At the Goethe Leadership Centre — a Centre for Advanced Studies funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) — researchers from psychology, economics, and other social sciences investigate how leaders, in various roles and circumstances, can promote social cohesion, encourage cooperation, and improve well-being and resilience.

We are doing this against a backdrop of numerous crises, high levels of uncertainty, and increasing social fragmentation and polarization. Our work is based on the premise that leaders play a crucial role in these challenges — for better and for worse.

An important starting point is identity leadership, a concept grounded in social identity theory. It shifts the focus from the individual leader to the group: effective leaders are those who create, represent, advance, and embed a shared sense of “us”. We analyze how this works at the individual, organizational and societal level, where it succeeds, and where it can be misused.

The Goethe Leadership Centre is led by Rolf van Dick, Professor of Social Psychology, and Michael Kosfeld, Professor of Management. It was founded at Goethe University Frankfurt in October 2026. We are embedded within a rich network of partner institutions including the Center for Leadership and Behavior in Organizations (CLBO), the Frankfurt Laboratory for Experimental Economic Research (FLEX), and the Global Leadership Centres Roundtable (GLCR).

If you are interested in learning more about our work at the Centre, please see our events and publications or contact us via email.