The first quarter of 2026 had plenty of new things in store for me: my assignment at HAW Kiel came to a successful conclusion in February, and I took the time to make new connections, gain fresh insights, and meet with long-time contacts in person.
1. Highlight:
30 January brought a new format for me: DisruptHRHamburg: Disrupting Work. Evolving Leadership! This event is open to people in all roles within organisations. The concept: 7 speakers present their specialist contributions in a maximum of 5 minutes, followed by a panel discussion in small groups and networking. A wealth of input and personal exchange packed into a single morning. Many thanks to Kuehne Logistics University for an inspiring morning!
2. Highlight:
On 12 March, as a guest of the VdU Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein regional association, I had the opportunity to visit Dräger in Lübeck and learn about the measures the HR team at Dräger is implementing to bring more women into leadership roles. I found the low-threshold approach of the mentoring programme particularly noteworthy.
Over dinner, I had the opportunity to meet many interesting and successful female entrepreneurs. Many thanks to the VdU Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein Regional Association and Dräger for the insights and inspiration!
3. Highlight:
On 18 March, Hays hosted a deep dive into the HR Report 2026 – “Promoting performance; not just demanding it”. Once again, it became clear that managers and processes have a very strong influence on a company’s performance culture.
In a nutshell: modern and forward-looking performance measurement must be a combination of traditional tools, such as the Balanced Scorecard, and motivation-focused processes and structures. Thank you very much for the incredibly fascinating deep dive, Hays
4. Highlight:
On 25 March, #ZPN 2026 opened its doors, with the event entirely focused on people and AI. Here, too, there were plenty of new insights on topics such as leadership in the age of AI, mental health in the age of AI, HR software in the age of AI, and more…
And, of course, meeting up in person with people I haven’t seen face-to-face for a long time: Thank you, dear Jassmin, and thank you, dear Katrin, for seeing you again and for the interesting chat!
In April, I’m looking forward to the #FutureLeaderSummit 2026 in Hamburg, the Labour Law Day with Amadeus Fire in Hamburg, the AI workshop at KITZ – the Kiel Innovation and Technology Centre – and, of course, Digital Week Kiel in May!
Who else is coming? I’d love to hear from you and perhaps meet up in person…