Compassionate Leadership—an innovative talent development program for young entrepreneurs
Young entrepreneurs today face enormous challenges: They must make decisions, lead teams, and drive innovation in a dynamic and uncertain environment, all while coping with intense pressure to perform. While technical and entrepreneurial skills are already comprehensively supported in startup programs, mental strength, stress resilience, and personal resilience often remain underdeveloped.
This joint project by UnternehmerTUM and the Institute for Compassion applies successful talent development principles from elite sports to the cultivation of entrepreneurial talent. The models for this approach are modern youth development centers that systematically combine athletic performance, mental strength, and personal development.
The goal of the project is to develop an evidence-based support program that helps young entrepreneurs sustainably strengthen their mental performance, stress resilience, and leadership skills. The focus is on competencies such as self-regulation, resilience, decision-making under uncertainty, emotional stability, self-efficacy, and values-based leadership.
A particular focus is placed on fostering stress resilience and mental resilience. Participants learn to remain capable of taking action even under high pressure, to deal with setbacks constructively, and to maintain their performance over the long term.
The program’s effectiveness is scientifically monitored and evaluated. The long-term goal is to develop an innovative model for entrepreneurial development that combines economic success with personal health, resilience, and responsible leadership, thereby contributing to the development of the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders.
PARTNER
Unternehmer TUM, Munich
TOPIC
Talent Development
YEAR
2026
