Robert S. Bookings, founder of the Brookings Institution, always held steadfast to his mission of using public service for good, and this is exactly what he did when he created the organization in 1916. Around a century later, the Washington University in St. Louis, where Brookings was also a benefactor, continued his legacy by bringing WashU to the Brookings Institution.

Now, WashU at Brookings (once known as Brookings Executive Education), provides educational courses to leaders who live by four key initiatives: they think globally, they act with integrity, they uphold core values, and they want to strengthen government, business, and society at large. 

Retired Lieutenant General David Huntoon, who is now a professor at WashU at Brookings, said that the curriculum is focused “on the professional ethos of a commitment to education and lifelong learning”. This manifests in two ways: certificates in public leadership and policy strategy programs that can range anywhere from a couple months to just a few days.

“We regularly refresh our competitive educational programs given the extraordinary rate of change that we see in the world today, and we provide clear learning objectives and links to the leadership skill sets required in senior leader governance,” Huntoon said. 

The hands-on, engaging curriculum is focused on being a collaborative learning environment where the WashU at Brookings expert team of professors and the eager course participants are able to get the most out of their classes. You can see their full list of courses here, but here is some more information about some of their upcoming classes:

Resilience in Leadership

This course will analyze seven factors that make up resilience, four skills that cultivate more accurate and flexible thinking, and five traits that define resilient leaders. Not only will participants learn how to model resilience, this course will also help them mentor their team in resilience so that they understand how to create a culture that supports resilient employees. The course is slotted from Wednesday, May 20th to Thursday, May 21st.

Conflict Resolution

Every workplace, every leader, and every employee experiences conflict. It’s a normal part of the job, but when it becomes more consistent, it can hinder morale, weaken your organization, and hurt your professional relationships. This course will help you assess your conflict style, identify patterns you portray in stressful situations, establish alternative approaches to dealing with conflict, and help you practice these new skills. This course is slotted from Monday, June 1st to Tuesday, June 2nd.

Organizational Alignment

This course will teach participants how to strategically align their organization’s mission, goals, and purpose. When all three of these elements are aligned, it will help you organize your activities and envision your strategic direction. During the course, you will discuss how alignment requires specific, value-based decisions, a personal leadership change, as well as collaboration. It is being held from Tuesday June 9th to Wednesday, June 10th.

For more information, you can check out WashU at Brookings’ course catalogue. Due to the current pandemic, all of their courses have been temporarily moved online.