Center for Creative Leadership

What CCL Is

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is a nonprofit provider of leadership development for individuals, teams and whole organizations. Its about page describes it as "a top-ranked, global, nonprofit provider of leadership development and a pioneer in the field of global leadership research," founded in 1970 with a mission "to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide." The global headquarters is in Greensboro, North Carolina, with campuses in La Jolla and Colorado Springs and offices in Brussels, Riyadh, Dubai, Gurgaon, Singapore and Shanghai. CCL says it has nearly a dozen locations and works with over 3,000 client organizations a year.

Its headline claim is reach in large companies: the site says CCL is "trusted by 2/3 of the Fortune 1000." But the audience runs from first-time managers to senior executives, and the about page also names social sector leaders, public health organizations, educational institutions, foundations and nonprofits. For a reader in our business courses category, CCL is the leadership specialist, with programs an individual can enroll in and services an HR or L&D team can buy for a whole organization.

Open Leadership Programs

The programs menu is organized by career stage: Frontline & New Manager Courses, Mid-Level Manager Training, Executive Leadership Programs, Online Leadership Training and Conversation Training. The site describes these as open programs "built for every leader level to strengthen your organization's pipeline," so an individual can attend one, or an employer can send people from different levels.

The flagship is the Leadership Development Program (LDP), which CCL calls "the longest-running leadership program of its kind in the world, available in person or live online." The online leadership training line gives the same choice to people who cannot travel to a campus. The newsroom also announces Succession Reimagined, a new research-based program to help organizations build the next generation of leaders.

Alumni quotes describe how the programs land. Tameca N. Brown of Fairfax County Government recalls attending "an intensive, life-changing learning experience" early in her management career. Gloriana Garro of Crowley Maritime says her team, spread across "multiple time zones and different countries," wanted to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development and chose CCL's virtual experience. Susan Apold, a dean of health science and nursing and an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows, writes that after 30 years as a clinician, writer and academician, "the Center for Creative Leadership transformed my life."

Coaching, Assessments and Tools

Leadership coaching is a separate service, described as "outcomes-driven coaching from our global network of credentialed coaches," offered as executive, team and integrated coaching. Alongside it sit 360 assessments, leadership development tools, training materials and a list of leadership training topics. CCL also lets organizations license its content, and the site has a shop.

The research behind the tools is long-standing. The about page says CCL "pioneered the use of 360 feedback and the 70-20-10 model" and was "among the first to research concepts like derailment and the glass ceiling that women leaders face." The insights section publishes guides, articles, white papers, research reports, webinars and a podcast, sorted into categories such as AI and digital leadership, boundary spanning, disruption and uncertainty, holistic health and wellbeing, and talent development. Recent pieces include a guide on what AI reveals about being human, a research series on succession planning, a white paper of C-suite views on global leadership trends, and an interactive assessment that measures leadership effectiveness through direction, alignment and commitment. Live webinars are led by CCL senior faculty.

CCL Passport and Leadership at Scale

CCL Passport is the subscription product. The site describes it as "unlimited access to our world-class, research-based leadership development content and solutions," and positions it under "Leadership at Scale": "customizable content and tools to develop leaders across your entire organization." For a company that wants to reach many managers rather than send a few to a campus, this is the training library route. The pages do not set out what a Passport subscription costs or contains in detail, so it is a conversation with an advisor.

Custom Programs for Organizations

The largest engagements are custom. The homepage pitch is "You know your organization. We know leadership," with solutions "co-designed & tailor-made" from "deep discovery" and "precisely designed for your organization's unique context." The site groups organizational work by focus area (AI and leadership, burnout, change leadership, leading through uncertainty, organizational culture) and by industry, naming financial services, foundations, government, healthcare, nonprofits and pharmaceuticals.

Client quotes stress the tailoring. Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, writes: "They do not have a 'canned' approach. They know us and our challenges, tailor their programming, and shift as we need them to with speed and consistently high quality of delivery." Kisha Scott of Convergint Technologies says: "They don't just deliver programs. They genuinely care about making our colleagues and leaders better." Buffy Morris of Arch Mortgage Insurance Company describes combining her company's own knowledge "with the powerhouse of the CCL name and years of extensive research in the leadership field."

Recognition and Mission

The site says CCL has been "consistently named a top provider of executive education and leadership training by EMFD, the Financial Times, and more," and that TrainingIndustry.com again named it among the top providers of leadership training. As a nonprofit, it is overseen by a Board of Trustees and a Board of Governors, accepts donations, and runs a scholarship program "because we believe leadership should lift up communities." Jamie Williams of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation cites that mission as the reason the foundation chose CCL. CCL also partners with other organizations to extend the reach of its research and solutions, and keeps an alumni network for past participants. The site publishes no prices; prospective clients talk to an advisor or download a brochure.

Who It Suits

CCL suits organizations that treat leadership development as a long-term investment: companies building a management pipeline, HR and L&D teams that want custom programs or an organization-wide content subscription, and public sector, healthcare and nonprofit bodies, which the site serves directly. Individual managers and executives can take an open program or the LDP, in person or online, and coaching is available on its own.

It is not a self-serve course marketplace. Most engagements start with a conversation, and the depth of the research and faculty is the reason to choose it rather than a library of short videos. For leaders and organizations who want that depth, CCL brings what its about page calls more than 50 years of work with people and organizations.