Executive Leaders Training Program (ELP)
Lead strategically. Influence boldly. Elevate your impact. Drive mission success.
The Executive Leaders Training Program is a premier leadership experience for senior acquisition professionals preparing for top roles. Over six virtual sessions, you’ll refine your leadership style, tackle complex challenges, and connect with peers and senior leaders across government and industry.
You’ll engage directly with recognized experts and changemakers who are shaping the future of contract management and executive leadership. Through their insights, you’ll gain the strategic, organizational, and leadership skills needed to lead with impact and drive meaningful change.
Why Apply?
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Master the leadership skills top executives demand and gain the tools and mindset to lead high-stakes acquisition teams with confidence and clarity.
- Forge powerful connections with senior government and industry leaders—and walk away with a network that accelerates your career.
- Tackle real-world acquisition challenges using advanced problem-solving frameworks designed for executive-level decision-making.
- Secure access to a NCMA flagship event.
- Stay ahead of the curve with a curated library of business articles, focused on leadership and contract management trends as well as a full-year subscription to Harvard Business Review.
- Define your leadership style with precision using a globally recognized EQ-i assessment, designed to identify emerging leaders with the adaptability, relationship skills, and decision-making capabilities essential for senior roles. Receive a personalized report along with one-on-one coaching to guide your growth.
- Earn up to 45 CLP/CPE credits via virtual instruction, collaborative project work, panel leader discussion, and more via conference participation!
Who Should Apply to ELP
Senior acquisition professionals with:
- 7+ years in acquisition, contract management, or related field.
- 4+ years of people/team management.
- A drive to lead change and shape the future.
Program Format
- 6 bimonthly sessions (12 weeks total completion time)
- Leadership sessions are held bimonthly in the afternoon; each session is 2.5 hours.
Executive Leaders Training Program Overview
The program will be divided into six modules. Each learning module is led by a senior-level leader in contract management.
Build executive-level self-awareness by clarifying your leadership style, decision-making tendencies, and leadership impact. This session focuses on strengthening self-leadership capabilities that drive strategic influence, credibility, and sustained performance in contract management and enterprise leadership.
- Becoming an Emotionally Intelligent Leader
Strengthen emotional intelligence to lead with composure, empathy, and purpose. Executives will enhance their ability to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics, manage workplace emotions, and build high‑trust relationships that enable influence, engagement, and effective leadership at scale. This session includes individual leadership coaching with our esteemed instructor to translate insight into sustained executive impact.
- Leading with Communication and Influence
Elevate your executive presence and influence in a virtual environment by mastering strategic communication techniques that resonate at the leadership level. This session focuses on articulating complex ideas with clarity, adapting messages for senior stakeholders, and leveraging persuasive influence to drive alignment and outcomes across distributed teams.
- Leading a Forward-Thinking Business Vision
Develop strategic foresight and executive judgment to assess evolving business environments and set forward‑looking priorities. This session focuses on strengthening critical thinking and confidence in complex decision‑making to navigate complexity, anticipate change, enterprise growth, and drive sustainable, long‑term organizational success.
- Leading Organizational Culture in the Workforce
Prepare to shape and sustain organizational culture through ethical leadership and principled decision-making. This session focuses on cultivating trust, integrity, and accountability while positioning leaders as moral anchors who drive cultural alignment and organizational resilience.
- Leading Through Disruption and Innovation
Expand your ability to navigate disruption, enable transformation, and maintain organizational momentum during periods of complexity and change. This session focuses on the ability to lead decisively through uncertainty by applying change leadership, innovation strategies, and strategic foresight.
Executive Leaders Training Program Cost
Ready to Lead at the Next Level?
Applications will open in
November 2026 for the February 2027 program. For additional questions please contact
[email protected]. NCMA serves the contract management community impartially and with courtesy and respect regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, or national origin.