Posted by Catriona Burke in the Systems Thinking Network group on LinkedIn

Senior leaders today operate at the intersection of 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬: 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. These conditions are systemic, contested, emergent and deeply embedded. Optimisation approaches and linear, reductionist logic have extremely limited contributions to make in these contexts.

Following increasing calls globally for an alternative paradigm, after several years of design, consultation and engagement with leading international scholarship and practice, I am pleased, as Academic Director, to announce the launch of a new 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐁𝐀 (𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) at Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland.

This programme is built on a different premise: that 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 in the 21st century 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

The design furthermore brings into deliberate relationship four elements:
• The senior leader as practitioner-scholar, operating with real authority and responsibility
• A high-stakes complex phenomenon embedded in the leader’s context
• Cutting-edge knowledge frontiers spanning disciplines and epistemologies
• Advanced research mastery enabling rigorous, reflexive, transdisciplinary inquiry

Together, these enable the creation of knowledge that is simultaneously academically robust, practically consequential, and societally relevant.
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🎓 Programme Structure for Senior Leaders
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🏛️ Immersive residencies – Intensive week-long sessions per taught semester (4 in total)
🌍 Leadership Summits – Dialogue with global thought leaders and peers (3 in total)
🤝 A global learning ecosystem – Sustained intellectual and practical support
🌐 Research focus – A complex organisational or societal phenomenon privileging actionable knowledge and real world impact
👥 Cohort – Exclusively experienced senior leaders across sectors

It is a doctorate designed for leaders who 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, not merely adapt to it. We welcome enquiries from senior leaders prepared to undertake demanding intellectual work in pursuit of 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

📄 Programme brochure: https://bit.ly/4axBjpb
📩 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚.𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞@𝐮𝐥.𝐢𝐞

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