Tenente Colonnelo Bruschi, what should we expect from the event "Leadership e Innovazione", organized by Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa in partnership with Federated Innovation?

The today event is designed to share the innovative educational reality of Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa and its expertise in leadership training and soft skills. For this reason, the event is structured in two phases to engage all participants: after a descriptive part concerning the educational model adopted by CASD, there is an experiential part aimed at allowing participants to experience the teaching methods used. The path we will follow will therefore reflect our innovative methodology based not only on classroom activities - typical of traditional contexts - but on immersive training focused on "action-reflection" mechanisms, with settings specifically designed to enhance learning. At the end, we will launch a Call for Ideas on innovative empowerment projects to be carried out together with our partners.

How did the partnership between CASD and Federated Innovation of MIND come about?

CASD is indeed unique due to its dual military and academic nature. In this sense, the drive for innovation, both in terms of training methods and scientific research, is one of the strengths of the newly established Scuola Superiore Universitaria. The partnership with Federated Innovation therefore arises in the sign of this strong drive for innovation, which embraces the dream of realizing new empowerment tools and professional development on the themes of leadership and soft skills: themes that are necessary for future leaders and executives to effectively and wisely tackle the challenges of a constantly changing world.

What is the mission of the Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa?

The Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa (CASD) is the first military institution at the university level in Italy and offers Masters and PhDs in various curricula of interest to the Dicastero Difesa. It is a hub of strategic thinking, increasingly open to the external world, whose mission is to put its resources and capabilities in favor of the security of the Country, developing training paths that promote interdisciplinary integration between the national academic world and research in the defense industry. The objective is to train highly qualified leadership through innovative educational offerings capable of developing critical thinking and bringing innovation within organizations related to defense and national security.

What are the strengths of your educational offering?

For several decades, CASD has been a national reference point in leadership training for senior management. Its educational offering is aimed at executives from the military and civilian sectors, representatives of the institutional panorama, prominent figures from the industrial world, as well as numerous Officers of the Italian and foreign Armed Forces. Within all the training courses offered, modules dedicated to leadership and soft skills are included to promote the exercise of ethical and valuational leadership together with the development of fundamental transversal skills (strategic thinking, interpersonal communication, self-management, and emotional intelligence), called "power skills" because they can determine the success of individuals, teams, and organizations.

How are executives trained in the development of soft and leadership skills?

To address these training needs, the CASD has recently established a thematic Academy internally which, through a network of inter-force professionals, designs and develops training courses on traditional soft skills and emerging ones such as complexity management and uncertainty management. The Academy team consists of myself, Tenente Colonnello Isabella Lo Castro, a psychologist officer of the Esercito Italiano expert in training and HRM, and Tenente Colonnello Roberto Damiano, also from the Aeronautica Militare, an expert in instructional design and strategic planning.

What are the peculiarities of the soft skills provided by CASD?

Through its Academy, the Center operates not only within the Defense sector but also in favor of the Public Administration and the profit world, as well as for various national industrial realities, proposing customized leadership training projects and soft skills development based on the latest neuroscientific and socio-organizational studies. The result is particularly appreciated training courses because they are tailor-made for each specific need - also in view of the third mission - and because they are developed through a model that involves the consolidation of the three key dimensions of performance and professional success: thinking (cognitive dimension), emotions (emotional dimension), relationships (interpersonal dimension). These topics are at the center of the February 8th meeting and of our future collaboration with Federated Innovation.