“Continuous learning and self-awareness are key to cultivating a transformational leadership style.” -Julia Huhn

Julia Huhn is the head of Communications, Public Policy, and Responsible Banking at Santander Germany. Her work requires her to streamline communications and operations between diverse groups on a daily basis, from stakeholder management to transformation processes.

As a leader with a wide range of responsibilities, Julia is constantly cultivating self-awareness and continuing her learning journey. With a desire to gain constructive feedback and exposure to new perspectives in order to evolve her leadership style, she applied for Santander’s W50 Leadership course, a business course created to empower female thought leaders from across the globe.

Hosted by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the course brings together fifty management-level professionals in distinct fields to work in tandem to improve their leadership skills. 

When Julia joined this course, she built a network that includes a diverse range of professionals — from astrophysicists to entrepreneurs to investors. The end result? She developed a sense of community and partnership with women at the top of their fields. Their goal of self-development has since transformed into a lasting community — one that will serve as a sounding board for Julia as she advances in her career.

Julia was eager for the chance to improve her self-leadership qualities like empathy, vision, trust, and generosity. These skills are integrated into the SW50 course, giving leaders the chance to develop these traits. She says that her leadership style has become more adaptable thanks to the experiences she shared with other upper-level professionals. As she puts it, she was able to develop “transformational leadership with trust, empowerment, and generosity at its core.”

This course gave Julia the tools and place to transform her approach to leadership and communications. For this reason, she encourages women to apply because it’s a unique opportunity to invest in their professional leadership skills, along with their personal understanding of what leadership can and should be.

As Julia, are you interested in developing your leadership skills and refining your business acumen alongside other industry leaders? With the aim of boosting, empowering and promoting female talent to achieve effective equality, Banco Santander launches a new edition of the Santander Course | SW50 2025, aimed at 50 women in senior management positions.

This year, this women's leadership programme is taking off with local editions in 11 countries (Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, USA, Spain, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, UK and Uruguay) to find the 50 best female managers in each of these countries, a total of 550 women leaders.

50 women from each country will be the winners of their local edition and will become part of an exceptional community of women leaders from around the world. They will access an online course on women's leadership, delivered by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and will also have the opportunity to attend an event with the other winners of their local edition.

From the 550 local SW50 women, LSE will choose 50 finalists to take the programme in London. In this global SW50 course, delivered on-site at the London campus of the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), they will acquire the tools, strategies and skills needed to work on and hone their own leadership style.

This will be done through interactive lectures, one-to-one mentoring and discussions with top experts from LSE and their peers. In addition, they will receive individual and group coaching sessions and a unique networking experience.

The course includes 100% of the cost of the programme, as well as accommodation in London for the duration of the programme. It is not necessary to have a university degree or be a client of Banco Santander.

Are you in a senior management position and want to be part of an international community of women leaders? If the answer is yes, register now for the Santander Course | SW50 2025.