Our Leadership Culture

Our leaders are the linchpin of cooperation, motivation, and success. Leadership is not an end in itself; it is a means to working together well, which in turn is essential for a successful company. To achieve this, we concentrate on promoting dialogue and mutual understanding. Only if we can successfully pool our countless individual competencies in a constructive manner encouraging continuous interplay, then will we be successful as a research centre.

In the article "Leadership in Transition"a leadership development coach and four leaders at Forschungszentrum Jülich provide further insights into our leadership culture as well as the tools and support that we offer our employees in leadership roles.

Leadership model and competency model

A thirst for knowledge, critical thinking, the ability to argue rationally, and creativity are typical traits of people who work in a research institution. These characteristics are our most important resource, but they also present a huge challenge for leadership. Forschungszentrum Jülich has developed a leadership model to describe how it would like to implement a leadership culture. It was developed by more than 600 employees working together. The leadership competency model additionally defines roles and responsibilities and provides orientation in everyday situations. It describes what Jülich as a company expects from its leaders – in terms of their duties as well as attitudes and values. These principles do not equate to a standardized form of leadership, but they do provide a transparent basis and a framework for leaders to operate within.

For more information, see the leadership model brochure (PDF).

Support for leaders

Shaping your area of responsibility, not losing sight of employees, and also managing yourself: this is what professional leadership is about. We support our leaders in this demanding role with a comprehensive development portfolio. This includes leadership training and programmes, networking opportunities, and events, as well as needs-based individual and team support. We also offer dual-career counseling to applicants for leadership positions.

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