Elevate your career with a masters-level education

The Global Leadership Professional® (GLP) Program is the only educational initiative designed to provide cutting-edge business insights and immersive learning experiences in partnership with leading international education. The program offers a blended learning format with masters-level courses in Marketing, Management, Leadership and Finance provided in partnership with Cornell University. Ideal for senior-level industry professionals the GLP program provides learners with the opportunity to build a network of like-minded business travel professionals while refining their knowledge with expert education designed for the business travel leader.

How it Works

The GLP Program is a two-part credential combining coursework and a capstone project. Upon completing both, participants will earn a lifetime certification and GLP Designation.

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Next Coursework Cycle

Kickoff: February 24, 2025

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Not sure if you’ve completed the coursework? Contact pd@gbta.org

Pricing

Member special: $5,495

Non-member: $7,495

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GBTA members get the best registration rates for Professional Development opportunities, and also receive exclusive content, downloadable tools, unlimited access to the GBTA Hub, including member-only discussion forums, and more.

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“This program is packed with great leaders who not only show the way but walk the way with you”

Explore the Global Leadership Professional Program Coursework

The GLP Coursework is a unique experience that combines synchronous and asynchronous virtual education sessions with live peer discussions and in-person classes. As a part of the GLP Certificate process, participants collaborate to learn from each other, develop their skills together and apply the learnings within the context of the Business Travel Industry. In the peer discussions, everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts, work together, and think critically. Participants have two weeks to complete the coursework for each education session. Instructors will provide online office hours for support.

Coursework

credits 15

Capstone

credits 20

Instructed by General George Casey

To succeed today in our VUCA world, leader’s must possess the vision to see significant things about the future that aren’t readily apparent to others; the courage to act with conviction in the face of uncertainty and risk; the character to do the right thing in difficult times—and your character only gets tested in difficult times; and they must develop an offensive mindset where they opportunistically create the future they want through action.  This will be the focus of the first session. 

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Identify the impacts of and antidotes for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
  • Identify the new and unique leadership characteristics needed for the VUCA world
  • Match key leadership characteristics to your own strengths and weaknesses
  • Determine the importance of character and leadership
  • Develop skills to improve your personal prerequisites

In this course, you will create a strategy to turn a work group into a high-functioning team by evaluating challenges and applying techniques to generate positive team outcomes. Based on the research and expertise of Professor Kate Walsh, PhD, of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, you will learn how to enable a team to take ownership of its own success and shift leadership roles as the team assumes greater responsibility.  

Using tools provided in this course, you will explore best practices in leading teams, assess case studies, and examine functional conflict. With the completion of an action plan at the end of the course, you will be ready to apply what you learn to your own organization. 

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Create a strategy to create a high-functioning team 
  • Evaluate challenges and apply techniques to generate positive team results  
  • Apply leverage points for enabling the team to take ownership for its own success and shift leadership role as the team assumes greater responsibility  

Instructed by Professor Helen Chun

It is imperative that business travel professionals understand innovative, profitable and sustainable marketing strategies that utilize service design thinking. This session will focus on reimagining the guest experience for a post-COVID world with touch and technology, and encourage lively discussion on travel and hospitality cases.

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Craft a framework for service design thinking and experience management framework to apply them in diverse travel and hospitality industry contexts 
  • Apply the evolving customer journey view and Omni channel (digital and physical) strategies 
  • Learn from best integrated marketing communications strategies and why it is important to align with STP marketing (segmentation, targeting, and positioning decisions) 
  • Develop an understanding of effective service recovery strategies in building customer loyalty 

At the heart of any business is the ability to track, invest, and manage money. Without the ability to do these three things successfully and honestly, a business will not survive, no matter how good their product or service is. A clear understanding of how money flows into and out of an organization allows us to attract investors, identify investment opportunities, decide with what organizations to form relationships or partnerships, and even manage your own personal finances. 

In this course, you will examine the different roles of accounting and finance and how each influences a business. You will analyze the financial documents used by accounting and finance in all businesses: the income statement and the balance sheet. Understanding the numbers on these documents will allow you to interpret financial information to inform decision making in numerous personal and professional capacities. 

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Analyze a simple balance sheet and income statement 
  • Calculate and interpret basic accounting ratios 
  • Examine financial trends in business organizations 
  • Analyze and interpret financial data to inform business strategies 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a key area of innovation for business and everyday life, and understanding the possible applications of this technology as well as the downstream impacts of these solutions is key to creating a foundation for your work involving AI. 

In this course, you will be introduced to AI and examine some of the trends, applications, benefits, and risks associated with AI. You will also explore the origins, evolution, and limitations of AI. You will be challenged to provide examples of how AI is being used in your work environment, in your personal life, and in society at large, noting potential impacts and risks of AI across these areas. You will also unpack some of the social and ethical implications surrounding the use of AI to help solve everyday problems. Finally, you will discover how to examine potential AI applications and identify the critical drivers supporting an AI solution. By the end of this course, you will be set up with the foundational knowledge you need to better understand AI applications and their impact on the world today. 

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Explore AI applications and benefits 
  • Examine the risks and ethics of AI 
  • Identify potential AI applications for an organization 

Instructed by General George Casey

Business travel professionals must expend their precious intellectual and emotional energy in the four areas that have the highest payoff for the organization—developing and articulating a clear vision and strategy; building their high-performing team; setting the internal and external conditions for success; and preparing the organization for success in the future. 

Key Course Takeaways:
  • Develop a clear articulation of what you are trying to accomplish 
  • Build the committed team to achieve your vision 
  • Set the conditions to achieve the vision 
  • Prepare the organization for success in the future. 

The GLP Capstone is the culmination of the Global Leadership Professional (GLP) program, where participants put their newly acquired skills into practice through a real-world industry project. This phase allows participants to demonstrate the leadership competencies and strategic insights gained from the program. The capstone is designed to provide a platform for showcasing their applied knowledge, with projects presented at the GBTA Convention. Through this process, participants contribute to advancing the business travel industry while solidifying their leadership expertise.

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