With a strong practice-orientation being one of the major cornerstones of the IBM study program, giving the floor to internationally successful managers, experts and guest lecturers is at the core of the program’s values. Thus, the first semester students of International Business Management were again able to profit from the input of several guest lecturers.

In the course of the Coaching Program, which is a part of the “Personal Skills Development Program” (taught by IBM program director Dietmar Sternad), IBM students had the chance to dive into the world of coaching by learning about essential coaching concepts in theory and practice. To bring this interactive and hands-on course to a close, students were able to deepen their knowledge and broaden their perspective with a Q&A session with the London-based award-winning coach Sue Belton. Sue Belton offers leadership coaching, life and career coaching as well as coach mentoring services. She is also the author of the book Change Your Life in 5. In the Q&A session, IBM students profited from an honest, open and encouraging conversation in which everyone had the chance to ask any “burning questions” about coaching, life and success. 

Furthermore, our IBM students completed the course in “Effective Management of Global Teams” with a guest lecture of Markus Feigelbinder, a successful serial tech entrepreneur and advisor for companies in the field of Software as a Service (SaaS). He was the founder and CEO of the start-ups Fineway and Laya Technologies and held senior management positions at Amazon and Westwing. 

In his guest lecture, the “Forbes AI Startup” winner of 2020 provided IBM students with insights from his years of experience in entrepreneurship, management and consulting. Focusing on recruiting, leadership in hyper-growth companies and in times of crisis, and performance management, he presented in an informal, practice-oriented and natural style, enabling the students to learn through a combination of story-telling and small group works.