Emotional learning: managerial development by corporate volunteering

Purpose Using the program Blickwechsel (“Perspective Change”) as an example, the purpose of this paper is to describe how businesses can combine societal engagement with internal managerial development, and outline what potential for skill development exists. Design/methodology/approach The experiences and transfer ideas of two Blickwechsel ® participants, drawn from follow‐up coachings and semi‐structured interviews, are used for the evaluation of the programme and are elaborated in two case studies. Findings The case studies show that the combination of experience and professionally‐guided reflection are most effective for gaining new insights and being motivated to try new approaches within one's own leadership role. Originality/value The two case studies are originally elaborated for this paper in order to outline the benefits of Blickwechsel as an experiential learning approach.