How UNC made executive education stick beyond the classroom
UNC Executive Education extended its leadership programs into sustained daily behavior change across 10,000+ leaders in 20+ countries
Backstory
UNC Executive Education designs some of the most respected leadership programs in the world. Through UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, the organization partners with global companies to develop leaders at every level, from emerging leaders to senior executives.
The transformation they were running targeted the gap between classroom learning and daily practice. For a Fortune 5 Energy Company, the stakes were global: 10,000+ leaders across 20+ countries needed to translate executive education into consistent, observable leadership and ownership behaviors on the front line. UNC partnered with 1st90 to become the execution layer behind its curriculum.
1st90 let us prove that our programs don't just inspire leaders, they change how they lead, every day, long after the program ends.
The Challenge
UNC Executive Education designs world-class leadership content. The hardest moment isn't the classroom.
The Monday after problem. The hardest moment isn't the classroom. It's when leaders return to their roles and the content begins to fade. Without reinforcement, even the best training starts to slip within weeks.
Global scale. 10,000+ leaders across 20+ countries needed to translate executive education into consistent, observable leadership and ownership behaviors on the front line.
No sustained reinforcement. Executive education providers had no systematic way to reinforce content after the program ended, or to prove that the learning actually changed how leaders led.
Traditional executive education ends in the classroom. Without a daily reinforcement system, even world-class content fades within weeks.
How Kyper Made It Stick
1st90 became the execution layer behind UNC's curriculum. Through a Behavior Design Sprint, 1st90 translated UNC's leadership content into targeted micro-practices, then deployed a reinforcement path that met leaders in the flow of work.
The hardest moment isn't the classroom. It's the Monday after.
Built from their playbook
Kyper Studio translated UNC's leadership curriculum into targeted micro-practices that leaders could apply immediately, across languages, regions, and business units. The content stayed true to UNC's framework, but became actionable at the daily behavior level.
Daily steps in the flow of work
Kyper Shift delivered a 30 to 60 day reinforcement path that met leaders in the flow of work. Five minutes a day, turning classroom inspiration into daily leadership habits across 20+ countries.
Real-time behavior data
Kyper Dashboard gave UNC and the client's leadership real-time visibility into which behaviors were actually changing, long after the classroom program ended. For the first time, UNC could prove its programs changed how leaders lead every day.
World-class content fades without a daily reinforcement system.
The Results
UNC Executive Education proved that its programs don't just inspire leaders. They change how leaders lead, every day, long after the program ends.
19/19 targeted behaviors improved. Every behavior the program targeted moved in the right direction, with before and after data proving the shift across the entire leadership population.
+26% average behavior lift. Across all 19 targeted behaviors, the average improvement was 26 percent, measured with before and after data at scale.
10,000+ leaders activated. The program reached every leader across 20+ countries, with consistent daily behaviors regardless of region or business unit.
20+ countries. The reinforcement path worked across languages, regions, and business units, proving that behavior change at global scale is possible with the right system.
For UNC, the results meant something bigger than a single program. They could finally prove to their clients that executive education doesn't end in the classroom. With the right daily reinforcement system, world-class content becomes lasting behavior change, and you can see it in the data.
Voice of the Participants
1st90 let us prove that our programs don't just inspire leaders, they change how they lead, every day, long after the program ends.
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