Talent Journey for Exploring Personal Leadership Motivation

Context

BASF’s European service unit develops its emerging talent with a recurring program – deliberately neither a development center nor a conventional management training, but a format in which participants experience and reflect on their own leadership motivation. In terms of content, it ties in with the company-wide leadership model (“Winning Behaviors”).

Task

The aim was an experience-oriented talent program that strengthens self-awareness and an awareness of one’s strengths, makes leadership and followership behavior testable, and translates the leadership model into concrete behavior – in mixed teams, with a high degree of initiative and personal responsibility.

Approach

Experience- and reflection-oriented learning in fixed crews, a high degree of self-organization and consistent transfer. Strengths-based self- and team reflection (Gallup CliftonStrengths), experimenting with leadership and followership behavior, and reverse coaching make leadership tangible.

Formats

A continuous journey: in-person “Take Off”, several remote “Space Labs” and an in-person “Landing”; in between, self-organized crew meetings and transfer assignments (“Flight Segments”). The crews are supported by “Ground Coaches”; a logbook guides them through the entire journey.

Role

PUETTGEN Consulting is responsible for the design, facilitation and coaching of the program – with a fixed facilitator team and Ground Coaches for each crew – and supports the format as a recurring partner across many iterations.

Transfer

Tiny Actions, regular crew meetings, reverse coaching and the close connection to participants’ own managers through intake and development conversations anchor the learning in everyday practice.

Distinctive Feature

Reflection on leadership motivation instead of management training or assessment; a strong crew/peer logic and a coherent dramaturgy (Take Off → Space Labs → Landing).