Townhall series: mental fitness and excellent leadership

Alongside social and physical fitness, mental fitness is essential for well-being. But what does being “mentally fit” actually mean? And what can I do to improve my self-management? What does the ETH offer with a view to activating resources for mental fitness? These are questions that Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, would like to answer in this edition of the townhall series on well-being in challenging times. Now more than ever, where most of what we do takes place in the virtual realm and physical contact is rare, it’s important to take care of our mental fitness.

This is a situation that inspired the Vice President to present the nominees for excellent leadership with the ALEA (Art of Leadership) Award. On the relationship between the ALEA and mental fitness, Julia Dannath said: “When it comes to your well-being, stay in touch with yourself but also with the people in your environment. Keep listening, and see what you can do to help us all come through this time together as well as we can.”

The ALEA Award stands for excellent leadership, and recognises colleagues in leadership roles who strive on a daily basis to offer employees an optimal environment for doing good work. The award is designed for leaders who create modern and innovative working conditions, and who promote and actively support combining a career with having a family and taking on commitments outside of work.

Particularly in the midst of a pandemic, outstanding leadership cannot be taken for granted, with the lack of personal contact making interactions between supervisors and their team more difficult than ever. These supervisors need to find new ways and means of issuing instructions and providing feedback, and a new approach is also needed when it comes to maintaining team spirit.

Excellent leadership 

The final nominees for the ALEA Award were: Ulrike Kutay, Head of the Strategy Commission and the Institute of Biochemistry, Oliver Renn, lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, and Heini Wernli, Head of the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science. In front of the camera, the three nominees unwrapped the parcel with their prize that they had been sent in advance, with Ulrike Kutay being revealed as the ultimate winner with the largest of the three cubes. ETH President Joël Mesot subsequently offered his congratulations, saying: “Ulrike Kutay is not only extremely committed to her research team, but also to ETH as a whole. I look forward to working with Ulrika Kutay in future and having the opportunity to learn from her.” She was moved to tears, commenting: “I’m extremely touched to hear that my team nominated me for this award. I had no idea!”

The “Point” platform was also presented by project manager Isabelle Castagna from the ETH Sustainability team as an opportunity for networking and exchange within the ETH community. It's for all members of ETH Zurich, from personnel and faculty to students. It connects people, celebrates the diversity of ETH Zurich and fosters exchange for a sustainable future.

external page“Collegial coaching in groups”call_made was presented by Monique Zimmermann from Personnel and Organisational Development as a further tool for mental fitness. The aim of this approach for providing mutual support is to establish collaboration as a university community at ETH and exploit the resulting potential.

If you missed the townhall, you can watch the video recording here. The final scheduled round of the townhall series will be held in March on the subject of emotional fitness.

The finalists for the ALEA Award 2020

Nominated for the ALEA Award and making it to the final round were Oliver Renn, lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Heini Wernli, head of the Institute for Atmosphere and Climate, and Ulrike Kutay, head of the Strategy Commission and the Institute of Biochemistry. The latter won the ALEA Award for excellent leadership.