Reading leadership situations, responding appropriately, and staying in control are basic requirements for a good leader. In this two-day workshop, we will explore the topics of leadership and self-leadership. The focus will be on “leadership at eye level,” which is fundamental to success in a rapidly changing (economic) world. The first module concludes with the development of a personal leadership compass.

Day 1: Leadership on equal terms: Recognizing roles, situations, and scope for action

• Reading leadership situations
• Leadership roles and recommendations for action
• Methods for leadership on equal terms

Day 2: Self-leadership and leadership: Unleashing your own values, strengths, and impact

• Self-leadership and performance
• Individual values and strengths
• Personal leadership compass needle

Goals:

• Inner stability and clarity in a leadership context
• Application of specific tools for leadership and self-leadership
• Orientation for career and leadership entry

Speaker: Simone Ramelsberger M.A., M.Sc., expert in leadership development, systemic coach, and trainer in the field of innovation for over 7 years

Dates:
Mon, October 20, 2025, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tue, October 21, 2025, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Part 1: “Authentic Leadership” – Leading yourself and others authentically (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
Authentic leadership builds on the experience that people are particularly productive, creative, and positively motivated when they consider what they do to be consistent, meaningful, and right. The “Authentic Leadership” module offers a thorough introduction to what it means to be authentic. Two basic skills are central to this: self-reflection and self-awareness.

Contents:

• The importance of authenticity for one's own life, especially in a leadership role
• Self-reflection: questioning one's own motives, values, and goals
• Self-awareness: reflecting on and dealing with emotions

Objectives:

• Exploring the idea of authentic self-leadership
• Training self-awareness and self-reflection

Speaker: Johannes Lober M.A., MBA, Managing Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Leadership (LETHOS)

Date/time:
Thu, Nov. 27, 2025 / 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Part 2: “Embodied Leadership: Leading in Motion” – Seeing and Being Seen (2:00–5:00 p.m.)
We transfer the cognitive learning experience to the body. In the afternoon of the module day, we learn what it means to connect with ourselves and others through movement.

Contents:

• Movement experience and awareness creation
• Contact experience
• Circle of Life

Speaker: Johannes Härtl, Managing Director, Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance

Date/time:
Thu, Nov. 27, 2025 / 2-5 p.m.

The contents of this module will be announced at a later date.

Effective communication and conflict resolution are key success factors in leadership roles. The ability to communicate clearly and purposefully and to resolve conflicts constructively is crucial for productive and harmonious collaboration. Given the complexity of modern working environments, developing these skills is becoming increasingly important. In this module, participants gain a basic understanding of communication strategies and conflict resolution approaches and learn how to apply them specifically to their everyday working lives and derive appropriate measures for different situations.

Contents and objectives:

• Communication basics: Understanding and applying communication models, behaviors, and styles
• Effective communication: Experiencing the effects of limited communication and strategically counteracting them in everyday practice
• Conflict resolution: Understanding the mediation process, reflecting on one's own role and attitude as a manager, and effectively supporting conflicting parties in finding solutions

Speaker: Susanna Feldmeyer

Date/time:
Tue, Dec. 15, 2025 / 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Intercultural leadership is a key success factor for international companies. However, leadership concepts vary considerably from culture to culture. In view of the increasing global networking and internationalization of companies, identifying and understanding cultural differences and their influence in an economic and business context is becoming increasingly important. In this course, participants gain a basic understanding of relevant cultural theories and learn how to apply them specifically to the leadership context and derive appropriate measures for different situations.

Contents:

• Introduction to intercultural leadership: Definition and significance of intercultural leadership
• Culture and cultural differences: Concept of culture and cultural dimensions as well as intercultural sensitivity
• Intercultural communication: Communication styles and patterns in different cultures as well as challenges and practices for communication in international teams
• Leadership in different cultures: Cultural influences on leadership concepts as well as culturally adapted leadership strategies
• Conflict management in intercultural teams: Recognizing and overcoming conflicts in multicultural teams, and developing conflict resolution strategies

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jörg Büechl, ESB Business School Reutlingen

Date/time:
Tue, Dec. 16, 2025 / 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Business Integrity – Assuming ethical responsibility in companies
As a manager, you have to make decisions every day, often decisions with far-reaching consequences – and ones that present difficult dilemmas. The Business Integrity module prepares you for conflict situations, equips you with the ability to speak and act ethically, and thus promotes the development of ethical conflict management skills.

Contents:

• Multiple crises and dwindling trust in politics: What must the state do, what can the market do, what should companies do?
• Social responsibility as an open concept: The role and significance of social stakeholders
• Interplay of corporate values, strategy, and corporate culture—value discourse, value hierarchy, and principle-based pragmatism as a foundation
• Benefits of the ethical responsibility toolbox in the area of conflict between “legality” and “legitimacy”
• Significance of leadership personalities and corporate culture based on the case study of the diesel scandal
• Consideration of a business case for acting with integrity
  Objectives:
• Becoming familiar with ethical theory and its applicability to acting with integrity in business with the help of a “toolbox”
• Strengthening ethical language and action skills and encouraging participants to take responsible steps of their own in resolving ethical conflicts

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Dres. h.c. Klaus Leisinger, President of the Global Values Alliance Foundation

Date/Time:
Thu, Jan. 22, 2026 / 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The closing event, featuring welcoming remarks from representatives of KIT and the Karl Schlecht Foundation, provides a prestigious setting for the presentation of participant certificates.

We are also looking forward to a “hot seat” session, which will feature insights from a leader's practical experience, followed by a discussion.

Contents:

• Review of the Leadership Talent Academy and outlook on personal perspectives
• Exchange on the guiding principles and message behind the Leadership Talent Academy
• “Hot seat”: Impulse and open exchange with a leader

Speaker: Lena Held (LTA Project Manager), tba.

Date/time:
Fri, Jan. 23, 2026 / 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Reading leadership situations, responding appropriately, and staying in control are basic requirements for a good leader. In this two-day workshop, we will explore the topics of leadership and self-leadership. The focus will be on “leadership at eye level,” which is fundamental to success in a rapidly changing (economic) world. The first module concludes with the development of a personal leadership compass.

Day 1: Leadership at eye level: Recognizing roles, situations, and scope for action

• Reading leadership situations
• Leadership roles and recommendations for action
• Methods for leadership at eye level

Day 2: Self-leadership and leadership: Unleashing your own values, strengths, and impact

• Self-leadership and performance
• Individual values and strengths
• Personal leadership compass needle

Goals:

• Inner stability and clarity in a leadership context
• Application of specific tools for leadership and self-leadership
• Orientation for career and leadership entry

Speaker: Simone Ramelsberger M.A., M.Sc., expert in leadership development, systemic coach, and trainer in the field of innovation for over 7 years

Dates:
Mon, April 27, 2026, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tue, April 28, 2026, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

tba.

Effective communication and conflict resolution are key success factors in leadership roles. The ability to communicate clearly and purposefully and to resolve conflicts constructively is crucial for productive and harmonious collaboration. Given the complexity of modern working environments, developing these skills is becoming increasingly important. In this module, participants gain a basic understanding of communication strategies and conflict resolution approaches and learn how to apply them specifically to their everyday working lives and derive appropriate measures for different situations.

Contents and objectives:

• Communication basics: Understanding and applying communication models, behaviors, and styles
• Effective communication: Experiencing the effects of limited communication and strategically counteracting them in everyday practice
• Conflict resolution: Understanding the mediation process, reflecting on one's own role and attitude as a manager, and effectively supporting conflicting parties in finding solutions

Speaker: Susanna Feldmeyer

Date/time:
Mon, June 22, 2026 / 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Intercultural leadership is a key success factor for international companies. However, leadership concepts vary considerably from culture to culture. In view of the increasing global networking and internationalization of companies, identifying and understanding cultural differences and their influence in an economic and business context is becoming increasingly important. In this course, participants gain a basic understanding of relevant cultural theories and learn how to apply them specifically to the leadership context and derive appropriate measures for different situations.

Contents:

• Introduction to intercultural leadership: Definition and significance of intercultural leadership
• Culture and cultural differences: Concept of culture and cultural dimensions as well as intercultural sensitivity
• Intercultural communication: Communication styles and patterns in different cultures as well as challenges and practices for communication in international teams
• Leadership in different cultures: Cultural influences on leadership concepts as well as culturally adapted leadership strategies
• Conflict management in intercultural teams: Recognizing and overcoming conflicts in multicultural teams, and developing conflict resolution strategies

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jörg Büechl, ESB Business School Reutlingen

Date/time:
Tue, June 22, 2026 / 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Day 1: Part 1: “Leading in Motion” – Seeing and Being Seen (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
We transfer the cognitive learning experience to the body. In the afternoon of the module day, we learn what it means to connect with ourselves and others through movement.

Contents:

• Movement experience and awareness creation
• Contact experience
• Circle of Life

Speaker: Johannes Härtl, Managing Director, Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance

Date/time:
Mon, July 20, 2026 / 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Part 2: “Authentic Leadership” – Leading yourself and others authentically (2–5 p.m.)
Authentic leadership builds on the experience that people are particularly productive, creative, and positively motivated when they consider what they do to be consistent, meaningful, and right. The “Authentic Leadership” module offers a thorough introduction to what it means to be authentic. Two basic skills are central to this: self-reflection and self-awareness.

Contents:

• The importance of authenticity for one's own life, especially in a leadership role
• Self-reflection: questioning one's own motives, values, and goals
• Self-awareness: reflecting on and dealing with emotions

Objectives:

• Exploring the idea of authentic self-leadership
• Training self-awareness and self-reflection

Speaker: Johannes Lober M.A., MBA, Managing Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Leadership (LETHOS)

Date/time:
Mon, July 20, 2026 / 2-5 p.m.

Day 2: "Embodied Leadership: Leading with Presence
True leadership does not originate in the mind, but in the whole body – in how we stand, breathe, speak, and perceive. The body shows whether we are truly present or just functioning. Presence means being in contact: with yourself, with others, and with what is happening right now.
In this module, participants explore how presence, self-regulation, and embodiment affect leadership behavior, communication, and relationship skills. Through experiential exercises from embodied leadership, systemic work, and neurofacilitation, they learn to stay centered under stress and act from a place of clarity and connection.

Speaker: Lena Held, Project Manager, Leadership Talent Academy

Date/time:
Tue, July 21, 2026 / 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

The closing event, featuring welcoming remarks from representatives of KIT and the Karl Schlecht Foundation, provides a prestigious setting for the presentation of participant certificates.

We are also looking forward to a “hot seat” session, which will feature insights from a leader's practical experience, followed by a discussion.

Contents:

• Review of the Leadership Talent Academy and outlook on personal perspectives
• Exchange on the guiding principles and message behind the Leadership Talent Academy
• “Hot seat”: Impulse and open exchange with a leader

Speaker: Lena Held (LTA Project Manager), tba.

Date/time:
tba.