The Berlin School has defined six leadership pillars that make executive MBA learning both relevant and effective for leaders in media, entertainment, advertising, design, journalism and marketing.

Leading yourself

Getting to know oneself better; assessing one’s own leadership strengths and weaknesses; learning how to grow and expand; challenging the status quo; becoming a role model; exploring how to become a better creative leader. Before leading others effectively and convincingly, creative industry executives need a solid understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. They must know how to motivate themselves and influence others by rising above the basic need to be organized and to master methods for inner clarity and self-confidence. Successful top executives emphasize the human side of business, fairness and transparency. They respect the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between working life (in a productive career) and home life. The ultimate outcome is effective leadership based on honesty, clarity and performance-based values.

Leading Business Partners

Building trust; motivating higher standards; managing accountability; re-inventing the concept of doing businesses with others; understanding clients and partners. Understanding the needs and visions of business partners is vital to the success of any business, especially creative businesses. What are partners looking for? What is the proper way to handle existing relationships? How does one foster new relationships? What shapes the world of the client? Creative executives must understand the power of new consumer groups and well thought-through local, global and multi-cultural marketing strategies and trends. Executives must address new technologies, radical changes in the TIMES industry (telecommunication, information technology, multimedia, entertainment and services), and convergence of concepts within the communication industry. Above all creatives must have the ability to instill a strong sense of trust – and respect – in both partners and clients.

Leading People

Creating human talent; setting ambitious goals; implementing outstanding team leadership; mind stretching; helping people grow and outperform themselves; creating mind expanding environments; nurturing creative »stars«. Responsible leadership is key to the forward-thinking development of a business. To put in place strategies, structures and change processes, executives have to be genuine, sincere and charismatic. Effective senior managers are mentors within their own professional community, acting as goal-oriented role models eager to engage and integrate co-workers in a productive and healthy working environment. To be an effective leader, one must have the ability to create and manage complex change processes, implement clear, successful strategies and translate them into convincing arguments to mobilize and galvanize people around groundbreaking organizational change.

Leading the Enterprise

Defining the culture; organizing and managing people and processes; inventing proper structures and systems; providing full support for people to outperform and enjoy work; caring about business ethics; understanding the key functions and creating synergy across disciplines; articulating a distinct, proprietary place to be, own and compete from successfully. Strategic leadership, innovation and change management lie at the heart of successful business management. Top creative executives must be familiar with the numerous business instruments available to them for developing and training future innovators as well as advanced motivation techniques – with one common goal: gaining competitive advantage through innovation and successfully coping with crises and overall change processes. Executives must possess the core skills of financial management, management accounting, organizational behavior, marketing and communication.

Leading the Product and Innovation

Setting standards for excellence; developing expertise; building an environment which inspires fresh innovative ideas on a daily basis; tailoring working processes focused on quality and speed; »getting things right the first time«; establishing passion for detail – bringing strategies and ideas to life and turning visions into reality. The main objective for any creative enterprise is to define a distinct core product and consistently secure competitive market success. Great creative leaders coach for creative excellence, they always »raise the bar«, they set inspiring goals, they fight the tyranny of the average, they have a big appetite for norm-challenging solutions, they are tightly focused on building an idea-centric organization and they always monitor progress.

Leading the Industry

Defining competences; managing publicity; solving industry problems; speaking with a strong voice in industry associations; changing the field; paying attention to social responsibility as well as to image building. Strong leaders are respected within the company as well as within the overall industry. Yet, the ability to steer change within the industry is a totally different challenge than steering change within the company. Leading an industry calls for the ability, desire and confidence to redefine existing industry practices without neglecting one’s own position. Leaders need entirely different skills, skills that enable them to negotiate effectively with leading industry figures, trade representatives and government officials. Executives must act with vision and have the ability to pinpoint their own core competencies as well as those of key players within the company and industry. To effectively lead industries, executives must also know how to cope with increased public responsibility, scrutiny and recognition.