When Jarrod Eckstein accidently dropped a 16,000¥ vase in the middle of a luxury Shanghai department store, it triggered a ripple of comradery amongst his classmates. Berlin School EMBA participants, Jarrod Eckstein and Line Grove Hermansen tell the story of the broken vase that became a symbol of generosity and community in action.

Leaders can no-longer be rigid their approach to talent and people development. Author, Inspiration Director, and Agile People Coach, Pia-Maria Thorén, believes in a radical approach to HR and management. Pia looks to other areas of business such as finance, IT, and strategy to explore more creative, adaptive, and spontaneous ways to create a healthy and productive work environment for talent to evolve.

Finance Professor Olivier Tabatoni believes to dissect the complex interactions of finance, strategy and leadership takes both an analytical and creative approach. We spoke him about the role of trust in the world of finance, the importance of embracing the creative thoughts process, and about the complex technologies such as blockchain that will affect the future of leadership and business.

Olivier Tabatoni is a professor of Finance at the Berlin school and is focused on the intersection between Finance, Leadership and Strategy.

We sat down with him at his latest EMBA masterclass to discuss creative approaches to implementing Finance into your Strategy and how blockchain will affect the future.

EMBA participant Joel Ryan sees his leadership development and learning as a raised flag to the 15,000 employees in his company. As Group Manager Themed Entertainment & Children Activities at the Sandals Group, his job is to blend the latest technologies and trends to innovate the hospitality industry in the Caribbean. We spoke to him about the challenges and the opportunities facing his industry today and how learning from diverse experiences and voices is feeding his outlook and day-to-day life as a leader.

Group Manager Themed Entertainment & Children Activities at the Sandals group and participant on our Executive MBA program, Joel Ryan discussed the challenges and the opportunities facing the hospitality industry today and the importance of diversity in leadership.

Robert Weisz is an expert in the role of psychology in leadership. He believes that emotional intelligence is key in effective leadership and that many leaders risk placing too much emphasis on content and direction, and not enough on people. Professor Weizs speaks about the importance of self-awareness, the impact of emotional expression, and how to facilitate effectiveness.

Robert Weizs is Professor of Organizational Behavior & Organizational Development at the IAE Aix-en-Provence, University of Aix-Marseille and Head of the Academic Advisory Board at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

Episode #5: Robert Weisz by Berlin School of Creative Leadership

Iepe Rubingh described himself as a ‘Start-Up Artist’ – a cross between artist and entrepreneur. He is also the inventor of Chessboxing, a new sport wherein two opponents go head to head in the ring, alternating between rounds of chess and rounds of boxing. Iepe opens up about challenging the elitism of the art world, and about learning the business skills they don’t teach you in art school.

Iepe Rubingh is a large-scale installation artist from the Netherlands who founded Chessboxing, a cross between sport and performance art wherein two opponents go head to head in the ring, alternating between rounds of chess and rounds of boxing.

We spoke to Iepe about the challenges and the unique insights he experienced as both an artist and an entrepreneur.