Sie überlegen, als Interim Manager (m/w/d) tätig zu werden - und Ihren Einstieg professionell (mit Businessplan) vorzubereiten? Zum Beispiel im Anschluss an Ihre Karriere als erfolgreicher Angestellter?
Das Programm richtet sich auch an etablierte Interim-Manager, die ihre Positionierung integriert in ihr Karrierekonzept überarbeiten wollen.
I invite you to visit the exhibition HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON – WATCH! WATCH! WATCH! at the Foto Arsenal Wien.
In addition, you are invited to reflect on your life and career, drawing inspiration from Cartier-Bresson's life.
Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Focusing on What Truly Matters
Quality assurance in higher education is becoming increasingly difficult in a fast-changing world. With over 30 years of experience in accreditation and quality systems, I’ve learned that external certification can support improvement—but it can also hinder it when it no longer serves the institution’s real goals. This raises the essential question: What is the prime directive of higher education?
The prime directive:Students should be supported to succeed in their lives and careers.
Yet many quality assurance and accreditation systems fail to fully measure this outcome. Typical metrics—such as job placement within six months or satisfaction surveys at graduation—capture only short-term results. Long-term career impact, personal development, and transformative learning often remain invisible.
My own Executive MBA experience illustrates this. While demanding and costly in the moment, its true value only emerged years later, shaping my work as a consultant, academic director, and dean. However, neither the institution nor external accreditors measured this long-term impact.
New Challenges Require New KPIs
In a world reshaped by rapid technological change, especially AI, students need more than technical skills that may quickly become obsolete. Skills such as self-management, adaptability, communication, and learning agility are essential for long-term success. Current accreditation systems rarely give these competencies significant weight. To remain relevant, institutions must redefine key performance indicators and distinguish clearly between short- and long-term goals.
The Cost of Irrelevance
With rising tuition in some countries and increasing pressure on public budgets in others, misaligned degrees carry major economic and social risks. Micro-degrees and work-integrated learning may, in many cases, offer better value.
Aligning Accreditation With the Prime Directive
Where institutions can choose their accreditor, they should select one that supports long-term student success. Ultimately, aligning internal quality assurance with external accreditation around the prime directive is essential for a resilient, future-ready higher education system.
Ikigai: What is the Purpose That Powers Your Career?
This blog explores ikigai (生き甲斐), a powerful concept that can transform your career and life. Often translated as “a reason for being”, ikigai refers to the profound sense of purpose, satisfaction, and meaning that makes life worth living. The term combines iki (meaning “life”) and gai (meaning “value” or “worth”).
Although rooted in Japanese culture—dating back about a thousand years to the Heian period—the concept of ikigai is very practical and has universal applicability for life and career guidance.
Links to Western Psychology
The concept aligns strongly with Western psychology. It resonates with the work of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, who pioneered the concept of flow. Activities that make you lose track of time can put you into a state of flow, which is energy derived from balancing an activity's challenge with your skill level. Ikigai also connects with Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy, which is built on the idea that meaning is the reason for living.
What else is covered in the article?
Finding Your Ikigai
Self-Reflection
Personality assessments
PSA - Personal Structure Analysis®
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Coping with Career Challenges
Realizing ikigai in your profession provides you with energy and flow, as well as the purpose and meaning needed to guide you through hard times.
PRODUCTION AND COPYRIGHT
Dr. Günther Singer - Life and Career Design Consulting GmbH
