Ulrich Winkler

Service Line Director at THNK School of Creative Leadership

My experience and deep interests:

• Education (Adults)

• Investing

I am based in: Amsterdam

In February 2008 I was teaching in an MSc program. One of my students was dyslexic. When we discussed how she could do better I gave her the tip to use a voice recorder to record her thoughts and then type them up (which takes away a good portion of the pain of writing for somebody with dyslexia). When I handed her the diploma at graduation she said with tears coming down her face: "you changed my life". This touched me to my core. On that day I knew what I really wanted to do: help people unfold their full potential and live wholeheartedly.

This coalesced with my passion for strategy and leadership and my own leadership experience into what I do today: leadership development on the individual (i.e. coaching) and grand (i.e. in-company programs) level. I love what I do and that makes me good at it. I am enthused by creating significant learning experiences that help to transform individuals and companies. Over the last 10 years, I have designed and delivered numerous degree, open enrolment, and customized programs, with the largest project in the area of €4M.

Originally my Ph.D. is in economics. I wrote my Ph.D. thesis while working as a strategy consultant. Not long after I received my doctorate I was charged with building a business school from scratch, a joint venture of Duke University and Frankfurt University. Since then I have been Vice Dean at one of the top-3 Business Schools in Germany, Director of Executive Education and Professor of Leadership at a Russell Group University in the UK, and EVP at one of the premier private Universities in Germany.

I have lived and worked in Cuba, Germany, Spain, UK, and the US, taught for 4 months in China at Tongji University, backpacked for 6 months in India and 3 months in Africa, and have managed a project for the World Bank in Indonesia.

I serve as an MBA Advisory Board member at the Mays Business School, Texas A&M, and as an accreditor for EPAS.