Skip to main content

The Transformative IT Leader Program

Technology Leadership for Business Outcomes

October 1 – October 17, 2025

Leading a technology team has never been more challenging, particularly in the emerging context of AI-enabled change. In the tech-heavy context of organizations today, IT is not just an enabler – it has become enmeshed in the business, vital to helping it achieve strategic goals.

Do you understand emerging business models and AI use cases that will help you make your mark? Become a more influential technology leader with our Transformative IT Leader Training Program, where our team of experienced faculty mentors (current and former CIOs) will immerse you in an exciting online learning journey.

Begin your transformation from a mid-level IT professional into a business leader who designs, builds, secures, and shapes your organization’s future. Develop and practice your business communication, stakeholder influence, and business analysis skills while mastering multi-level teamwork across the organization and with the executive team.

In this program, participants will:

  • Master the art of storytelling, influence, and stakeholder persuasion
  • Explore leadership postures that foster trust, resilience, and clarity
  • Translate technical complexity into strategic insight
  • Gain tools for coaching, decision-making, and leading through change

Program Outline:

Program Fees: $3,600         
FORMAT: 6 Sessions | 11:30am-3:00pm EST
SESSION 1: (October 1)
Charting the Course: Leading with Intention in an Age of Disruption / Dr. James Norrie

In today’s volatile and opportunity-rich digital world, technology leadership is no longer just about technical delivery, it’s about transformational vision. As we launch your Leaders Beyond journey, we’ll reframe what it means to lead in a time when AI, cyber risk, and rapid technical change. This opening session will provoke your thinking, challenge assumptions, and create a shared foundation for the sessions ahead.

In this provocative introduction, you will:

  • Explore how the role of the IT leader shifts from operational excellence to managing existential competitive risk, and what that means for your leadership role.
  • Identify critical leadership behaviors that drive clarity, resilience, and trust in a technological world where innovation cycles are shrinking dramatically.
  • Reflect on your adaptive capacity in the face of emerging tech like AI, beginning to shape a personal and professional roadmap to thrive through transformation.
SESSION 2: (October 3)
Change Your Message, Transform Your Impact / Cindy Seibel

Who defines expectations and how do we manage them? How well do we know our own organization and its people? This session builds skills and confidence in how to better manage expectations and present our ideas clearly to obtain executive-level understanding, buy-in and attention. Explore practical techniques and approaches that help technology professionals find their voice and be heard. In this session, you will:

  • Describe how to formalize, then manage, expectations
  • Identify the steps to clear, articulate, and impactful message creation and delivery of ideas, projects, or plans in a face-to-face (virtual or real-life) setting
  • Practice how to pre-influence and prepare for handling objections to build effective joint sessions with the business
  • Learn the art of presenting to the executive level in your organization and position your message, request, or proposal for understanding and acceptance
SESSION 3: (October 8)
AI at the Crossroads: Embracing the Promise, Managing the Peril / Dr. James Norrie

AI isn’t coming; it’s already here and embedded everywhere. With it comes a new frontier of leadership responsibility: ethical and responsible AI. In an environment where vendor hype cycles are measured now in weeks and days instead of months and years, and AI disruption is the new norm, innovative technology leaders must decide: will you lead your organization into a future shaped by purposeful AI, or be dragged behind it?

This session will cut through the vendor-driven adoption noise to examine what responsible, strategic, and ethical AI leadership looks like, including how to strategically deploy and manage AI-enabled business use cases, not just platforms. We’ll unpack the enterprise advantages of AI promises—but also the human, organizational, and reputational risks that come with unchecked or haphazard adoption.

In this urgent and practical session, you will:

  • Understand the real distinctions between public and private AI platforms—and the implications for security, IP protections, data governance, bias control and trust.
  • Explore a “SAFER AI” framework that balances innovation with regulatory compliance and risk governance to strengthen the ROI of your AI adoptions.
  • Examine the rise of “Shadow AI” and the critical need to educate, empower, and engage employees before their workarounds become your organization’s liability.
  • Learn how to lead through uncertainty when AI’s next evolution is always just around the corner—and your competitive edge depends on staying ahead.
SESSION 4 & 5: (October 10, October 15)
Nimble Change Leadership: The STEP UP!™ Game / Edmond Mellina

All sectors of the economy are undergoing unprecedented transformation. The need for speed and flexibility has never been greater. As companies navigate consistently uncertain waters, leaders must lead through change in faster, nimbler ways. The future of the business depends on it. Over two sessions, you will learn the essentials of nimble change leadership, and participate in a virtual game simulation that reflects the challenges of today’s world. Participating in these sessions you will:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to successfully execute change in today’s unprecedented business environment
  • Adopt 5 critical mindsets for nimble change leadership in the age of digital disruption
  • Boost your effectiveness as a transformational leader with nimble tools, techniques and “game plans” that are highly practical and unique
  • Invest your limited time, energy, and influence more strategically when driving change
SESSION 6: (October 17)
Final Case Study Workshop & Presentations / Dr. James Norrie & Cindy Seibel

At the beginning of the program, you will be provided with a real-world situation (case study) that poses a real-world problem. Building on your learning, prior to this session you will submit a written solution of your own, then work in your team to create consensus and generate a response and solution. 

You and your team will present your solution to a panel of experts and receive feedback. This session provides you with opportunities to integrate, practice and demonstrate the insights that you have gained in the program.

Begin Your Transformation from an IT Professional into a Business Leader

Technology Leadership for Business Outcomes 

NEW Program October 1 – October 17, 2025

Our Faculty

The Leaders Beyond faculty includes business executives, educators, CIOs, consultants, and strategists from various industries. With decades of leadership training experience, they use a proven curriculum that emphasizes teacher/student mentorship and case study analysis.

Dr. James L. Norrie, DPM, LL.M

Professor of Strategy & Cybersecurity, former Founding Dean of the Graham School of Business, York College Pennsylvania; Managing Partner, e-Venture Consulting, Inc.; CEO and Founder, cyberconIQ Inc.
Leaders Beyond Faculty - Cindy Seibel

Cindy Seibel

Former CIO, Energy Resources and Conservation Board, Alberta

Edmond Mellina

President, ORCHANGO; former CIO, Delta Hotels

    Program FAQ

    Who Should attend this program?

     You will gain the greatest benefits from this program if you are a technology leader who: 

    • Seeks to expand knowledge and understanding of the “business side of the house” 
    • Reports to the CIO or Executive IT Leader or, in a larger organization, reports to a Director or Division IT Leader 
    • Is facing a pivotal change in the workplace 
    • Interacts with senior business leaders and sponsors of technology projects 
    • Seeks senior management or technology leadership roles 
    • Holds direct or indirect financial responsibility and accountability for delivering technology solutions 
    What is the program’s focus?

    This program develops the communication, influence, and persuasion skills essential to gaining credibility and trust at senior tables. It blends leadership theory with practice, supporting a confident transition into more strategic, cross-functional roles.

    What is the program’s format?

    Our eight online sessions are delivered interactively over the period of the program. Each session is approximately three and a half hours long. Participants will complete assignments on their own and in small groups at various points shortly before and during the program. The program features a major case study. Graduates receive confidential feedback and a certificate upon completion.