Battlefield Leadership is the only company to currently offer classroom versions of its battlefield programs at Gettysburg and Normandy, and it also licenses these programs to The Conference Board for its clients and member companies.

In response to client requests for help in communicating the leadership culture, language and lessons from the Gettysburg and Normandy battlefield experiences to their peer colleagues and direct reports who could not participate in programs on the battlefields, we have devised a delivery format which manages to replicate all but the physical experience of being on location where these historic events occurred.

Combining pre-reading with battle maps, Powerpoint slides, video clips, and case studies, these programs can be delivered in traditional corporate conference venues to relatively large groups of participants at one time. This enables the consistent transmittal of the essence of the content, characters, case studies, language and leadership lessons from the battlefield programs to a broader audience in a short period of time with enhanced cost effectiveness. In this way, our classroom program participants can understand the same framework for looking at leadership, the same essential learnings, and a similar understanding of the language and references to leadership, that our participants typically gain in our battlefield Leadership Experiences.

These programs are designed in a modular fashion so sessions of differing lengths can be developed to highlight selected combinations of case studies and battle events in order to emphasize certain lessons or messages; or, they can be inter-mittently delivered in an interstitial mode to fit differing agenda needs, or as featured parts of broader agendas for corporate meeting or conference plans.

The minimum length for a classroom program is four hours, which allows time for the necessary context and overview of the battle and for an in-depth examination of two leadership case studies, along with concluding exercises and comments. Each added case study requires two additional hours of program time.

Leadership Themes

Themes or competencies which can be meaningfully addressed in a simple and powerful manner via the case studies include:

• The impact of thorough preparation and planning on execution under pressure
• Providing clarity of intent, direction and expectations
• The importance of knowing and understanding resource capabilities – human, material, and technological
• Making decisions with incomplete or inadequate information
• Communicating a compelling vision and enrolling peers and subordinates in decisions and initiatives
• Distinguishing critical from important – prioritizing decisions and actions
• Taking initiative in ambiguous or chaotic situations
• Creating team alignment and a sense of team achievement
• The importance of monitoring succession readiness and ensuring succession

Existing Classroom Programs

• Leadership Lessons From Gettysburg
• Leadership Lessons From Normandy

Programs in Design

• Forest of Screaming Souls – Leadership Lessons From Ia Drang Valley
• Beyond Band of Brothers – Leadership Lessons From Easy Company