Program Description

Join the Conference Board Leadership Program at Normandy
April 26 – 30, 2009, Normandy, France

Come to the Coastline of Northern France for an encounter like no other. D-Day, Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, however you know it, was a battle of great leaders, masterful planning and a clash between underlying leadership strategies. Being where the combatants arrived to take the beaches and scale the cliffs on June 6, 1944, is an experience that awes and instructs like no other.

Our program’s strength comes from what we call interactive immersion: an on-site analysis of leadership strategies, correspondence, and reflections from those engaged in the battle. These are examined thoroughly by you and our expert team of facilitators, in order to bring both the field events and personal accounts into sharp focus.

Throughout your experience at Normandy, you walk the beaches and retrace the key stages of the invasion. You stand on the edge of the cliffs and in the shadow of bunkers that had to be taken to control the coastline. You witness firsthand the staggering obstacles and harrowing odds faced by Allied commanders and officers as they led their men against an almost impregnable line of defense.



During every stage of this program, you weigh the complexity of decisions made by commanders under fire. As the week progresses, there are review sessions to relate how the lessons of Normandy apply to today’s corporate leadership challenges. Changing goals but not the mission, taking action with inadequate information, encouraging individual initiative, and adapting to unforeseen events are just some of the leadership traits you will consider using D-Day’s historical perspective.



The Conference Board Leadership Experience at Normandy is an invaluable tool for building leadership skills that you can bring back home. At the end of the program, you draw a comprehensive action plan based upon challenges you face in your own organization. Galvanized by the lessons acquired during the week, you'll revise your strategy after a comprehensive review with peers and program facilitators.

Best characterized as leading for the future by learning from the past, the insights gained while at Normandy will better equip you to select the appropriate leadership strategies when you come under fire — strategies that may make the difference between winning and losing.

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