In times of Netflix & Co. we often watch series. We can learn how good leadership works from series such as ‘The Crown’ and ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’. In her research on leadership development, Prof Dr Brigitte Biehl from the FernUniversität in Hagen shows a complementary approach to classic management books.
Hagen/Germany, December 04th, 2024 – Not a positive result in times of skills shortages: according to a recent study by Xing and Appinio, half of Germans would like to change jobs again after a year. 43 per cent state that they are dissatisfied with the company’s management and 25 per cent are not satisfied with their direct manager. Good leadership is important because it plays a key role in determining whether employees feel comfortable and can contribute their strengths. Prof. Brigitte Biehl, Chair of Business Administration, in particular Human Resources Management and Organisation at the FernUniversität, has been teaching at business faculties for over 17 years and is familiar with the criticism of the inadequate development of junior managers.
The personal aspect is missing
‘A lot of theories and specialist knowledge are taught, but the personal aspect is missing. Recognising your own values, emotions and motivation. It is difficult to transfer this to your own management style,’ says Prof Brigitte Biehl. Good leadership starts with yourself: How do I want to lead? Or: How do I not want to lead? One method that is suitable for this is learning with artistic methods. Films, series or classic literature such as Shakespeare have long been used in management courses. In series, there are often managers or situations in which leadership takes place, and attentive viewers can recognise what is good and bad in communication or appearance. ‘For example, there’s this funny scene in the series ‘Game of Thrones’.
The character Theon Graufreud gives a motivational speech to his knights before the fight. It actually contains everything that is required in theory, but one knight knocks him out because the audience is not at all on his wavelength,’ describes Biehl. ‘The scene also shows how those being led can also refuse to be influenced and play a powerful role in shaping the leadership relationship.’ There is an even more important criticism of current books on the subject of management: they are often only tailored to men. Women, people with disabilities or with a migrant background are not taken into account. ‘In the literature, a manager is often white, male, heterosexual and not disabled. But managers are diverse. Current series in particular offer alternative role models,’ says Brigitte Biehl.
How can I learn from series?
In order to really learn something from series, viewers have to watch them intensively and open themselves up to the film experience. In the second step, it is important to engage with the content of the series in order to actively process the experience. This can take the form of a diary, conversations with others or inner dialogue. Several studies have already shown that we don’t just passively consume series or films. Rather, it is about ‘rooting’ for our favourite characters. Using the example of the series Dallas, which is about a family from an oil dynasty, it was investigated why many people watch this series even though they have probably never had anything to do with oil in their lives. ‘This is because the characters experience realistic situations that also happen to us in our everyday lives, i.e. they are emotionally realistic. Unlike specialist books, series or films offer a close-up view of emotions. They feature people who struggle, who cry or fail.’ In the final step, it is important to transfer your own insights into your day-to-day work: What can I adopt for myself, how does this fit into the world in which I live and work?
Research with students
Brigitte Biehl has practically implemented and evaluated this approach to leadership development with film with students from the FernUniversität in Hagen and the SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences. Students with and without professional experience and some with leadership experience watched a series of their choice and analysed it intensively. One group worked with the TV series centred around the members of the Kardashian-Jenner family. They are well-known reality stars and also work as entrepreneurs. Kim Kardashian and her younger sister Kylie Jenner in particular are very successful and are on the Forbes list.
How do I reconcile child and job?
‘The Kardashian sisters don’t fit the classic image of leadership: they don’t have a Harvard degree, are always in top style and are strong female characters.’ The participants report that they did not see themselves in a leadership role before watching the series – but they did afterwards. ‘Various characters encourage others to see themselves in a leadership role.’ The famous sisters also embody another important topic: reconciling motherhood with a career. ‘This topic is also hardly mentioned in the specialist literature. There is no help there. Yet it affects half of all people,’ says Biehl. ‘One student said that he can only now imagine how difficult it was for his mother to combine a job and a child.’ This was also demonstrated by the example of the series ‘The Crown’, in which Queen Elizabeth II fights her way through all obstacles – as mother, queen and head of state. In her diary, which she used to process the film experience on the way to a learning transfer, one student has put on the crown herself as a symbol and now wants to dare to be more assertive.
More courage through series
The researcher found that the students were better able to recognise leadership after watching the series. ‘They also recognise themselves and others better. The majority want to play a more active role in their working lives.’ Critical thinking was stimulated by the series, as was their own empathy. Brigitte Biehl suggests supplementing traditional management training with approaches such as art-based learning in order to address our emotions as well. This allows us to better understand interpersonal relationships – which is fundamental to good leadership.
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(https://www.fernuni-hagen.de/gleichstellung/veranstaltungen/zukunftsweisende-fuehrung.shtml) Tagung zum Thema an der FernUniversität
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