Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme
Realise your true potential. The Cambridge Rising Women Leaders programme – for high-potential women looking to advance their own authentic leadership style.
Upcoming programmes
Format:
Dates:
Duration:
Fees:
Face-to-face
12-14 Oct 2026
3 days
£4,800 + VAT
Upcoming programmes
Format:
Face-to-face
Dates:
12-14 Oct 2026
Duration:
3 days
Fees:
£4,800 + VAT
Overview
The Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme is designed for women with high leadership potential who want to take their career to the next level and reach a leadership role. Explore the positives of female power and develop a proactive, strength-based approach to leadership. The Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme harnesses 4 inter-connected learning pillars which foster and build on your intrinsic leadership abilities: self-awareness, strength-building, shared experiences and continued learning.
Challenge yourself. Learn with a strong, supportive cohort of exceptional women and become the very best leader you can be.
Benefits and career impact
Embrace your leadership potential. Here’s how the programme can benefit both you, and your organisation.
- Develop a positive, strength-based approach to leadership.
- Address current career challenges and develop a clear career action plan towards senior leadership roles – get advice on advancing your career using reflective learning.
- Enjoy informal conversations with senior executives about their journey to the top.
- Gain a strong, supportive peer network and participate in peer-to-peer mentoring.
- Engage in psychometric assessments, practical skills sessions and physical and vocal workshops.
- Become a member of Cambridge Judge Business School’s Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre.
- Return to work ready to lead with increased confidence and an understanding of your authentic leadership style.
- Apply cutting-edge, research-based frameworks to your organisations challenges.
- Share world-leading insights with your work collegues.
Programme content
Module 1: Strength-based approach and your leadership strengths
- Reframe your mindset around strength-based leadership development.
- Explore career advancement challenge through reflective learning.
- Discuss what it takes to be a good leader – consider the perspectives and expectations of those you lead.
- Collect qualitative feedback on your strengths and leadership qualities.
- Identify development areas to unlock your leadership potential.
Module 2: Finding meaning in work and resilience
- Explore how to find meaning in your work.
- Consider the elements that influence happiness levels.
- Understand resilience and how to deal with challenges more effectively – identify your triggers and pause buttons.
- Articulate your personal vision statement and identify and balance the energisers and drainers in your workday.
Module 3: The power of communication and negotiation strategies
- Focus on how your physical habits affect the impression you give others, and how they affect how you’re feeling.
- Improve your physical presence, posture, eye-contact and breathing through a series of exercises with Leandra Ashton, actress and founder of the Flying Cloud Theatre.
- Explore negotiation strategies and learn how to overcome the specific challenges affecting women.
- Use a practical framework to strengthen your negotiation approach as a female leader.
Module 4: Networks and how leaders define success
- Explore the critical role that networks play in your advancement to leadership positions.
- Identify key characteristics of your network and areas for improvement.
- Recognise how you as a leader define success for yourself, your teams and your followers.
Module 5: Career negotiation strategies
- Explore how to advocate for yourself and negotiate effectively for higher compensation package.
- Work through a case study and discuss how to deal with dismissive comments and make a compelling case for yourself.
- Examine how power is used, deflected and redefined.
- Recognise the challenges of negotiating with superiors and the gender influence.
- Learn to negotiate more confidently and effectively.
Module 6: Managing difficult conversations and the power of communication
- Case study: Watch a difficult conversation between a rising woman leader and one of her reports – discuss what she does well and what she could improve.
- Identify key behaviours to manage difficult conversations.
- Discover how to use vocal dynamics to ensure you are heard.
- Learn techniques to generate new ideas in your team and ensure positive outcomes.
How you learn: Face-to-face
Enjoy three inspirational days in the historic and beautiful city of Cambridge. You’ll meet faculty and peers in person, while time away from home and office will give you the space to focus on your learning and networking objectives. Join ‘Cambridge Union’-style debates, hear from guest speakers and faculty, interact with carefully selected peers and experience group exercises, role-play and discussion both in and outside class.
The Cambridge faculty not only shares the theory of women leadership with real-life examples, but also creates an environment where like-minded people listen to each other to help achieve their best. Thanks to this programme, I started focusing more on my strengths and learned how to sustainably channel my energy. The programme also gave me the opportunity to slow down, reflect, and breathe in the university campus, after 7 years spent in business.
All of the sessions were enjoyable, engaging and relevant. The programme allows for self reflection and growth as well as giving many tools to help us along our leadership journey. More than that, it inspires us to be our best selves as well as connecting us with many inspirational women.
Who attends
We welcome high-achieving, high-potential women. This programme is for you if:
- you aspire to your first leadership role or you have just been appointed to it
- you are in the early to middle phase of your management careers, with between 3 and 10 years’ experience in an entry to middle-management role
The Sucheta Nadkarni Scholarship
The Sucheta Nadkarni Scholarship has been launched to honour the legacy of Professor Sucheta Nadkarni (1967-2019), a visionary academic, leader, and champion of gender parity in business and society. Established to support ambitious women aspiring to senior leadership roles, the scholarship offers a fully funded place on the Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme.
The scholarship provides full funding for participation in the programme. All scholars need to have their application supported with a nomination from their organisation.
Applications for the Sucheta Nadkarni Scholarship are now closed.
The programme inspires us to be our best selves as well as connecting us with many inspirational women.
Faculty and speakers
Learn from our world-class faculty who bring fresh insights from their leading-edge research into all of our Executive Education programmes. The Academic Programme Directors (APD) for the Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme are Monique Boddington, Associate Professor Management Practice, and Karla Sayegh, Assistant Professor in Organisational Theory and Information Systems.
Director of the Master of Studies in Entrepreneurship Programme
PhD (University of Cambridge)
PhD (McGill University)
Member of the Advisory Board, Cambridge Judge Business School
Fellow (Organisational Theory and Information Systems)
Smaranda holds an honorary title from Cambridge Judge Business School.
Why Cambridge Judge Business School?
Related programmes
Cambridge Rising Women Leaders Programme belongs to our Leadership-topic executive education programmes. Here is a selection of related programmes:
Cambridge General Management Programme
Broaden your perspective, create new connections and gain a deeper understanding of key management disciplines, including Finance, Marketing, Operations and Innovation. The Cambridge General Management Programme is an intensive 2-week programme that will stretch your thinking and increase your confidence. Designed to support your transition to a broader management role, you’ll improve your decision-making abilities and get ready to accelerate your career.
The Cambridge and Financial Times Women In Leadership Programme
Transform your leadership impact with this in-person executive education programme, crafted for senior women leaders ready to lead authentically, strategically and with real-world influence. Delivered in collaboration with the Financial Times, this unique collaboration blends the academic excellence of Cambridge Judge Business School with cutting-edge insight from FT editors, curated digital content and global industry leaders.
Transformational Leadership
Leading through rapid change is a huge and complex challenge. Move beyond the ordinary, developing a flexible leadership style that strikes the right balance between inspirational leadership and results-oriented management.
Speak to a programme advisor
If you have any questions or would like to discuss how this programme could benefit you or your organisation, please get in touch with the programme advisor.
