Background - 27.06.2025 - 14:00
Prof. Heike Bruch, director of the Institute for Leadership and Human Resource Management (IFPM-HSG), welcomed the participants and introduced the topic. She spoke of a “momentous change” in the world of work that is taking place globally. Artificial intelligence is set to accelerate work at an incredible pace – even more profoundly than the industrial revolution once did. This could, “burn people out.” Therefore, it becomes more important to find meaning and enjoyment in one's work. Emotional experiences of success, such as recognition, are important. “Emotions are the opportunity and responsibility of the future.” It is important to balance emotions better and promote the emotional skills of employees. Prof. Simone Westerfeld, COO Group Integration Office at UBS, then illustrated the importance of energy and emotions in leadership, especially in uncertain times, using personal experiences from her everyday management work in the financial industry. It is important to be able to adapt one's leadership style to the situation depending on the circumstances. “Managers should have a set of leadership styles that they can use as needed.”
In the evening, the St.Gallen Leadership Award was presented for outstanding leadership initiatives. Participants were able to vote for one of the three candidates who had been selected by the jury. The candidates had five minutes to convince the audience. The winner was Festo from Esslingen am Neckar which was recognised with its inclusive leadership programme, which has been rolled out worldwide. This programme includes modern approaches such as in-house coaching by AI agents. Second place went to the state of Vorarlberg and third place to AXA.
The morning began with Thomas Süssli, chief of the Swiss Armed Forces. What does modern leadership mean in an organisation that trains 3,000 officers every year? Much more than command and control, as it turns out: “We don't lead with orders, we lead with assignments,” he emphasised. Two toxic things must be avoided: micromanagement and laissez-faire. He explained his leadership philosophy using five points (role model, vision, understanding, trust, responsibility). The specific strength of military leadership or staff work is the ability to make “useful decisions” in a short time and with limited information. This is particularly effective in crises. During the discussion, he commented on the geopolitical world situation, the political and financial framework conditions of the army and the role of the media in today's world.
Dr. des. Leon Barton's presentation focused on the topic of “ambimotional leadership”. This refers to a dual-pronged and inspiring style of leadership that shifts between exploration and implementation modes depending on the situation. However, according to extensive surveys conducted by the IFPM-HSG (around 45,000 employees in 280 companies), purely task-oriented leadership styles such as command and control continue to dominate. This is regrettable, as organisations with an ambimotional leadership climate are measurably more profitable and productive, and employees are much happier and less likely to suffer from emotional exhaustion. Nevertheless, the proportion of emotion-oriented, sustainable and/or ambidextrous leadership has been rising for years in leadership initiatives in German-speaking countries: A promising sign for the future.
Dr. Silja Drack, member of the Executive Board of thurmed AG, spoke about leadership in emotionally challenging situations. Using practical examples, she sensitised the audience to the emotional ups and downs that healthcare professionals experience every day. This is exacerbated by a lack of resources and the framework conditions of expert organisations with multidisciplinary teams and hierarchical structures. In short, healthcare is enormously complex and characterised by a high degree of uncertainty. In such settings, corporate culture is of great importance. This includes structural measures such as off-sites where people can retreat, or new job profiles that combine new skills with existing professionalism. Organisational measures include standard processes with clear allocation of responsibilities, accompanied by emphasised communication. Managers and employees are supported in developing the key skills of empathy, decision-making and communication, as well as resilience.
Christoph Zweifel, CEO of a family-owned company, described its development from pioneer to market leader. Zweifel Chips was recently named “Brand of the Year” once again. The company's success is based on values that are deeply rooted in its family history. His presentation of these values was supported by video statements from employees in various departments. There was talk of pioneering spirit and courage, coupled with high quality standards and the will to constantly improve. As a family-owned company, Zweifel can pursue long-term, sustainable goals. “Our current strategy is valid until 2032,” says Christoph Zweifel. Employees are “the heart of our success,” which is why it is important that they are familiar with the strategy and know, “where the journey is taking us.” Their strong identification with the company was not only evident in the videos but is also reflected in the low staff turnover rate of around four percent. One factor contributing to this success is appreciation: “That's what you want from your employer.”
Dr. Simon Liegl spoke about “emojional” leadership. Managers should express emotions because they can infect employees with enthusiasm. However, most management communication is written, which carries the risk of misunderstandings because emotions are not shown. Emojis enable emotions and facial expressions to be expressed in writing. Tests conducted by the IFPM-HSG in collaboration with the University of Liechtenstein show that it is advisable to communicate “emojionally”, except in negative cases, as recipients mirror both positive and negative emotions. However, the tests were experimental in nature, meaning that not all conceivable contexts could be modelled. Important: “Emojional” communication is linked to honesty and should not be used insincerely or too often, as positive effects wear off. It is also important to consider the target groups: not everyone is receptive to emojis. “If you can relate to someone informally, you can probably send them emojis,” is his rule of thumb.
Loneliness is one of the emotions that people usually want to avoid. Evelyn Schulz, professor of Japanese Studies at LMU Munich, described the phenomenon of “hikikomori”, or isolation in a connected world. This is not limited to Japan but affects many post-industrial societies. The many reasons include demographic change and rural exodus. In Japan, an estimated two million people are affected. The phenomenon is being widely researched and discussed. In addition to a university institute, popular culture (films, novels, manga, etc.) is also intensively addressing the topic, as she illustrated with many examples. Possible ways out of isolation include digital self-help groups, activity-promoting games such as Pokémon GO and social robots such as OriHime. In keeping with this theme, Nelson Jung from navel robotics brought along a special guest: Navel, the social robot, is used in retirement and nursing homes. The cost of social services has risen disproportionately in recent decades. In addition, there is stress and a shortage of skilled workers and care places. Robotics could help, but conventional humanoid robots are unsuitable for this purpose. This is where social robots with specific characteristics come into play. Their most important functions are facial expressions and eye contact, as well as AI-supported cognitive and affective empathy. Their positive effects on satisfaction and cognitive abilities have been scientifically confirmed on numerous occasions. Many participants took the opportunity to talk to Navel. He advised them to pay attention to their employee feelings and take them seriously: “Empathy is important in leadership.”
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