Peter Drucker Challenge Essay Competition 2020
  • Fully Funded
  • Vienna

The Drucker Challenge is an international essay competition held annually by the Drucker Society Europe, in conjunction with the Drucker Forum. This year The topic of the essay contest is “Leadership and Critical Thinking”.

What makes someone an effective leader? For one thing, people look for leadership from those they trust to exercise good judgment. Not every decision can be simply data-driven; many involve difficult tradeoffs among competing priorities or calls that must be made based on limited information (as in making plans for the future). Great leaders are able to objectively analyze these complex and often politicized situations and arrive at their own conclusions. They have a high capacity, in other words, for critical thinking.

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Your essay should offer a point of view on whether the emerging generation of leaders is being sufficiently prepared to exercise the critical thinking required of them. What conditions of the twenty-first century are making this more difficult—or in what ways is critical thinking better supported than in the past?

Showcasing your own powers of independent thought, your essay might address matters such as the following:

  • How can one discern truth in the jungle of rumor, media, social media posts, websites, analytics, statistics, influencers, etc.?
  • How do you develop, expand, retain critical thinking skills in yourself?
  • What actions would you recommend to cultivate more critical thinking—whether at the level of the individual, the team, across society, or cultures?
  • How can we benefit from cultural differences in thinking styles-for example, between East and West?
  • What lessons have you learned from observing leaders who have exercised good (or bad!) judgment?

Drucker lived long after da Vinci, yet shared some of the Renaissance master’s fundamental traits. Both were unusual in their intellect and talents; each was driven by an insatiable curiosity about the world around him; neither conformed to the mainstream mindset. Like da Vinci, Drucker was born in a period of great social change, when the need for continuity (and reverence of tradition) was challenged by the need for innovation (and radical thinking). Both adopted a whole-systems perspective as they looked for connections and patterns. For leaders, organizations, governments, and individuals today, both offer inspiring examples of the power of breaking rigid thinking patterns.

Location:

Austria

Benefits

  • The first prize winner will receive a cash prize of 1,500 EUR (to be handed over at Awards ceremony)
  • First to tenth place winners will have free participation and waived registration fee (regular fee +/- € 2,000) for the 12th Global Peter Drucker Forum to be held in Vienna on October 29-30, 2020 at the Imperial Palace (Hofburg) (including conference bag and brochure, buffet lunches, and coffee breaks at the conference venue). A special Young Generation Luncheon will be organized
  • Invitation to pre-conference events on October 28:
    • Morning: Drucker Forum Specials (more to come)
    • Afternoon: Drucker Challenge Get-Together (with a partner) – an opportunity to network with peers, Drucker Challenge team and Jury in a Viennese cosy atmosphere!
    • Evening: Networking Reception at House of Industry (with a partner) an opportunity to mingle with the Drucker Forum family
  • Invitation to the Gala event on October 29 with seated dinner and Awards ceremony (with a partner)
  • Opportunity to win the Special Recognition Award for the most original essay
  • Certificate with ranking
  • Ranking list and publication of an essay on this website. Your essay may be re-published by your university/company with credits given to Peter Drucker Society Europe
  • Invitation to join the exclusive Drucker Challenge Alumni Community on social media networks
  • One-year-all-access subscription to the Harvard Business Review
  • Funding for travel expenses: Your international travel and accommodation costs for attending the Forum will be reimbursed based on our travel process & policy. If you need a visa to travel to Austria, we will advise early travel arrangements.

Eligibilities

General requirements:

  • You must be 18-35 years old (inclusive of both ages)
  • You must have been selected no more than once (or not at all) among the top 10 since 2010

Essay category requirements:

  • You can submit one essay to participate as either a student or a professional
    (please mention your main occupation in the submission form)

Student category requirements:

  • You are a part-time or full-time student (bachelor, master, MBA, or Ph.D.) or you are seeking your first opportunity after the completion of your last degree

Professional category requirements:

  • You are a manager of people, projects, budgets, and/or processes an entrepreneur or business owner
  • licensed professional
  • social volunteer or community leader

Essay requirements:

  • The essay has to be within 1500 to 3000 words (excluding footnotes and any graphics) as PDF or word document
  • The font size has to be 12 points
  • The language has to English
  • Your name must not be included anywhere in the essay
  • Entries must be produced exclusively by you (no group work) for the specific purpose of this competition, and must not have been published elsewhere
Eligible Regions: Open for all

Application Process

  • Go to the Apply Now link.
  • Fill in the form and upload the essay.

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Application Deadline: June 7, 2020

Application ClosedOfficial link

For Further Queries

For more information please contact them at [email protected]
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