How do I design working environments today and in the future? What do corporate culture and leadership have to do with it? These were the questions addressed by the top-class event of the Human Resources & Organization Study Programs on June 6, 2023. During a keynote speech, a panel discussion and a live call to the US, new ideas on leadership and culture were discussed. The evening was dedicated to Edgar H. Schein, who died in January this year and was one of the co-founders of organizational psychology and organizational development.
As the evening’s topic was “Leadership & Culture”, initiator Prof. Dr. Christina Schweiger and her team had the pleasure to welcome Dr. Gerhard Fatzer. He is THE pioneer of scientific organizational development in the German-speaking world, founder of the Trias Institute in Zurich and long-time colleague of Edgar H. Schein.
“My appeal to leaders: Make sure there is a good climate. Otherwise, your employees will get sick!”
Dr. Gerhard Fatzer
In his keynote, he provided exciting insights into his work and collaboration with Edgar H. Schein and his legacy on “Humble Leadership” and “Organizational Culture.”
Interesting panel discussion
Andreas Kutil, CEO Manner, Iris Bergmann, Director People Enablement Nagarro, Christina Reiter, International Director People & Culture Light for the World, and Christina Schweiger, Head of Human Resources & Organization Study Programs at FHWien der WKW, discussed the challenges and possible future prospects of Leadership & Culture in a new working world.
The mix of panel guests was very inspiring. With Manner, experiences of a traditional company undergoing a leadership change process were shared. At the technology company Nagarro, the principle of “non-hierarchical” has already been implemented, and with Light for the World, an NGO with all its special challenges in the area of leadership and culture, gave an insight into the tasks of human resource work on this topic. And with FHWien der WKW, an educational institute was represented that is facing new questions about the learning culture in the context of digitalization and artificial intelligence.
Live call to the US to Peter Schein
After refreshments, the evening continued with a live broadcast to Peter Schein, son of Edgar H. Schein, in California.
Maria Renz and Martin Pillwein (students of the Master’s program in Organizational & Personnel Development) met Peter Schein for an online interview and asked questions about the collaboration of father and son, as authors of three books.
“We must become better at asking and do less telling in a culture that overvalues telling.”
Ed Schein
Good leaders know how to create a culture of trust and openness. They give employees the feeling that they can openly express feedback and contribute ideas. They are also good listeners and know how to ask questions that they themselves do not yet have the answers to. Allowing this vulnerability allows leaders to share the MIC (Motivation, Intervention, Contribution).