Personal Development & Systemic Resilience
Niveau
Master
Learning outcomes of the courses/module
The participants:
• are familiar with key concepts, models, and levels of resilience (individual, team, organization), as well as resilience as a dynamic organizational capability for coping with and leveraging uncertainty and crises.
• understand psychological and organizational mechanisms of stress, adaptation, and resilience.
• apply resilience concepts to individual and organizational contexts, including proactive adaptation processes, organizational learning mechanisms, and the role of social interactions.
• analyze stressors, risk factors, and protective factors in work and organizational settings across multiple levels (individual, team, organization), as well as their interactions.
• critically evaluate resilience measures, diagnostics, and interventions by incorporating evidence-based research and current international studies on organizational resilience.
• develop evidence-based approaches to promote resilience at individual and organizational levels.
• are familiar with key concepts, models, and levels of resilience (individual, team, organization), as well as resilience as a dynamic organizational capability for coping with and leveraging uncertainty and crises.
• understand psychological and organizational mechanisms of stress, adaptation, and resilience.
• apply resilience concepts to individual and organizational contexts, including proactive adaptation processes, organizational learning mechanisms, and the role of social interactions.
• analyze stressors, risk factors, and protective factors in work and organizational settings across multiple levels (individual, team, organization), as well as their interactions.
• critically evaluate resilience measures, diagnostics, and interventions by incorporating evidence-based research and current international studies on organizational resilience.
• develop evidence-based approaches to promote resilience at individual and organizational levels.
Prerequisites for the course
None
Course content
• Foundations of personality (dispositions and dimensions; Big Five; individual differences in behavior, cognition, and emotion; horizontal and vertical personality development, including competence development vs. maturation; development of cognitive and behavioral complexity)
• Self-concept & self-esteem (self-reflection; identity; relevance for behavior, performance, and resilience)
• Stages of personality development (models of vertical development; increasing capacity for self-regulation, perspective-taking, and tolerance for ambiguity)
• Unconscious processes & internal dynamics (shadow aspects; emotional patterns; dealing with stress, overload, and regression)
• Personality development in an organizational context (links to leadership, decision-making, and dealing with complexity and change)
• Introduction & foundations (resilience: definitions; individual vs. organizational resilience; relevance in dynamic/VUCA contexts; resilience as a dynamic, process-oriented mechanism of adaptation and transformation under uncertainty)
• Theories & concepts (positive psychology; psychological capital; risk and protective factors; coping; stress models)
• Individual resilience (self-awareness; emotions; stress regulation; resource building; mental and physical factors)
• Neurobiological & health-related foundations (stress responses; strain and recovery; the relationship between mind and body; proactive coping strategies and the development of individual adaptive capacities)
• Resilience in the organizational context (resilient organizations; structures, culture, and processes; learning and adaptability)
• Leadership & resilience (resilience-promoting leadership; trust; sense-making; energy and emotion management; psychological safety; organizational adaptability)
• Teams & collaboration (team resilience; communication; conflict management; diversity; psychological safety)
• Interventions & coaching (resilience training; coaching approaches; individual and organizational measures)
• Measurement & diagnostics (resilience models; scales and instruments; individual, team, and organizational levels)
• Practice & application (crisis management; best practices; resilience in high-risk and change contexts)
• Self-concept & self-esteem (self-reflection; identity; relevance for behavior, performance, and resilience)
• Stages of personality development (models of vertical development; increasing capacity for self-regulation, perspective-taking, and tolerance for ambiguity)
• Unconscious processes & internal dynamics (shadow aspects; emotional patterns; dealing with stress, overload, and regression)
• Personality development in an organizational context (links to leadership, decision-making, and dealing with complexity and change)
• Introduction & foundations (resilience: definitions; individual vs. organizational resilience; relevance in dynamic/VUCA contexts; resilience as a dynamic, process-oriented mechanism of adaptation and transformation under uncertainty)
• Theories & concepts (positive psychology; psychological capital; risk and protective factors; coping; stress models)
• Individual resilience (self-awareness; emotions; stress regulation; resource building; mental and physical factors)
• Neurobiological & health-related foundations (stress responses; strain and recovery; the relationship between mind and body; proactive coping strategies and the development of individual adaptive capacities)
• Resilience in the organizational context (resilient organizations; structures, culture, and processes; learning and adaptability)
• Leadership & resilience (resilience-promoting leadership; trust; sense-making; energy and emotion management; psychological safety; organizational adaptability)
• Teams & collaboration (team resilience; communication; conflict management; diversity; psychological safety)
• Interventions & coaching (resilience training; coaching approaches; individual and organizational measures)
• Measurement & diagnostics (resilience models; scales and instruments; individual, team, and organizational levels)
• Practice & application (crisis management; best practices; resilience in high-risk and change contexts)
Recommended specialist literature
• Von Boros, L., Schaubruch, L. M., Arnold, M., Rigotti, T., Helmreich, I., Lieb, K., Wessa, M., Tüscher, O., & Schäfer, S. K. (2026). Digital interventions to foster resilience in working populations – a systematic review and meta-analysis. Work & Stress, https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2026.2618071.
• Duchek, S. (2020). Organizational resilience: A capability-based conceptualization. Business Research, 13(1), 215–246.
• Heller, J. (2019) (Hrsg.). Resilienz für die VUCA-Welt: Individuelle und organisationale Resilienz entwickeln. Wiesbaden: Springer.
• Reichhart, T., & Pusch, C. (2023). Resilienz-Coaching: Ein Praxismanual zur Unterstützung von Menschen in herausfordernden Zeiten. Wiesbaden: Springer.
• Rolfe, M. (2019). Positive Psychologie und organisationale Resilienz: Stürmische Zeiten besser meistern. Berlin: Springer.
• Schulte, E.-M., Gessnitzer, S., & Kauffeld, S. (2021). FITOR – Fragebogen zur individuellen, Team- und organisationalen Resilienz: Manual. Berlin: Springer.
• Tamdjidi, C., Stephan. L., & Rupprecht, S. (2024). Die Resilienz Revolution: Ein transformativer Ansatz für die Resilienz von Führungskräften, Teams und Organisationen. München: Vahlen.
• Wildenmann, B., & Klipfel, W. (2024). Lebenslange Persönlichkeitsentwicklung: Management Potenzial identifizieren, entfalten und weiterentwickeln. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
• Duchek, S. (2020). Organizational resilience: A capability-based conceptualization. Business Research, 13(1), 215–246.
• Heller, J. (2019) (Hrsg.). Resilienz für die VUCA-Welt: Individuelle und organisationale Resilienz entwickeln. Wiesbaden: Springer.
• Reichhart, T., & Pusch, C. (2023). Resilienz-Coaching: Ein Praxismanual zur Unterstützung von Menschen in herausfordernden Zeiten. Wiesbaden: Springer.
• Rolfe, M. (2019). Positive Psychologie und organisationale Resilienz: Stürmische Zeiten besser meistern. Berlin: Springer.
• Schulte, E.-M., Gessnitzer, S., & Kauffeld, S. (2021). FITOR – Fragebogen zur individuellen, Team- und organisationalen Resilienz: Manual. Berlin: Springer.
• Tamdjidi, C., Stephan. L., & Rupprecht, S. (2024). Die Resilienz Revolution: Ein transformativer Ansatz für die Resilienz von Führungskräften, Teams und Organisationen. München: Vahlen.
• Wildenmann, B., & Klipfel, W. (2024). Lebenslange Persönlichkeitsentwicklung: Management Potenzial identifizieren, entfalten und weiterentwickeln. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
Assessment methods and criteria
Exam
Presentation
Presentation
Language
German
Number of ECTS credits awarded
6
Semester hours per week
Planned teaching and learning method
The course is based on an e-learning concept that incorporates a didactically aligned combination of online and in-person phases. During the online phases, an inductive learning approach is applied, fostering the independent acquisition of knowledge and the completion of tasks. The in-person phases follow a deductive approach, in which learning processes are guided and deepened, and content is systematically delivered through lectures as well as practical examples.
Semester/trimester in which the course/module is offered
2