Who will receive the ILD Leadership Award?

The nomination and selection of award winners must be as transparent and comprehensible as possible. By focussing on three categories and clear assessment and nomination criteria as well as the annually rotating team of jurors, we try to meet this requirement in the best possible way.


Future Leader Award.

For us, Future Leaders are young managers (up-and-coming managers) who are already performing or will soon be performing important management tasks in various areas. They are characterised by a proactive, self-reflective and consistent attitude as well as by their commitment and passion for leadership, team development and overarching cooperation. Future Leaders have already demonstrated a pronounced impact in their leadership and also have potential for further, higher and more complex leadership tasks. They show that they can drive change with vision, strategy, innovative strength and a high level of empathy, even in the face of uncertainty, and inspire others in the process. The degree to which the 4Cs key competences are developed is therefore demonstrable.

Impact Leader Award.

We define an Impact Leader as an experienced manager who has demonstrated influence and effectiveness, e.g. in the innovative design or sustainable management of challenging transformations and / or in leadership in conflicts / crises. She succeeds in leading others through authenticity, decisiveness and realisation, promoting creativity and adaptability and generating a strong team spirit. She sets standards in leadership with a clear and balanced demand for challenge and encouragement. With her motives, her integrity and integrative strength, her understanding of diversity, her high level of credibility and her respectful and appreciative behaviour, she is aware of her influence on the management culture.

Leadership Dynamics Special Award

We present this “Special Award”, for example, in relation to social commitment, life’s work and certain outstanding leadership achievements, in which a high level of dynamism with regard to social initiatives, mastering difficult challenges, generating cross-organisational cooperation, effective leadership in conflict and crisis situations and in shaping transformations and cultures were particularly in demand. We present this “Special Award” when a categorisation in the other existing categories does not seem appropriate or suitable. Our “Special Award” can be presented to both individuals and teams.

Inspiring Leader Award.

By Inspiring Leaders we mean inspiring and experienced leaders and entrepreneurs (e.g. intra- & entrepreneurs) with a high level of self-reflection, humility and their own development aspirations, with a clear vision and innovative strength and the ability to also prioritise the development and well-being of their employees. They are also leaders who focus on long-term sustainability and responsible business practices and also prioritise the overall success and durability of a company. These leaders act in a socially responsible manner and contribute to the well-being of the community. They are experienced leaders who are role models of cross-functional collaboration and effective leadership. They inspire and enthuse through a cross-generational sense of purpose, strong passion, high empathy, constructive conflict management, management of emotions and stress, respect and appreciation and humour. They lead by example, get stuck in, offer help, ask for feedback, act independently of hierarchy, are open, honest, authentic, visible, present and are sought after, valued and respected by others as a figure of identification and integration.


Assessment criteria for the nomination and selection of the ILD Leadership Award.

Every nomination and every selection as an award winner has its own history, so nomination and selection criteria can only serve as orientation and argumentation aids. Every decision is naturally subjective. We have endeavoured to meet the requirements of plausibility, independence, fairness and comprehensibility of nominations to the best of our ability on the basis of current scientific knowledge and practical management experience. The committee-related division of roles and tasks, the annually rotating, new and diverse composition of the jury team and the interactive process also reflect our claim. Accordingly, we assume no liability (legal recourse is excluded).

Our leadership philosophy refers to the attitude, emotion and behaviour of a person or group of people to influence, empower and inspire others in order to achieve common goals, proactively shape change and develop potential in the best possible way.

The criteria for effective leadership can naturally vary depending on context and perspective. Here are some of the leadership criteria that we consider important and that can be used when assessing nominations. Of particular importance, however, is our proprietary leadership model with its key competences: The 4Cs of Leadership®️.


Examples of assessment and nomination criteria.

  1. Per­son­al­ity traits (Big5) and motives (e.g. val­ues & pur­pose, growth)
  2. Per­son­al Pro­fi­ciency (e.g. at­ti­tude, con­fid­ent de­mean­our, sense of re­spons­ib­il­ity, ini­ti­at­ive)
  3. Com­mu­nic­a­tion & Clar­ity (com­mu­nic­a­tion skills: e.g. per­suas­ive­ness, net­work­ing)
  4. Con­flict Com­pet­ence & Emo­tion (con­flict com­pet­ences: e.g. abil­ity to re­flect, man­age­ment of emo­tions)
  5. Change & En­tre­pren­eur (change com­pet­ence: e.g. hol­ist­ic think­ing, as­sert­ive­ness)
  6. Coach­ing & Com­pas­sion (em­power­ment com­pet­ences: e.g. team­work, em­pathy, in­ter­cul­tur­al com­pet­ence)

Do you know someone who de­serves this award?

If you would like to nom­in­ate someone for the ILD Lead­er­ship Award, please write to us here. We will con­tact you so that you can share the reas­ons for your re­com­mend­a­tion with us.

Your award contact:

Frank Strathus
frank.strathus_at_leadership-institute.de