Denver Leadership Experience
Executive Leadership Development for Complex Business Challenges
Leadership today requires more than knowing what to do next. It requires the ability to navigate uncertainty, align people around priorities, make better decisions, and turn strategy into action.
The Denver Leadership Experience (DLX) is an applied executive leadership development program designed for senior leaders who want to strengthen their leadership effectiveness while addressing the challenges they are facing in their organizations right now.
Through a two-session format, real-world application, executive coaching, and peer learning, DLX helps leaders move from insight to action—and from individual leadership growth to organizational impact.
Upcoming Session Details
Date & Time
Winter Cohort: Session 1: Monday, December 7 - Wednesday, December 9, 2026 | 8:30am- 4:00pm
Session 2: Tuesday, January 26 - Wednesday, January 27, 2027 8:30am- 4:00pm
Format
In-person at the University of Denver campus
Cost
$6,880 per participant
Discounts
A 15% discount is available for nonprofits, current or former military, government, DU alumni, Daniels corporate partners and three or more individuals from the same organization.
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Lead Through Complexity. Create Meaningful Business Impact
Senior leaders are being asked to solve increasingly complex problems while leading through constant change. DLX is designed to help senior leaders strengthen the capabilities that matter most when the path forward isn't always clear.
Lead Change & Transformation at the Enterprise Level
Build the adaptability, perspective, and presence today’s volatile, uncertain environment demands of senior leaders. Learn what to let go of, including work AI and other tools can take on, so you can focus on the decisions and leadership only you can provide.
Know Yourself, Lead Others Better
Discover your communication style, strengths and stress triggers, strengthen your emotional intelligence, and learn to connect with people who work differently from you.
Sustain Your Energy and Resilience
Build practical habits that keep you focused, clear-headed and making sound decisions when the pressure is on.
Build High-Performing Teams
Create the trust and psychological safety teams need to thrive, handle conflict productively, and use coaching and feedback to grow your people.
Strengthen Your Leadership Impact
Explore the key dimensions of transformational leadership and pinpoint the one that will make the biggest difference for you this year.
Think Strategically, Act Creatively
Practice strategic, systems, and design thinking to make sense of complexity and turn your toughest business challenge into a clear opportunity for action.
Turn Strategy Into Execution
Compose a personalized action plan that aligns your people, priorities, and measures so you can make progress on day one.
Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the Denver Leadership Experience.
The Framework: Insight → Application → Impact
DLX is built around a signature learning arc that connects leadership development directly to the workplace. Participants engage in two focused sessions with an intentional application period in between.
01 CONNECT & EXPLORE: Create space for deep learning, reflection, and connection.
Participants engage with leadership frameworks, practical tools, faculty, coaches, and peers to better understand themselves as leaders and strengthen the capabilities they need to lead through complexity.
Focus areas include:
- Leadership effectiveness and the Daniels Leadership Model
- Self-awareness and self-management
- Leadership presence, authenticity, and agility
- Neuroleadership
- Building high-performing teams
- Leading for engagement
- Mindfulness, focus, and energy management
- Contextual intelligence
- Strategic and systems thinking
- Coaching and leadership conversations
02 - APPLY & INTEGRATE: Take learnings back to the workplace.
The application period gives participants time to test new ideas, behaviors, and tools within their own leadership and organizational context.
You might apply a new approach to a difficult team dynamic, rethink a strategic challenge, experiment with a different way of leading change, or identify a leadership behavior that could improve your effectiveness.
Participants also meet virtually with a coach, creating dedicated time to reflect on their leadership effectiveness, work through challenges, and identify opportunities for continued growth.
The goal isn't simply to learn something new. It's to discover what happens when you put it into practice.
03 - REFINE & CROSSEXAMINE: Share your experience and learn from peers.
When the cohort reconvenes, participants bring back what they tested, what they learned, where they saw progress, and where they encountered challenges.
That experience becomes part of the learning.
Together with faculty and peers, participants reflect, troubleshoot, deepen their understanding, and refine their approach to the leadership challenges they are facing.
The result is a learning experience shaped by real leadership—not hypothetical scenarios.
04 - BOOST ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT: Foster better business outcomes.
The work continues beyond the program.
Participants leave with greater clarity about their leadership, practical tools they can continue to use, and an Individual Development Plan that connects personal growth with organizational priorities.
Insight becomes application. Application becomes progress. Progress creates impact.
Key Faculty
Jenny Dobmeier
Adjunct Faculty, Executive Education
Executive Director, Executive MBA
Jenny Dobmeier draws upon her extensive corporate and entrepreneurial experience to develop innovative leaders who drive meaningful impact within their organizations. She held leadership roles across global business, product management, marketing, innovation, and supply chain at Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. She is the Founder and CEO of a consulting and executive coaching firm and drives the strategic direction of the Executive MBA program at the University of Denver. In all her roles, Jenny empowers leaders to unlock their full potential and thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Jenny earned a B.S. in Physics, M.S. in Engineering, and an MBA.
Mia Elizardi
Adjunct Faculty, Executive Education
Principal and Founder, Waypoint Labs
Mia Elizardi, MA, GCDF, SHRM-SCP, is Adjunct Faculty in executive education at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business and Principal and Founder of Waypoint Labs. Over two decades in Talent Development and People Operations, she has led and advised organizations across startups, higher education, nonprofits, healthcare, technology, and municipalities, working at the intersection of strategy and execution. She designs leadership experiences for professionals navigating the real demands of enterprise and global leadership, translating research-backed models of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and team effectiveness into tools leaders can use immediately. Mia is completing her doctorate in Organizational Leadership, Performance, and Change at Colorado State University, researching why seasoned leaders must unlearn as much as they learn to navigate complexity.
More Details
Are you a DU staff member looking to register for credit?: Visit our Registration for DU Staff page.
Admissions Requirements
This program is designed for experienced professionals who are currently leading a team, enterprise or global initiatives, or major projects in a company or organization. The program requires a 15-minute phone assessment that can be scheduled here.
Ideal candidates:
- Are senior leaders
- Have seven-plus years of direct people-management experience
- Are leaders working on the enterprise (organization-wide) level
Leaders with fewer than seven years of experience are eligible for the Accelerated Leadership Experience.
If taking the program for academic credit, unofficial transcripts of past college-level work are required. Please note that the registration deadline is three weeks prior to the program’s start date.
Cancellation Policy
We understand that sometimes life throws curveballs-and plans change. If you're unable to attend your program, we offer flexible options to help you or your organization still benefit from the experience. Because our workshops are designed for small, high-impact cohorts, last-minute changes can be disruptive. Our policies aim to balance flexibility for you with the commitments we make to our faculty, facilitators, and fellow participants.
For questions, please contact us at executive.education@du.edu.
Featured Story
Jennifer Landers’s Dedication to Development
Daniels Executive Education’s director of partnerships has never stopped learning and growing.
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Have other questions?
Connect with Jennifer Landers,
Director of Partnerships,
Executive Education.