Founding Also Means Leading, But Who Teaches That?
When you found a company, everything revolves around the idea, the funding, and the market. But what decides long-term success just as much isn’t pitch decks or business plans. It’s the ability to lead a team, communicate clearly, and know yourself well.
Many people in the startup scene come straight from university, equipped with theoretical knowledge but without practical leadership experience. On top of that, many founders studied STEM subjects. They are excellent in their field, but leadership lectures are rarely part of the curriculum. Those who suddenly find themselves leading a team often lack the tools and rarely dare to admit it openly. Instead, they adopt a rigid image of leadership that doesn’t match their own personality.
Learning a Leadership Style That Fits Who You Are
At UnternehmerTUM, we don’t only offer networking and support from the outside; we also help people develop their abilities from within. We give founders, doctoral candidates, and aspiring leaders the opportunity to grow stronger as individuals.
The Leadership Talent Academy (LTA) is a four-month program by UnternehmerTUM, funded by the Karl Schlecht Stiftung. In five workshop modules, individual coaching sessions, and exchanges with experts and peers, participants develop their own values-based leadership style.
The next Batch #11 with 25 full scholarships starts on September 18, 2026, and runs until January 16, 2027. Applications are open here until July 20, 2026.
Best Practice: What Four Months at the LTA Can Achieve
Carsten (35), Head of Catalyst Supply Chain at C1 Green Chemicals in Berlin, was part of LTA Batch #8. He told us openly and with great self-reflection what has changed for him since then.
Carsten, some time has passed since you took part in our batch. When you think back to your time at the LTA, what changed the most for you?
The LTA showed me that good leadership comes from within. It also keeps growing with me. That fundamentally changed my understanding of leadership. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else to lead. Good leadership comes from me as a person, with all the qualities I bring. In the past, I never looked for my own answer, only for the supposedly right one. For me, the question is no longer “How do I have to change to be a leader?” but “How do I shape leadership so that it fits me?” My role has become much clearer, and I feel that I’m in the right place and making a contribution there.
What was the first thing in your everyday work that made you notice a change in yourself or your leadership style?
Before the LTA, I worked at an international corporation with established but sometimes very rigid leadership structures and processes. There, I grew from technical expert through sales to international project and strategy management, without consciously developing my understanding of my role along the way. In the end, this meant that I often sat in meetings with customers and felt almost superfluous, because I was no longer as deep into the subject as my colleagues, who were the experts. At the same time, I would hardly have dared to say openly that I didn’t know something.
Today, that’s different. My self-image is no longer based only on technical expertise but on a clearer understanding of my role. I learned that I don’t need to know everything to be effective. The personal exchange with the other LTA participants helped me a lot to reach this insight, because I realized that many feel the same way and that I’m not alone with this.
How have the LTA learnings affected your everyday work and the people around you?
Since the LTA, I’m more relaxed, more confident, and above all more authentic. As a result, I also feel that my colleagues approach me more openly and directly. They know they’ll get an honest, open, but also “vulnerable” answer from me. I think they also perceive me as more authentic, because I no longer focus on performing, but bring myself in as I am. I notice the difference in my everyday work, too. I’ve become more decisive, because I no longer constantly doubt myself and block myself as a result. I don’t have to be “the best” at a particular topic; that isn’t my job at all.
Do you want to take the next step in your leadership, like Carsten? Then now is a good time. Apply here for Batch #11 of the Leadership Talent Academy until July 20, 2026.
