Innovative Master’s-Level Teaching Format to Foster Future-Oriented Leadership Skills
As part of the contextual studies curriculum at the University of St. Gallen, Ursula Hillbrand led the English-language skills course “Co-creative Leadership & Transformation” for Master’s students from diverse disciplines. The course aimed to offer students from around the world new perspectives on leadership in the context of complexity, diversity, and change — with a particular focus on participatory process design, co-creation, and dialogic competence.

Concept and Didactic Approach
The course was designed as an interactive leadership lab. Ursula Hillbrand introduced participants to the principles of dialogic leadership, systems thinking, and collaborative meeting formats. Building on this foundation, students worked in peer groups to develop their own mini-interventions, which they presented, reflected on, and iteratively refined through collective learning loops.

Distinctive Features and Impact
The unique strength of the format lay in its integration of theory, direct application, and collective reflection. Students were empowered to explore their own leadership approaches and test them directly within participatory settings. The learning architecture fostered self-responsibility, collaborative skills, and a deeper understanding of transformative processes within organisations.

Ursula Hillbrand’s Role
Ursula Hillbrand brought decades of experience from the European Commission and her expertise in the Art of Hosting, systems thinking, and strategic process design. She served as trainer, mentor, and resonance facilitator, supporting students in transferring their learning into their own fields of impact — from NGOs to international organisations.

This teaching format exemplifies a new generation of academic education: practice-oriented, resonance-based, and future-focused.