Franca Lehfeldt

Franca Lehfeldt is an entrepreneur, journalist and speaker with a focus on political communication, media and social change.

Franca Lehfeldt belongs to a generation of female journalists and entrepreneurs who are shaping the public debate with their attitude, expertise and clear words. With in-depth knowledge of the interfaces between politics, business and society, she analyzes current developments – always in a targeted, opinionated and well-connected manner.

She became known as chief reporter for politics at RTL and later as a presenter at the news channel WELT. Today, she runs her own agency for communication and personal branding – and is a regular keynote speaker and author on stages in German-speaking countries.

Franca Lehfeldt: Economy, Politics & Society

As a keynote speaker and panel participant, she knows her way around the current issues of our time. As a moderator, she knows the background in political Berlin and intervenes pointedly in socio-political debates. Franca Lehfeldt is particularly well informed on social and financial policy issues.

• Family Policy Is Economic Policy

Germany is looking for skilled workers abroad while overlooking hundreds of thousands in its own country. Two-thirds of working mothers work part-time, compared to nine percent of fathers. This is not simply the sum of individual preferences, but the result of a system that systematically makes working longer hours unattractive. Childcare that closes early or is unavailable altogether, a tax bracket combination that reduces one’s take-home pay, and a mini-job that ends up being the best option financially.

Franca Lehfeldt shows why this is not just a women’s issue, but a matter of national competitiveness. Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Claudia Goldin has demonstrated that the income gap between women and men is not driven by education or ambition, but by parenthood. In Germany, this comes at the cost of productivity, tax revenue, and pension contributions—and it costs companies the qualified female employees they have already hired and trained.

The presentation identifies the three levers that policymakers must address, as well as those that companies themselves can control: a culture that supports returning to work after parental leave, fathers’ involvement as a leadership priority, and work-time models that offer reliability rather than merely promising flexibility. A plea for the merit principle and for finally applying it to everyone.

• Lecture: “Nothing comes from nothing. A plea for the meritocracy principle.”

In the debate about diversity and intergenerational relations, Franca Lehfeldt advocates individualism and the meritocracy principle. As an author, Franca Lehfeldt has defended “old wise men.” Today, she advises taking a more nuanced view of Generation Z. She explains the differences in values and motivations between generations and describes how teams can work together successfully.

• Personal branding – it needs rough edges. Not all decision-makers are aware of the importance of personal brands.

But: people are interested in people. Narratives are driven by people and narratives drive brands and share prices – personal branding can therefore become a measurable success factor for companies. Franca Lehfeldt explains how to build a personal brand and which factors are decisive for success.

• SPIEGEL bestseller ALTE WEISE MÄNNER: a declaration of love to the performance principle

After the debates about the 4-day week, life-work balance and working from home, the next attack on the performance principle is currently underway: the “zero buck day” is being discussed by employers and employees. A sign of overconfidence in the face of ageing and global competition, says Franca Lehfeldt. She believes that society should remember that nothing comes from nothing.

How can we reorient society towards performance? In her book “Alte weise Männer”, the author and entrepreneur spoke about this with top manager Wolfgang Reitzle, journalist Stefan Aust and SPD veteran Peer Steinbrück, among others, and is certain that we can learn a lot from the experience and lifetime achievements of this generation. A cross-generational debate is guaranteed.

• Panel discussion

Debate culture in Germany: Why are public and published opinions increasingly diverging?

Can we actually still argue properly? And why is a lively debate often interpreted negatively as disagreement or dispute? After all, the struggle for perspectives, solutions and opinions is at the heart of a democracy. But debates on social networks are intensifying and people are cursing anonymously online instead of at the regulars’ table. Why is it that people are turning away from established media and often migrating to their own digital forums?

The answer can only be a plea for more relaxed diversity of opinion in the media. You don’t always have to be persuasive or want to proselytize. You can exchange arguments and examine your own position. But if you can’t come together, you can also simply respectfully state your disagreement. And the media can also simply give equal weighting to two opposing positions.