{"id":148107,"date":"2026-04-24T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=148107"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:45:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:45:51","slug":"inside-the-senior-leaders-pilot-a-5-month-experience-that-modeled-executive-work-cptm","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/professional-development\/inside-the-senior-leaders-pilot-a-5-month-experience-that-modeled-executive-work-cptm\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Senior Leaders Pilot: A 5-Month Experience That Modeled Executive Work"},"author":52,"featured_media":148110,"template":"","tags":[2823,35823,36839,36880,34455],"class_list":["post-148107","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-clo","tag-ld-leadership","tag-training-industry-senior-leaders-program","tag-trending-articles-april-2026","tag-trending-content","global_topic_tax-leadership","global_topic_tax-professional-development"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Thomas Fenstermacher, CPTM","author_image":97913,"author_bio":"Thomas Fenstermacher, CPTM is training director for\u00a0Trellis Rx<\/a> where is responsible for the development and deployment of training initiatives across the organization. After receiving numerous awards at institutions of higher learning for his teaching style and classroom outcomes, Thomas became a Certified Professional Training Manager (CPTM) to elevate his role and ultimately bring that style and flair into the corporate space.\r\n\r\n ","excerpt":"The Training Industry Senior Leaders Program helps L&D professionals transition from functional experts to strategic leaders through real-world, executive-level learning experiences.","main_content":"When I joined the Training Industry Senior Leaders Program<\/a> pilot, I wasn\u2019t looking for another program to \u201cround out my toolkit\u201d because I have enough certifications to wallpaper a room\u2026 or two. I\u2019ve been in learning and development (L&D) long enough to know most leadership programs recycle the same frameworks with a new coat of paint. I wanted something that reflected the actual work senior learning leaders do \u2014 the messy, political, high stakes, cross-functional reality of leading a training function at scale.\r\n\r\nWhat surprised me wasn\u2019t the content, as the course builds on the Certified Professional in Training Management (CPTM\u2122)<\/a> framework. It was the pacing, the way the program slowly shifted the scope of the conversation until you realized you were thinking like an executive, not a functional expert.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s what the lived experience looked like, week by week:\r\n