Self-Leadership & Empowerment in the 21st Century

How can you develop strong self-leadership and empower yourself for the challenges of the 21st century? Given the complexities of our globally-interconnected world (VUCA) and the manifold fields that urgently require action (UN Sustainable Development Goals), a reliable personal compass needs to be calibrated from the inside out. In this course, students develop their unique compass that can guide them for everyday decisions, life choices and meaningful action. Designed as a transformational journey with three phases, the course aims to facilitate self-awareness, establish leadership and empower confidence to walk one’s own path.

Key concepts and models are taken from a wide range of disciplines, incl. developmental, social and organisational psychology, neuroscience and philosophy, management and systems theory. Theories are complemented with practical tools that students can apply after finishing the course, such as mindfulness and breathwork techniques, focusing and emotional regulation, compassion exercises, as well as dialogue and communication tools.

In the first part, students build a foundation with practical self-awareness methods to better know and understand themselves. They practice how to create a mental and relational space to deal with stress, conflicts and ambiguity. In a multicultural dialogue they learn to make their perspectives, values and motivations transparent. From these insights, the first core assignment is to sketch a personal purpose canvas. The goal is to establish an inner alignment and apply useful tools for self- and co-regulation.

Students are next introduced to leadership skills and models that can help them navigate through change. Key is to evolve a systemic mindset that places individual development within the collective context of working in teams, socio-cultural conditions, and global viewpoints. They get introduced to expert networks that work within the field of global impact and transformation and will prepare for this with a series of short presentations on relevant topics.

In the third part, students work on their competence profile to gain more clarity about their possible contribution in this world. In an archetypal Hero’s Journey they empower their strengths, discover new talents and explore how to walk their own path. They complement this with gender-specific aspects and establish leadership qualities. The students who chose not to give a presentation will write a short essay to reflect on learnings and growth moments.

The course provides basic experiences for the lasting development of a leadership personality.