How to cooperate in space? cooperate culture #29 with Anna Christina Günster

In this episode of the cooperate culture podcast, I spoke with Anna Christina Günster from the European Space Agency (ESA). Anna is an HR professional in ESA’s HR Center of Competence and an Industrial-Organisational Psychologist with 25 years’ international cross-sector HR experience in Talent Management, Leadership Development & Organisational Development. Anna has an impressive career path in aerospace organisations. Before joining ESA in 2014, she built up and managed the Graduate Program of the German Aerospace Center in Cologne for several years - a program that trains PhD candidates in transversal skills for their future as leaders in space industry and space research. Besides her extensive knowledge about the work dynamics within space agencies, Anna has also worked in research, industry, NGO, public & government sectors.During our conversation, we talked about Anna’s perspectives on human cooperation, what makes for successful teamwork, and what the biggest challenges are when working in such an international organisation as ESA. Anna also shared what other industries can learn from ESA's projects in space, the psychological needs behind successful cooperation and the future of leadership.I was deeply impressed by the capacity of the people at ESA to solve such complicated challenges within complex and partly unpredictable environments, how leaders have to provide both technical expertise and emotional intelligence, and how ESA as an organisation navigates the ambiguity between freedom of innovation and structure of processes on a daily basis. This episode is for everyone interested in how the people at ESA work together to explore the universe and achieve seemingly impossible things.If you want to learn more about Anna and her work, you can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annachristinaguenster/ or discover the many facets of ESA on their official website at https://www.esa.int/. You can also have a closer look at the ESA Convention that Anna mentioned at https://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/publications/SP-1344/ESA_Convention_SP-1344_EN.pdf. The ESA Convention 1975 treaty is the founding framework of the European Space Agency and the basis of European space cooperation. It defines ESA’s purpose as advancing space for peaceful purposes, strengthening Europe’s scientific, technological and industrial capabilities in space, and delivering benefits to society.The convention also describes ESA’s governance. Through the Council, ESA Member States shape strategy, priorities and funding, while pooling resources and capabilities to pursue programmes no single nation could achieve alone. This balance between Member State influence, shared mission and coordinated execution makes ESA a distinctive model of international cooperation.And finally, if you are curious to know what job opportunities exist at ESA, find out more on https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA. This podcast is brought to you by emtsev cooperation. Ready to make work a better place? Visit ⁠www.emtsev.com⁠ to get started.