Leipzig Leadership Talk: Self-Leadership in the Anthropocene – A Talk with Luisa Neubauer and Nikolaj Schultz

The 7. Leipzig Leadership Talk will focus on the personal challenges of climate change.

How is my life changing – my consumption, my travel, but also my living and working? These adaptation processes also require us to rethink our understanding of the good life, freedom and how we treat the environment. How can we find our own way? And who can provide guidance?

We would like to discuss these questions with climate activist Luisa Neubauer and sociologist Nikolaj Schultz.

Luisa Neubauer is a co-organizer of Fridays for Future and is considered one of the most prominent representatives of the German climate movement. In 2021, she and others won the landmark constitutional court ruling “Neubauer vs. Germany” against the German government in the fight for political climate action. For five years, Luisa and the movement have been bringing hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. In October 2023, she was honored with the Preaching Prize, and at the end of 2023 she spoke at the Vatican. She has met with President Macron, Angela Merkel and Barack Obama and published four bestselling books on the climate crisis; her fifth book, “What if we were brave”, was published in January 2025.

Nikolaj Schultz is a Danish sociologist who works at the Aarhus School of Architecture and is one of the leading figures of his generation in the field of ecological thinking. Schultz was a close collaborator of the late French philosopher Bruno Latour (1947 – 2022), with whom he co-wrote the book “On the Emergence of an Ecological Class: A Memorandum” (2022), which has been translated into 14 languages. Schultz’s individual work “Land Sickness” (2023), a hybrid auto-ethnographic essay, deals with the existential and sociological questions raised by the Anthropocene and has been translated into nine languages.

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Timo Meynhardt, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

The event will be held in English.

Leipzig Leadership Talk

The event series hosted by the Dr. Arend Oetker Chair of Business Psychology and Leadership is aimed at individuals from business, politics, culture, and society who are facing leadership challenges that defy standard solutions. In a compact format, distinguished experts share insights on the latest developments, present particularly creative ideas, and encourage participants to rethink established ways of thinking and acting.

Photo credits:
Luisa Neubauer: Lena Faye
Nikolaj Schultz: Simone Perolari