Institute as an area that truly enables the course to be grounded in reality.