Coaching Führungs- und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung

The part-time MBA International Business Management has been offering its students a targeted coaching seminar on "Leadership and Personality" for over ten years. The local setting for this has so far been the former Cistercian convent of Heiligkreuztal, founded in 1227, about 50 kilometres northeast of Weingarten. With its quiet and inspiring atmosphere, the conference centre offers a suitable place for reflection for the forthcoming managers.

With the Corona crisis, the seminar at the monastery was initially suspended. "Coaching, in which students can work out solutions for their personal and professional situation, is, however, a significant component of our MBA programme," says Professor Dr Barbara Niersbach. She manages the part-time programme and has now developed a new coaching format together with Professor Dr. Eberhard Hohl. The students receive one-to-one counselling with a coach of their choice. "This allows us to offer our students an appropriate substitute even under the current circumstances," says Barbara Niersbach.

“Some situations need individual coaching".

The part-time MBA programme International Business Management already teaches numerous strategies for coping with professional challenges through the personal exchange with professors and the real world business scenarios. In 16 modules we train project-based work, team management and the capability of creating an analytical and solution-oriented perspective.

"However, some business situations, such as the personal handling of stress or the further development of one's own leadership role, need to be considered and coached more individually," says Eberhard Hohl, who has designed and led the seminar since its establishment. In addition to situations from the students' everyday business life, the seminar deals with topics such as leadership and personality development, as well as successfully mastering an assessment centre. Another focus is on promoting one's own health and inner strength by introducing students to the topics of mindfulness and resilience.

“Supporting and developing our students is our number one priority”

In addition to Eberhard Hohl, other experts are now available this year for the new format of individual counselling: Dr. Jutta Nübel. She enriches the programme with her experience from twenty years as a manager in numerous teams in America, India and Germany. As a woman in a leadership role, she provides great support for female students and their individual development in the MBA coaching programme.

As the former head of key account management at Sanofi, Thomas Steinmeier has many years of experience in the field of negotiation. He has been coaching executives into new positions for many years, including students of the MBA International Business Management from the summer semester 2021.

"With this new programme, we have added another support service for our students to our established coaching in Heiligkreuztal, which we hope to catch up on in autumn," emphasises Barbara Niersbach. "The individual support and development of our students is our number one priority and we want to continue to provide them with the best possible support."